Calling all Friends of Transition Houses

As a woman who believes that women deserve support to lift them up in their most dire times of need and in my role as PSAC Atlantic Director for Nova Scotia, I am pleased to be involved in leading the effort to form a network of “Friends of Transition Houses”.

This has been a difficult time for the Transition Houses here in Nova Scotia, as you are aware operational funding to transition houses have been frozen since 1996 and the current budget that was just announced includes a freeze to current funding levels. The Bryony House in Halifax has been in existence for 30 years. The Halifax Transition House (Bryony House) is now in a deficit situation. The staff who work there are our members. We also have members who work for Transition houses in Bridgewater at the South Shore Transition House (Harbour House) and in Kentville at Chrysalis House.

We have a Board of Directors at Bryony House that has stated that they will do employee lay-offs to address the deficit and funding issues. This is totally unacceptable as you know violence against women and children has always been on the rise, it will never disappear.

Many women and children use these facilities use these facilities because they have no other place to go, if we do not have the adequate staff to assist, to ensure their safety and their well-being what will happen to them? Currently we are involved in a lobby of MLAs in areas where we represent transition house workers. We plan to be active from now until after a new government and hopefully a better budget is put forward that increases operational funding to transition houses.

Transition houses are an important social and community service. The Friends of Transition Houses network will be compromised of different individuals, from employees of Transition Houses, to various politicians, to unions, to those who have used transition houses in the past, right up and including the everyday Nova Scotian who recognizes the extreme importance of having Transition Houses with adequate funding from the government to make sure the services are there and we can build on them for the women and children who need it.

Please join me in this network of individuals who wish to and WILL have their voices heard. Contact me at loriwalton@eastlink.ca to find out how you can become involved. Or call 443-3541 and leave me a message regarding the Friends of Transition Houses network.

Sign up to updates on this blog to stay abreast of any events or information that will be coming up in future days/weeks until we win this fight!

Standing in Solidarity and raising our voices to educate and inform others, we can make the difference.

Bryony House Letter

Premier Darrell Dexter
Office of the PremierPO Box 726Halifax, Nova ScotiaB3J 2T3

October 2009

Dear Premier Dexter,

As a resident of Nova Scotia, I am concerned with the operational funding for Transition Houses in this province that has been stagnant for over a decade. I applaud your government for moving the $500,000 in Year 2 of your platform to the next budget year of 2010. But lets be perfectly clear, $500,000 divided by ten transition houses and eight women’s centres does not amount to very much.

Transition Houses have been operating on budgets set in the 1990s! It is the women and children of the province who suffer most because of these funding freezes. We have to acknowledge the social infrastructure our society as much, if not more, than our physical infrastructure. The women and children of the province deserve more than talk, they require action. Bryony House in Halifax has had to cut staff and services to decrease costs, and still they are in a deficit position.

I urge you to address the deficit position of Bryony House to ensure the Outreach Program can be operational once again. I also ask that your government start a dialogue with Transition Houses to ensure they have stable and secure funding for the future. We cannot wait any longer.

I look forward to your response.


Sincerely,




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