High-risk women and victims of family violence are one step closer to getting a centre designed just for them in Edmonton after a donation of $1.1 million from the federal government Friday.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Rona Ambrose announced the $1.1 million-pledge over three years at a press conference at City Hall Friday.
The Domestic Violence Centre will offer women a wide range of on-site and community-based family violence support services.
The centre is a collaboration between Catholic Social Services, the Edmonton Police Services and six other partners.
"This project will touch the lives of women who are often marginalized, and provide them with real opportunities and positive, life-changing results," said Jos�e Verner, Minister of Canadian heritage, in a release.
The centre will also receive $6.6 million from other funders.
The new building is expected to help 3,000 Aboriginal and immigrant girls and women a year. Officials estimate about one third of these people will be in high-risk situations destined for the courts.
"Violence against girls and women is all the more devastating when its victims are isolated and do not have access to the services they need to stop the violence and to heal from the abuse," Ambrose said in a news release.
