For a generation, Interval House has served as a location for women to seek shelter from abusive relationships. But the aging facility is running out of space, prompting the provincial government to allocate $3 million to a replacement on Friday.
The new shelter will have 30 beds, 10 beds better than what Interval House offers now.
Kathy Sadler is among the women who stayed at Interval. For 38 years prior to that, she says, she endured spousal abuse.
"The light bulb came on, and that's all I can describe it as. And I said, 'I have to leave.' " Interval House gave her the first safe spot in many years, she added.
More than 1,000 women annually use shelters in Ottawa. Trouble is, 5,000 more are turned away each year.
"It's urgent that we have beds, that we have places where women can go and that we have funding to that," says Karen MacInnis, director of Interval House.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Catherine Lathem
