YWCA to open new Iqaluit chapter

Lyda Fuller came to Iqaluit with a cheque, and also rekindled long-standing hopes that a shelter for homeless women will one day exist in the capital.

YWCA will start its second chapter north of 60.

"The YW in Yellowknife was started 40 years ago and we've been the only YW north of 60," Fuller told reporters. "I'm just so excited we'll have a compatriot in the North."

Fuller said the YWCA is doing a feasibility study to determine the best way to set up a shelter for homeless women in Iqaluit. There's been no decision on whether that would involve renovating an existing building or starting from scratch, but Fuller said she'd like to see a 20-bed shelter open by the fall.

"We've been canvassing the community for what might be out there," she said.
Between 100 and 150 women are homeless in Iqaluit, according to the Qullit Status of Women Council. Others estimate the number is double that estimate.

"The capital community is a magnet community for women coming in from the smaller communities, so right now we'll concentrate our efforts on Iqaluit but we've been talking with the status of women council," Fuller said. "So we're getting a good idea of how the issues extend out into the communities."

LINK: Nunatsiaq News