Building a safe space for women

Charmaine Davidge and Wendolyn Schlamp wander excitedly though the maze of wood beams.

Marguerite’s Place is not much more than a skeleton, with construction workers pulling wiring through the frame of the unfinished building on Cashin Avenue Extension in St. John’s.

On the second storey,  Schlamp, the project co-ordinator sees that the construction crew has started to put up drywall.

“They’ve started the gyprock,” she said. “That’s exciting.”

As Schlamp and Davidge walk through the building, they can clearly imagine something more than two-by-fours and plywood.

On the ground floor there will be a communal kitchen and program room, along with St. John’s Status of Women’s Council offices and a free clothing boutique.

 The building will house eight apartments — six on the second floor, and two fully accessible units on the ground floor — available for women with complex needs, or those trying to escape unsafe living situations.

Davidge, the executive director of the women’s council, and Schlamp gave The Telegram a tour of Marguerite’s Place on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.

Afterwards, they sat down to talk about Marguerite’s Place, and the status of women in Newfoundland and around the world.

Remembering Marguerite

The genesis of Marguerite’s Place was 1997, when Marguerite Dyson was murdered.

Dyson was a volunteer with the Women’s Council living in a boarding house in St. John’s.

“When Marguerite was murdered was when the discussion really kicked into high gear that there needs to be more housing for women that’s safe,” Davidge said. “That’s when we first started talking about it.”

The affordable housing units for women will offer 24-hour support and an on-site social worker.

The idea is that women in unsafe or unstable living situations can move into Marguerite’s Place for between one and three years — long enough to stabilize, get help and then find another place.

“It’s very exciting, Schlamp said, “to realize we’re only a couple months away from being able to open the doors.

“And not a moment too soon.” Davidge continued.

“With the vacancy rates as low as they are right now in the city, it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

The Women’s Council recently received a funding committent from the government which will provide an ongoing annual contribution to keep Marguerite’s Place open.

With the building scheduled to open in May, the Women’s Council has had to temporarily suspend programming while it prepares to move from its current location on LeMarchant Road.

It’s holding an ongoing “housewarming shower,” soliciting donations for furniture and supplies to fill the building.

The new location will be better for a number of reasons; there are the apartments, but the building is also much more accessible for people with disabilities, and it provides everything under one roof.

Also, for an organization that routinely deals with vulnerable women, the building is a safe, independent place.

“Our new building is welcoming,” Davidge said.

“I mean, our other building we’re in now is functional, but this is a warm, welcoming space. It’s our own; it’s closed. When women come in it’s a safe space.”

An unfortunate necessity

After talking about Marguerite’s Place, Schlamp and Davidge reflected on the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, and the continued need for places to support women who are victims of violence and other issues.

“Everybody is not equal in 2011 in Newfoundland and Labrador by a long shot,” Davidge said. “Women have higher rates of poverty than men, women are paid less than men. Women and men don’t have access to reliable, affordable child care.”

She said that violence against women is still extremely common.

Over the course of International Women’s Day, Davidge said two women approached her about Marguerite’s Place and how to apply to move into one of the apartments.

“It’s International Women’s Day; just today, two,” she said. “I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like by the end of the month.”

It’s not all bad news, though.

Davidge said that things have come a long way in the past century.

“To say we’re no better than we were a hundred years ago is to dishonour all the wonderful women who worked so hard between then and now.”

jmcleod@thetelegram.com