Emergency Shelter Info


Sections:

     •  General Information >
     •  How do women contact the shelter >
     •  Settling into the shelter >
     •  Basic needs we provide >
     •  YBH Emergency Support group>
     •  Photos >

GENERAL INFORMATION        back to top >

Yellow Brick House operates an emergency shelter on a twenty-four hour basis.

     The objectives are:

     • To serve women and children in crisis in York Region by providing shelter and /or support services.

     • To see that each individual receives help in accordance with her specific needs.

     • To strengthen the coordination of existing services for women and children.

     • To keep an accurate and confidential statistical record of women and children served.

Criteria for Admission:

Clients requesting admission to the shelter must be in crisis. It is the responsibility of the intake
worker to determine whether or not a client is in crisis and requires emergency shelter. Women coming
to the shelter must be able to live cooperatively and care for herself and her children. It may be necessary for some potential clients to come for an assessment prior to being accepted.

Priority is given to:

     • Women experiencing abuse (with or without children)

     • Single women from York Region

     • Women with children from other regions

     • Women with male children the age of sixteen years and over will be requested to make alternative arrangements for them. We accept male children up to (and including) 15 years of age.

Capacity / Length of Stay:

     • Yellow Brick House has 21 beds and 7 cribs.

     • The average stay for a woman and their children is six to eight weeks.

     • If the house is full, arrangements for a motel or a referral to another shelter is handled by the
       staff on duty.

How Do Women Contact the Shelter?        back to top >

     • Yellow Brick House's services within the community include twenty-four hour
        crisis telephone lines providing crisis counselling for non-residents and ex-residents.

     • The telephone lines include toll free numbers (1-800-263-2231 or 1-800-263-3247).

     • A woman may also come directly to the shelter for in-person counselling. Social service
       agencies, doctors, police officers and friends can refer women to Yellow Brick House.

     • When appropriate, Yellow Brick House will provide transportation funds so that a woman
       may access the shelter at any time of day and night.

Settling into the Shelter        back to top >

Upon arrival at Yellow Brick House, a woman is met by a trained counselor who will provide crisis counselling and support. As part of the settling in process women are assured of their confidentiality. Clients are informed that their stay is confidential, except if family and children's services intervention
is required. Confidentiality is an absolute! It ensures the client's safety and respects her right to privacy.
All clients, staff, volunteers and students are asked to sign confidentiality forms and all have had police checks.

In addition to crisis counselling, clients are supplied with an information handbook about the house.
This handbook includes some important rules about food preparation, cleaning, responsibility for children and security. Most rules relate to cooperative living. These rules explain the fact that there is no liquor, drugs, or violence allowed on the premises. For security purposes, residents do not answer the telephone
or doors.




Basic Needs        back to top >

Yellow Brick House provides women and their children with:

     • Shelter
     • Food
     • Clothing
     • Transportation money for housing, medical and legal appointments
     • Coverage of nonprescription drugs
     • Toiletries

Access to a clothing depot is provided to those in need in the community.


Yellow Brick House Emergency Shelter Support Group
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The support group at the shelter provides the opportunity for women to meet weekly and share their individual experiences. Over the life of the group with the assistance of group facilitators, the women
in the group work through issues that are important to them, or that they want to explore, in an
environment of trust, confidentiality and comfort.

Some issues that might be looked at are partner abuse and the effects both on women and children, self esteem and personal power, safety plan, how the legal system can help, cycle of violence, and living on your own. The issues that are explored in the group are those that have been suggested by members of the support group.

While a group relies on participation of each member, there is never any pressure to reveal or disclose experiences. What members give and get back from the group is their choice. The emphasis is on members making their own choices, making their own decisions and generally making the group their own.

Women come to groups for many reasons. Some want to receive emotional support through a difficult time in their lives, others want to get on with their lives and need a place to come and talk and feel heard and supported, others want to break the isolation, to understand what happened, to share their stories,
to make friends who understand and to learn to like themselves again.

The support group at the Shelter offers women the opportunity to come together and offer encouragement to each other. A support group can provide evidence that change is possible and the women can and do take control over the directions of their lives.

The support group at the shelter runs once a week and childcare is available on site. Women who stay at the shelter and women living in the community who may still be living in an abusive relationship or living on their own are welcome to attend.


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