Rowan House To Break Ground This Summer

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By Todd Curran

Rowan House Emergency Shelter is very close to reaching its fundraising goal for the building portion of its new shelter and expects to have shovels in the ground this June.

The Shelter needed $300,000 to start construction on their new High River facility in June, which looks very probable with the province's recent generous donation. “We are ecstatic that Provincial monies came to us in the form of Community Enhancement Grants to the tune of $250,000. The cheque was presented by George Groeneveld, MLA Highwood and the Honourable Ted Morton, Minister of Finance, at the Hope & Healing Gala held on May 14th, 2011”, says Executive Director, Sherrie Botten. “We are now in need of an additional $200,000 for the furnishings, fencing and landscaping to complete the house. We are optimistic we will be able to get started next month.”

Having outgrown their current Foothills facility, Rowan House will need to fundraise $1.2 million in operating dollars (over the next 3 years) to open at the full capacity the new facility will allow. “Alberta Children and Youth Services may not fund us past our current capacity of 6 beds,” Botten says. “This is why it will be important for us to continue to fundraise once the new facility is under construction. The community has always been there to support Rowan House programming and we are very appreciative and optimistic that this will continue.”

Rowan House Emergency Shelter exists to provide integrated services to all women and their children affected by violence with a specialized focus on rural communities. Please visit: www.rowanhouseonline.org for more information.