Women at Halifax shelter concerned by new 2-month stay policy amid housing crisis

Residents of a shelter for women fleeing domestic abuse in Halifax were shocked when they received a letter in late September saying they had two months to find permanent housing and leave Bryony House.

Some had already been living there for six months to a year while they searched for a safe and affordable accommodations in a city with skyrocketing rents and one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country. 

CBC News spoke to four women connected to the shelter who are concerned about the policy. They've asked to remain anonymous, fearing for their safety. 

If they have to leave before they find a new place to live, they said they fear becoming homeless or being forced to move back in with their abusers.

"I don't want to stay stuck in a cycle like this, but it's hard to see a way out," said one woman who has been staying in the shelter for months.

In September, CBC News reported that a lack of affordable housing was causing backlogs in transition houses, leading to stays being extended up to a year across Nova Scotia.

Bryony House said its new policy is an attempt to get back to its original mandate of providing stays as long as six weeks, and to avoid turning women away because beds are full.

"The intent was never for this to be a permanent solution for anyone," said Bryony House executive director Monika Hintz. "Because we need to be supporting people who are in the throes of experiencing intimate partner violence."

The letter sent to residents in September said extensions to the two-month policy will be considered on a case-by-case basis. But some residents are still worried.

"It was a move that made me feel like I was back in my house with my abuser," one woman said. "I wasn't the only one. A lot of women felt that way, and there were some that did go back."

The residents CBC News spoke to said they want to leave the shelter, but it's challenging.

It can take years to get a spot in public housing. Other housing geared to income, including for women fleeing intimate partner violence, is full across the province.

"I had been looking for at least a year prior to even having to leave my ex-partner's home," another woman said. "I've probably looked at at least 150 to 200 places just in the last couple of months."

Bryony House is the largest women's shelter in the province, housing up to 36 women and children. Hintz said 40 women and 20 children are currently on the waitlist.