Shifra Homes opens third Burlington residence for destitute young pregnant women

from insidehalton.com

Shifra Homes [which was chosen as OMDREB President Anthony Danko’s President’s Charity for 2024] has opened its third maternity residence in the modest Burlington neighbourhood shared by the other two.

Once it was renovated, seven young pregnant women moved in, all fleeing troubled pasts, most abandoned by their families with no place to call home.

As each of Shifra’s maternity residences opened and filled with young mothers-to-be, Shifra’s executive director Nancy Romic said she could still fill more. Between the three homes, there are now 17 beds, with requests for admission increasing and not just from throughout Ontario, but across Canada.

“We’ve never seen numbers like we’ve seen (recently). We’ve had a huge amount of requests and we honestly just can’t even keep up. This is what makes me really sad,” said Romic.

Shifra Homes are the “only ones standing in southwestern Ontario all the way from Mississauga to Niagara Falls,” said Romic.

“Every other home since I’ve been at Shifra has shut down. There’s nothing for these women out there. They (maternity homes) just can’t sustain themselves financially.”

In 2021, Shifra had 89 requests for admission; this year as of July 27, there have been 139.

“We’ve had a lot of women coming from tent encampments, (one) from living in a hammock in the forest, like it’s been pretty devastating.”

Residents have included some on student visas, many newcomers to the country and Ukrainian refugees.

“It’s a very different dynamic than it was even five years ago,” said Romic.

Each of the three homes offers the same services, with staff and volunteers working toward the end goal of transitioning these young parents back into the community with the necessary life skills to succeed.

Shifra’s Seeds of Hope program supports new moms for a year once they leave the maternity residence, with food, donations and transportation provided they are working toward a goal, either their education or employment.

Shifra Homes, the vision of local Catholic deacon Randy Matters, opened in 2006. Financial struggles forced the home to close, eventually reopening but with a tenuous future until Matters met Romic in 2012.

Matters died last year — interestingly enough on Mother’s Day — but not before knowing the search for a third home was underway.

“For me it’s been an emotionally tough year without him because he was the founder of Shifra. He was my go-to, the one who I would talk things through with because he was honestly such a good man. Hopefully I’m making him proud continuing his legacy.”

Each Shifra residence costs up to $500,000 to operate which means donations are critical to doors being kept open. Donations supplement any grants they receive. Romic is not only constantly promoting and fundraising but is the voice for the residents.

“I really believe that these young women need a voice. They’re thrown around in the system, people take advantage of them, people diminish their needs, people stigmatize, and have a bias without coming out and saying it. There has to be somebody who fights for these young women.”

It’s “just beautiful to watch what they’re capable of doing and accomplishing” when they have the support and most of all, the love, she said.

When the young mothers are given opportunities and shown a different way, their successes “moves forward not only their lives but these children that they’re bringing into the world.”

If you wish to donate or provide much-needed goods, visit: https://www.shifrahomes.com/donate-wish-list.html