Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Coppermine (June 17/02) - The women's crisis shelter in Kugluktuk is in crisis.

The pipes freeze in the dead of winter, forcing staff to find other places for their borders to stay, and the ventilation is unreliable.

The furnace doesn't work and the temperature is hovering around the freezing point.

"It's a constant need," Ann Klengenberg, executive director of Kugluktuk's women's shelter, said last week.

"We need a new building," insisted Klengenberg. "We had problems all winter. We have paid for more repairs than anything else."

Klengenberg said the building, which sits near the middle of town, has been renovated over the years but like an old car, it keeps breaking down.

The shelter's operating budget was unavailable as of press time but Klengenberg said a good chunk of the budget goes to repairs.

The shelter, which is a non-profit operation, employs about 15.

A new house on the outskirts of town would be an ideal building for the shelter, but Klengenberg said she and her staff aren't too picky.

Since 2000, the shelter has housed 30 women and some of them repeatedly used the shelter.

The issue was raised during an inter-agency meeting recently but no concrete plan has been devised to deal with the problem.

One proposal on the table is selling the old building and raising money to complete the difference in the price for a new building.

Crisis at a women's shelter is nothing new to the Kitikmeot.

Earlier this year, Kugluktuk's sister community of Cambridge Bay almost lost its shelter.

Only a last-minute financial bail-out by the territorial government kept it running.

Klengenberg said the shelter gives a welcome break to women who are trying escape violence in the home.

"It is necessary to have a new building because there is a lot of family violence and abuse that happens behind closed doors," said Klengenberg. "Since they have had this building they've had this break to work things out and get ready to get on with their life again."