Grande Prairie is highlighted in a new book focused on the evolution of the women’s shelter movement in Alberta. Odyssey House Executive Director Lisa Watson says something “We Need to Do This” highlights that isn’t commonly known is how the provincial movement partially started in Grande Prairie.
“We are one of the oldest shelters in the province, operating at 43 years of service right now, and the creation of [the] Alberta Council of Women Shelters actually started in Grande Prairie. So publishing this book is actually a way to give some of that credit to our local residents who are here, that started the woman’s shelter movement.”
“We Need to Do This” is written by Alexandra Zabjekand and is said to focus on interviews with “entry-level workers at fledgling shelters fighting to battle the assumption that their facilities would create crime, small-town shelter directors forced to self-censor or lose community and financial support, Indigenous women fighting to serve their sisters in Indigenous spaces.” Watson explains that Odyssey House started as a small duplex that grew to a 42-bed emergency shelter and a second-stage shelter with 14 units.
“We really started small and moved up that way, quite similar to a lot of the shelters who are operating throughout Alberta.”
The book is printed by the University of Calgary Press is available online for purchase.
