By Bre McAdam

Saskatoon woman hopes to raise money for women’s shelters

Sep 25, 2014 | 7:58 AM

A Saskatoon woman who lost a friend to domestic violence is organizing a walk across Canada in hopes of funding more shelters for women in abusive relationships.

Sandra Lukowich said she’s felt compelled to walk from coast to coast after her friend Dorothy Woods was murdered by Woods' husband when she tried to end their marriage in 2011.

She adds the fundraising effort is to help both women and men who have been, or currently are, in a violent relationship. Lukowich said she lost her sense of taste and smell because of her abuser.

“But I survived it. I’m showing that walking across Canada in the winter is going to be the hardest and the coldest, and that’s how you feel inside when you’re in a domestic situation. You feel alone, you feel cold, your whole body goes numb and you have no self esteem,” Lukowich said.

She hopes a Canada-wide awareness and fundraising walk will garner enough money to help some women break free. A Statistics Canada report shows on a random day in 2012, 379 women were turned away from shelters; the most common reason was because they were full.

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“We do have to turn away quite a few women. We are full the majority of the time,” said Tanya Wiggins, executive director of Interval House. The domestic violence shelter for women in Saskatoon has 10 beds where women and their children can sleep for up to 30 days.

Between April 2012 and March 2013, Wiggins said they were unable to accommodate approximately 234 women at some point. She notes that it’s possible some of those women were given a bed at a later date.

Other short-term, emergency shelters for women include The Lighthouse (20 beds), The Mumford House (36 beds) and the YWCA (38 beds). Infinity House and Adelle House offer longer-term, “second stage” transitional housing, but Wiggins said she’s heard that similar places in Saskatoon have had to turn women away as well.

While the YWCA isn’t solely a domestic violence shelter, about 22 per cent of the women who used it last year were fleeing a violent relationship, according to director of programs Lesley Washington. Like Wiggins, she said the crisis shelter is “always full” and that they have to turn away hundreds of women each year.

Lukowich said it’s those statistics that make her want to get walking as soon as possible. She is currently looking for a motor home and winter clothing, as well as local sponsors, to help get started.

“As I’m walking I’ll certainly be thinking of Dorothy. I miss her dearly and she has impacted my life so much,” she said.

Anyone interested in getting involved with the walk can reach Lukowich by email at sandylukowich@yahoo.ca or by phone at 780-299-1263.

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