The new facility for the Green Haven Shelter for Women in Orillia is undergoing the final touches before opening its doors in a few weeks.
Land that had been sitting vacant in the city's north end is now the site of the new building that will offer refuge for women and children.
The new 14,000-square-foot shelter replaces the 4,000-square-foot single-family house that had been in operation for the last 28 years.
It will have beds and programming available all in one facility - where group counselling, meetings, and community outreach had to be done offsite in the past.
"We were meeting in church basements. We were meeting in other office locations. Somebody would give us their boardroom, whatever we could find," explains Liz Westcott, executive director at Green Haven.
The new space will add more beds and more bedrooms with a maximum of two women per room rather than three or four.
The $6 million project is on time and budget, with funding from the federal government managed by the province.
"It's been a dream for some time," Westcott says. "The first business case I actually submitted was in 2008, so to see this 11 years later, is pretty cool."
The grand opening is scheduled for mid-December.
