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Muslim women and children’s shelter opening in city Sakeenah Homes offers first-of-its-kind specialized safe space NEWS
Dimitar Tomovski, staff A new shelter specifically for Muslim women and children is being built in Winnipeg, the first of its kind in the city. Zena Chaudhry, CEO of Sakeenah Homes, said the organization’s shelters aim to close the gap in services available to Muslim women. “We heard stories about Islamophobia, the lack of halal meat, where women had their head scarves taken off, where they weren’t able to pray, they weren’t able to fast and then also the [language barrier],” said Chaudhry. Sakeenah Homes also offers training in skills such as taking public transit for the first time, using credit cards and applying for cell phone plans. In addition to these services, Sakeenah Homes offers clothing, toiletries and sports equipment for kids, and school essentials such as backpacks. “For people who have been born and raised in Canada, these are things that are very basic,” said Chaudhry. “If you’re new to a country and you have never experienced these things
before, it’s a very different learning curve and especially if you’re already in a very uncomfortable position where you’ve left your home and you’re living in a place [where] you don’t know the people living with you, [so] we try to minimize that discomfort that they may feel.” Sakeenah Homes also offers free reconciliation services for situations where there is no physical abuse in a relationship, but a mediator or family counsellor is needed. “We [also] provide safe spaces if they want to pray,” Chaudhry said. “No one is ever forced to pray or told that they have to pray.” Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association, explained some non-denominational shelters struggled to accommodate specific Muslim needs, such as not serving halal food alongside pork. “The simple thing is being able to observe your privacy,” said Siddiqui, “to be in a space where there is no alcohol, things like no pork.”
In addition, Sakeenah Homes provides financial assistance for small debts such as cell phone plans and provides access to education by helping individuals process degree equivalencies from overseas.
While opening new shelters in some cities is an effective strategy, Chaudhry said in other circumstances it’s more effective to work with other organizations to ensure services are provided to the Muslim community.
“We have our mental health program, which is available to those in our home and those outside of our home as well, free of cost,” said Chaudhry.
Zahrah Tariq, a member of the University of Manitoba’s Muslim Students’ Association, said in an email to the Manitoban they were excited about the shelter opening.
“What we want to do with a woman is to empower them, to educate them, to clean them, so that they can stand on their own two feet,” said Siddiqui. Sakeenah Homes already has shelters in Toronto, Brampton, Ottawa and London in Ontario and Montreal, Que. Remote casework is available across the country. “If we can’t find you a safe space to go to we will put you up in a hotel or motel, get you hot food, get you whatever you need, and then our caseworkers and mental help counsellors will work with you until we can find you long-term stable housing,” explained Chaudhry. In addition to the new Winnipeg location, a Muslim shelter is being opened in Halifax this year as well.
“The shelter will benefit the U of M Muslim community in multiple ways,” Tariq said. “This will give female students an option if they are helpless, homeless or stuck in abusive situations. The presence of a shelter will provide our student community with volunteer opportunities and make us more self-aware of the struggles of the most vulnerable in our community.” While the shelter was created to accommodate the needs of Muslim women, Siddiqui said non-Muslims could access the shelters as long as they agree to abide by its rules.
news@themanitoban.com
Stefanson exaggerated ICU capacity during third wave
Premier denies knowledge of plans to transfer critically ill patients out of province NEWS
Colton McKillop, staff During last year’s third wave of COVID-19, Heather Stefanson claimed Manitoba’s health-care system could handle dozens more critically ill cases five days after a top health official discussed the possibility of out-of-province ICU patient transfers. Premier Stefanson, who was health minister at the time, denies she was aware of plans to transfer patients until the first person was relocated on May 18 — the same day she told reporters Manitoba hospitals could expand their ICU capacity to 170 beds. The revelation came during question period last week, after the provincial NDP presented the calendar of Shared Health CEO Adam Topp, which they acquired with a freedom of information request, and accused Stefanson of misleading Manitobans. According to the calendar, Topp met with Stefanson on May 13 to discuss the province’s intensive-care capacity and later that day held a meeting to review the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre’s ICU capacity. However, Stefanson claims she only learned of the ICU patient transfers after clinical health leaders had
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already decided they were necessary. Uzoma Asagwara, the Manitoba NDP’s heath critic, called Stefanson’s assertion that she was not aware of the transfers “unconscionable.” “She claims she wasn’t aware [but] either she knew and she deliberately misled Manitobans or while she was minister of health, she didn’t know what was happening in our healthcare system with some of the sickest patients when it was her responsibility,” Asagwara said. “Personally, I don’t buy it, but if that is in fact the case […] it reflects her level of disengagement with her role and responsibility while she was minister of health.” NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the fact that Stefanson is now the premier, despite her handling of the pandemic, “is not a good reflection on this government.” “The health portfolio is the biggest portfolio in government and certainly during a pandemic, it’s the most important,” said Kinew. “The fact that the premier doesn’t appear to have been able to do the job of health minister effectively, the fact
that we’re still in a pandemic and that person is now in a leadership role of government, I think should concern people in Manitoba.” Around this time, health-care workers had already begun warning that regardless of the number of beds and ventilators available, there were not enough trained staff to treat the rising number of COVID cases. On May 18, Stefanson told reporters Manitoba could accept an additional 50 ICU patients — for a total of 170 — but later that day, Shared Health announced ICU beds were at capacity and two patients were sent to Thunder Bay.
Asagwara said Manitoba’s need to send patients to other jurisdictions is “a direct result” of the government’s cuts to health care before and during the pandemic. Kinew pointed out the Progressive Conservatives closed several emergency rooms before the pandemic, “each of which had ICU beds in them.” The province ultimately sent 57 COVID-19 patients to other provinces throughout the third wave, with 12 dying while receiving treatment outside Manitoba. Kinew said the government’s handling of the pandemic “has been a failure.”
Despite Stefanson’s claims of ignorance, Shared Health was aware the province couldn’t handle 170 ICU patients well before the meeting regarding Thunder Bay on May 13.
“I think Manitobans generally are very frustrated with the way the government has responded to the pandemic [and] feel like it’s been poorly handled by the PCs,” he said.
On May 7, then-chief nursing officer for the province Lanette Siragusa called a plan developed during the second wave to staff 173 ICU beds a “paper exercise” that did not reflect the reality of Manitoba’s capacity.
Premier Stefanson was absent from question period last Tuesday and her office did not respond to requests for comment.
Additionally, 34 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to Manitoba’s ICUs, nearly half of the province’s pre-pandemc capacity, between May 13 and 17.
news@themanitoban.com
