Nipissing Transition House celebrates 40 years

A valuable home in North Bay for abused women and their children celebrated 40 years of service last week. 

The Nipissing Transition House, located on John Street in North Bay, invited former tenants, workers and supporters to celebrate the milestone while recognizing the value of the facility. 

Charlene Gravelle is the executive director at the Nipissing Transition House. She believes the facility means a lot to the community. 

"Well, it's definitely a huge achievement to know that you know from Marsha Greenfield having started the shelter in 1983," said Gravelle.  

"And I have the pleasure of working with her... not that early, but I've been here for about 33 years of the 40 years. For me, that is quite significant in marking that 40 years, and for so many of our clients over the years, is a great achievement. And even for the residents here today. You know they have wished us well, they've congratulated us and they've told us what it means, so to hear that firsthand, from our clients is quite special for us." 

The Nipissing Transition House is described as a facility that "is committed to helping abused women and their children, living in North Bay and Nipissing District, rebuild their lives. By working together as a shelter team and in partnership with our community, we work hard to ensure that women and children have a safe and supportive place to turn to when home is no longer an option."

Gravelle believes it is a valuable service. 

"Our staff is assisting clients and providing counselling to them, helping them to see what sort of supports in the community they can put together to help achieve some of their goals," she said. 

"One of the goals might be counselling services outside of the shelter, so they'll give them referrals and some advocacy and guidance in those areas. Helping them to find housing is a big thing. they're providing that assistance. They're helping with any other issues they might have, and basically just providing support throughout the day and helping them achieve both short and long-term goals while they're here."

But Gravelle says like many other social service agencies, they have struggled post-COVID with increased costs and staffing issues. 

"That's something that you know, even having some of the other resources, fundraisers and things like that, that might help us out," said Gravelle.  

"That's always a need, but certainly coming out of COVID and seeing you know, the increased costs with operational costs to keep things going here and provide services to our clients. That is always beneficial. So we rely heavily on donations. 

Some of those fundraising supports include the Shoppers Foundation For Women's Health and the Royal LePage Yard Sale. The Smile Cookie Campaign locally will also be giving some of its proceeds to the Nipissing Transition House. 

"I think we're just very grateful for the help. Moving forward we're thankful for all of the past executive directors, board members, staff, and clients who helped to bring us to where we are today, and we look forward to continuing to serve the community," said Gravelle. 

For more information on the Nipissing Transition House click HERE