About Waskoosis Safe Shelter
The Waskoosis Safe Shelter has been open since 1992 and is located in Meadow Lake Saskatchewan. We had our first home for 28 years which was located on the west side of town. We recently moved into our brand new home in October 2020.
The shelter provides a number of services to women experiencing Domestic Violence. Our Shelter has 21 beds and can accommodate 6 families. We have a 6 bedroom house that is set up as a regular home setting.
We are a Status Blind organization: we help women and children of all nationalities.
- We provide a safe environment for women and children that are experiencing Domestic Violence and need a safe place to stay.
- We are not a homeless shelter.
- We also provide telephone counselling and walk-in counselling.
- Our home is well lit and secured by security cameras.
- We are open 24 hrs a day.
Our Founder
Martha Bear was the first and only woman chief in the Meadow Lake District. Her Term was in 1978 – 1980 and she served the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation. Her work has been recognized in working towards improving the quality of life in the Native families. She had dedicated her efforts in combating violence and abuse for women and their children. Martha has been an inspiration to many women to continue the work that was so important to her in her memory.
The Meadow Lake Safe Shelter has been given the name Waskoosis Safe Shelter. The english translation for Waskoosis is Sky Women. The name originally came from a medicine woman named SKYWOMAN. She was the first woman to put up a sundance centuries ago.
Martha Bear (Ben)
Our Home
We have a 6 Bedroom house with 21 beds that can accommodate 6 families comfortably. Our House provides all the comforts of a regular home setting. We have a large kitchen where the families can cook their family meals. Large pantry area where we keep our food. The kitchen area is also equipped with 3 tables where they can sit and eat their meals.
We provide a safe environment for women and children that are experiencing Domestic Violence and need a safe place to stay. We are not a homeless shelter. We also provide telephone counselling and walk in counselling.
Our home is well lit and secured by security cameras we are open 24 hrs a day. We also have a large open living room sitting area that is equipped with a TV and 2 couches. We also have a book nook area/ play area where mothers can sit with their children.
We also have a large clothing room area for the ladies and children. Our clothing is mostly donated by some of the local clothing businesses and general public. We also have a laundry facility area for the families to use as well.
We have 2 decks and a average sized backyard which is equipped with basic playground equipment for the children. We have a large deck for the mothers to enjoy with a closed gazebo sitting area. We are still working on setting up a fitness room and yoga room along with a hair cutting salon area.