‘I’ve had a couple of tears’: Families flee, repairs needed after emergency shelter floods

A Calgary emergency shelter is scrambling to find new accommodations for more than a dozen families fleeing domestic violence after it was hit by flooding twice in the past few weeks.

The shelter also faces a long and expensive list of repairs to replace drywall, floors, ceilings and other damage that that was caused when pipes in the ceiling froze and burst,  sending water gushing down over the first and second floors of the building.

Discovery House has a total of 19 units, some of them three- and four-bedroom apartments used by mothers and their families.

“We have 13 apartments. Most of our common spaces and meeting rooms and lots of clients offices that have been affected by that flood,” said Leslie Hill, executive director of Discovery House, as she provided Global News with a tour of the damage.

So far, six families, including 21 children, have been safely relocated and staff are working to find new accommodations for other families that will need to be moved out of their damaged units.

“I’ve had a couple of tears,” Hill said. “We’re all really passionate about what we do for our clients. We’re all really passionate about the project to make this space really healing for our clients — and to see that undone is really terrible.”

Hill added that some of the client’s possessions were also damaged in the flooding.

One woman, who goes by the pseudonym Fatima and lived at the shelter with her three children for about a month, described the flooding as “very stressful.”

“Being here is so comfortable and friendly, in my opinion. I was more comfortable than I ever was. Everything was so easy.  Convenient for me here. Just the schools, and other stuff. Everything was very convenient for me,” Fatima said.

“My daughter, she always had a hard time going to school and since we’ve been here she was always going to school and she was so comfortable. Same thing with my other kids. I felt like everything was easy and convenient and very easygoing for them.”

For now, Fatima and her family are living at a hotel but will eventually move to a different shelter.

“The other day, I went to in my room to grab some stuff. I felt a connection in that house. I felt bad like that I was leaving. But it is what it is. Sometimes we don’t have control over things,” she said.

Discovery House helps about 600 people each year. The flooding occurred when the building was already undergoing some major repairs, such as the installation of new windows.

“Our shelter is over 20 years old, and because of the nature of people coming and going, it’s seen a lot of wear and tear,” Hill said.

“We’re just at the point where lots of things need to be replaced naturally…. We’ve been working our way through the shelter and renovating our spaces, and unfortunately, many of the spaces that have already been renovated have been impacted by the flood.”

The total cost of the repairs is still unknown. Hill and her staff are still working with the insurance company and the contractors to figure that out.

The hope is enough of the repairs can be completed to allow some families to return next week, but others will likely not come back.

“Some families will probably transition out permanently because the apartments will take longer to get back up and running,” Hill said.  “Then we’ll bring new clients and when those spaces are ready.”

While the support from the community has been welcomed, Hill said there will be a lot of unanticipated costs. Anyone who’d like to make a donation can do so on the Discovery House website.