The Mountain Rose Centre in Rocky Mountain House is hoping to get a piece of the pie as the Alberta government has announced $15 million in new funding for shelters.

The funding is divided into three different grants with money for facility upgrades, day-to-day operations and greater regional collaboration.

Rocky’s local women’s shelter intends to apply for all three.

“We’ve been in our shelter for seven years this month, so it’s fairly new, but there are a few areas that need upgrades and maintenance,” says Executive Director Carolyn Lavallee, who adds that the organization will be applying for the facility grant portion.

In its bid for the Regional Collaboration and Innovation Grant, Lavallee says they’ve been in early talks with Kristen’s Place, a women’s shelter in Olds serving the town and Mountain View County area.

Additionally, funds from the regional collaboration portion could be allocated to client transportation — an increasingly large expense for the organization.

She says there is some overlap in service between the two shelters, especially in the areas between Caroline and Sundre. Lavallee hopes the grant will help ultimately help cut costs and streamline services.

Finally, the Emergency Family Violence Services portion is intended to provide funding for shelter operations and to enhance existing program capacity or add new program capacity.

Lavallee says receiving extra funding for operations would be most welcome, as money remains tight — especially with recent changes to the Alberta government’s funding model.

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While Lavallee says all three streams require a lengthy application, the organization will be working toward the goal of receiving the grant for the benefit of clients.

The grants are expected to be awarded in October.

At this time, it is unknown how much funding the shelter could potentially receive. However, Lavallee says early indicators suggest facility grants are geared toward capital projects of $50,000 or more.

The breakdown of the grant streams is as follows:

• $4 million Facility Grant Pilot Program: Provides capital funding to eligible women’s shelters for facility upgrades and maintenance, including roofing, heating and ventilation.
• $5.8 million one-time Regional Collaboration and Innovation Grant: Supports collaborative projects over two years, helping organizations build partnerships, improve coordination and develop innovative emergency family violence services.
• $5.1 million Operational Fund: Supports requests for new or increased operational funding, enabling agencies to adapt to changing community needs and strengthen services.

According to a government press release, these investments strengthen Alberta’s emergency family violence response and advance Alberta’s 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence.