[StBernard] Women's shelter in St. Bernard Parish could re-open sometime next month

[Westley Annis]

Women's shelter in St. Bernard Parish could re-open sometime next month

The St. Bernard Battered Women's Shelter, which had helped about 400 women a
year who were in abusive situations but has been closed since Hurricane
Katrina, could reopen in February, thanks to a donation from the Meraux
Foundation.

The $120,000 donation will help purchase a building and set up a computer
lab for job training purposes, a news release from St. Bernard Parish
government says.

A new building as emergency shelter for abused women to stay fills a big
void in St. Bernard, said Gail Gowland, executive director of the battered
women's shelter since 1994. The non-profit group is headed by a board of
directors.

"It gives a woman a place to stay while she makes a decision on what to
do,'' Gowland said.

Before the hurricane the battered women's shelter operated out of space in
the old St. Bernard Hospital, just east of the Parish Courthouse in
Chalmette.

Since the hurricane, only Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes have had
women's shelters and they have been filled, Gowland said, meaning local
women had to be placed in shelters in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and other
places.

Gowland said the new location could be ready to open by the end of February.
Also, the computer lab will provide job skills training, she said.

"We've never had that before,'' Gowland said. 

More than 20 women at a time could stay at the new building, she said.
Typically, about 400 women a year, referred by the Sheriff's Office,
churches and hospitals, come through such a shelter, Gowland said.

The number for the battered women's program in Chalmette is (504) 277-3177
and there is a statewide crisis line toll number at 1-888-411-1333.