About Chrysalis

In early 2005, a group of concerned Huntsville citizens approached the Muskoka Women's Advocacy Group (MWAG) about building a women's shelter in Huntsville. As the managing board of directors for Muskoka Interval House (MIH), a women's shelter based in Bracebridge but serving all of Muskoka, MWAG proved to be an invaluable resource. This non-profit, volunteer board was established in 1984 and opened Muskoka's first women's shelter the following year.

The impetus for the Huntsville proposal was a lack of services for abused women and their children in Huntsville and the surrounding area, particularly to the north. Those needing shelter and other violence-against-women services were not accessing the programs available in Bracebridge due to the lack of workable public transportation between the two towns. This transportation problem created a substantial obstacle for many women who were employed in Huntsville or had children attending schools in town or in northern Muskoka.

Young mothers, single women with employment barriers, women recovering from addictions, women needing secure housing and other vulnerable women and children often have limited financial supports. Due to the constant pressure imposed by the lack of decent, affordable housing in Huntsville, it is often difficult for these women to move forward with their lives.

A consensus was reached that a Huntsville shelter should encompass both emergency shelter and rent-geared-to-income housing - a combination which makes sense from a security and human support perspective. Shelter staff, working on a 24/7 basis, can monitor security, be available for immediate assistance and provide referrals to other community services when needed. As a sister shelter of MIH, in-house programs available at Chrysalis include: Child and Youth Support, Education Outreach, Court Support, Transition Housing Support Services and Outreach groups and other supports.

In addition to the shelter, Chrysalis has 10 supportive transitional housing units for vulnerable women and their children (four studio apartments, four one-bedrooms and two two-bedrooms). Referrals for the apartment residency are taken from the shelters as well as other agencies in the community; a volunteer board manages the housing units. While they are residents, women work with staff and volunteers to achieve goals they've set for themselves.