Last week, Airdrie RCMP responded to a domestic disturbance call in Big Springs prompting concern from some in the community. 

In response to the Discover Airdrie story on the Police response to that incident, some listeners questioned if the City is actually doing anything to address this issue.

According to Crystal Boys, President of Airdrie POWER, they are.

“I can understand how somebody in the public could see that it looks like nothing is happening but there is quite a lot happening behind the scenes. The City is working very hard. We’ve created a group, it’s called Domestic Violence Community Stakeholders Group. We’re creating a plan where we can share information and talk to each other and fill these gaps in together and the City has spearheaded this.”

Airdrie POWER has been working around the clock for several years to establish a women’s shelter in the city but as Boys explains, it takes a lot of work.

“I want to really stress that it is a priority for the City and for every organization in Airdrie that deals with domestic violence. Due to the nature of the issue that we deal with, a lot of these things aren’t public. Unfortunately, on the City’s end of it, they have political stuff they have to deal with. Things take time and we’re aware of it, that’s why we’ve stepped up and we’re going to change things up a little bit in the meantime while that is happening.”

The good news though is that Airdrie POWER will soon announce a major project that will take them one step closer to their final goal.

“It won’t be in the typical sense of an emergency shelter but it will be somewhere women can flee to and get safety planning in the meantime while we’re building the shelter.”

Boys says they hope to make an official announcement next month with the project hopefully opening before the end of 2018.

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com