Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) reached out to the centre after hearing that the State Government had rejected a submission put forward by Great Lakes Council last year asking for funding for emergency accommodation.

WCS chief executive officer Annabelle Daniel contacted the Neighbourhood Centre’s manager Trish Wallace in January to explain what her service could do to help. 

The Sydney-based organisation was established two years ago with a mission to collaborate with communities and government to provide crisis accommodation for women. 

WCS established the Manly Women’s Shelter four years ago and more recently the Hornsby Kuring-gai shelter in Northern Sydney. To get the shelters up and running, WCS committed to funding half of the set up costs and underwriting up to two-thirds of the operating costs for the first couple of years. Each facility has ten beds and is staffed 24 hours, seven days a week. 

Ms Daniel, who initially attended a meeting with Neighbourhood Centre staff and Great Lakes Councillors in February to explain the service, said she is hopeful that a similar framework could work in Forster. 

She said having support services well within reach in a regional area like Forster was crucial.  

“Women in regional areas are much more vulnerable and prone to social isolation. They want to go somewhere safe but they also want to keep their children in school in the area.”

Ms Daniel will meet with local stakeholders at a community meeting at Club Forster next month to discuss service options.   

“The experience we have with setting up women’s shelters, we know the steps to make it happen so I’m really keen to work with locals on the ground and flesh out what the problems are and how they can be addressed.”