Funds being raised to open Winnipeg’s first Muslim sheltering project

Sakeenah Homes has set its sights on raising money by launching an online fundraiser with a goal of $25,000. (Source: Instagram/Sakeenah Homes)

Winnipeg -

A national organization aimed at creating a network of sheltering projects for Muslim women and children is fundraising to open its next facility in Winnipeg.

Sakeenah Homes started in 2018, opening five different traditional shelters across Ontario and Quebec. The goal was to fill gaps in services provided to Muslim women.

“For example, women who practise Islam, women who spoke different languages, women and children who came from different cultural or religious backgrounds – they weren’t getting their needs met,” said Zena Chaudhry, Sakeenah Homes’ chief executive officer.

“We had clients who would come and say, ‘I was at so-and-so shelter and someone was being very Islamaphobic. They would rip my head scarf off. They wouldn’t let me pray. They wouldn’t let me fast.’ And these are things that we continue to hear over the past four and a half years.”

Additionally, the organization offers remote casework to Muslim women all across Canada. Chaudhry said they decided to open a facility in Winnipeg after noticing an increase in calls from Manitoba.

“We have seen the need in the past two and a half years in Winnipeg go up. That means our call volume from Winnipeg has risen, the number of clients that we see in Winnipeg has risen,” she said.

The organization said it did a needs assessment in the area to make sure it’s not replicating services that are already in place, as well as a feasibility study.

Chaudhry said the goal is to open their doors in Winnipeg by the end of summer or beginning of fall, starting small with a rented facility with room for 10 people. She said the facility could move locations if the area and space don’t meet the needs of their clients.

In the meantime, Sakeenah Homes has set its sights on raising money by launching an online fundraiser with a goal of $25,000.

However, the group estimates the facility will cost anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 to run annually.

Chaudhry acknowledges the project is an ambitious one, but she believes it can come together.

“I’ve always seen that whenever there is a true need and we’ve set out to do something, somehow that provision comes. We are able to do it,” she said. “If people believe in the cause, then they’re willing to give.”