There is nothing but a dirt road leading to Sparrow's Hope and no signage to reveal its location. For all the people who live nearby may know, the house does not even exist.
But despite its near invisibility, Sparrow's Hope is a bright new presence in the struggle to protect women escape abusive relationships.
Known as a safe house, Sparrow's Hope is a women's shelter – with several new twists. First, it provides victims of abuse with homey, private rooms. Second, it has a live-in family to look after their every need. Third, and most important, it is located in a rural community, which allows the victims to remain in touch with their local support group.
Most traditional shelters are located in bigger cities and are often too difficult to reach for those living in the country with no money, means of transportation or friends.
"If a lady finally makes a decision to leave an abusive situation, one of the things that often hinders them from leaving is that the only support group they have in the world is in their community," says Ben Kellert, director of Westlock Youth for Christ drop-in centre that spearheaded Sparrow's Hope.
"If you move them two hours to Whitecourt or an hour and a half to Slave Lake or Edmonton … some will just say I'll stick with it, things will get better. Well, they don't. We know that."
Funded by the people of Westlock and Barrhead, Sparrow's Hope is now a model to other Alberta communities who see a lack of safe places in their area.
Doreen Slessor with St. Albert Stop Abuse in Families (SAIF) says Edmonton's traditional shelters are overcrowded with waiting lists that can last for months.
If you have too many children or pets, the shelters won't take you in, she says. And when dealing with custody issues or the court system, the impersonal, institutional design of the shelter provides no support or comfort.
The biggest issues are demographics, says Slessor. Traditional shelters carry a stigma of battered wives, of substance abuse and anonymity. Many women are afraid to go there with their children and choose to stay in the relationship rather than leave.
St. Albert doesn't have a shelter, something Slessor attributes to the city's demographics. "But something in Sturgeon County with a community that is supporting an initiative, where no one is going to call the NIMBY stuff and there's an agency heading it, that's what would be successful."
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Lynne Rosychuk dreams of a place like Sparrow's Hope. She dreamt of it when her daughter was murdered and she dreams of it now that she's working on building a home just like it in Sturgeon County.
"That was my dream, to have a place like that before I even saw Ben's place and once I saw his place it made me want to do it even more," she says.
"Because the setting, the comfort, the serenity – it's just like a home. It does not look like a shelter in any way."
Rosychuk, who runs the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation in Morinville, says many women don't leave abusive relationships because they have no safe and comfortable place to go to.
The Foundation requires about $1 million for the home's construction and to keep it running for a few years, Rosychuk says. But they would also consider leasing a home from someone in the meantime.
"A lot of people offer their homes as a refuge for emergencies," she says.
"But if we move a victim into someone's home there are a lot of safety issues to consider and if we can find a different place for them without putting anyone in danger then that is what we are going to do."
In 2009 Rosychuk's daughter, Jessica Martel, was murdered by her common-law husband James Urbaniak. It was not the first time Jessica had tried to leave the relationship but when a final plan was set in motion to break her and her three young children free, her husband discovered her.
He beat her, cut her and strangled her to death while the children were present.
When Rosychuk last spoke with the local RCMP a few months ago, she was told they receive one to three calls a day about domestic violence in the area. She says it's the desire help the victims and give them a home in the community that keeps her going.
Ben Kellert has worked with the homeless and victims of abuse since he was in his early twenties. The middle-aged man with the boisterous voice has a way of expressing his thoughts and feelings, and drawing others to his vision.
It took eight months to get Sparrow's Hope up and running, he says. The house was donated by a couple who saw the need for a shelter in the community. Kellert pays them a small sum each year, but hopes to buy the home from them one day.
All of the money needed to secure and furnish the building came from private and business donations. At first, Kellert says people wanted to collect used furniture and supplies for the house but he refused.
"With all due respect, I know what you get when you put the word out for donations. And I said there is no way in the world you can restore someone's dignity with junk," he said. "It's new or it ain't going in there."
The building meets Keller's requirements. The warm colours, wooden furniture and open rooms invite the thought of a weekend get-away rather than a hiding place.
There is a large kitchen and living room with a piano and soft-cushioned couches, and chairs and tables to seat whole gatherings of mothers and their children. A large, renovated deck looks out over endless fields and forests. Deer and birds are perhaps the only disruptions to the serenity Keller intends to create.
The six, bedroom-suite sets ($1,200 each) were paid for by sponsors from local churches and businesses. A couple of farmers planted a field with barley and oats and donated the money from the harvest, he says. Some women make quilts for the women to take with them when they leave.
One day, Kellert recounts having breakfast with a friend and a man came up and offered to pay the utilities bill for two years.
"I have not seen a utilities bill in probably two and a half years," he says. "The community has just grabbed it. Just grabbed it and has seen the need for it."
There are bars on the windows and a panic room where surveillance monitors and alarm systems overlook the house and entranceway. Kellert had a local police sergeant go through the home to make sure everything was well thought out. If someone does manage to enter the building, it will take a few hours before they can get through the security door, he says.
The RCMP in Westlock receive about 80 calls a year regarding spousal abuse. This year, the St. Albert detachment of the RCMP has investigated 41 cases of domestic violence. Ten of these cases were cleared without charges.
There were another 88 cases in 2012 and 86 in 2011. All involved personal violence between partners such as assault, assault with a weapon, sexual assault and criminal harassment.
While he sees the need for a shelter, Insp. Kevin Murray with the St. Albert RCMP says not every victim wants to leave her partner or lay charges.
"There have been occasions where a victim becomes reluctant to report violence," he says.
"Because they require either financial security or whatever. So we try to offer them support to give them reason to want to call in and know they can leave that situation and be safe."
Murray says victim services are in place to support individuals and help them with the process of laying charges. They remain in contact with them throughout an investigation and make sure the victim is safe, he says. That includes removing offenders from their home and working closely with local organizations.
SAIF provides about 60 hours per week of counselling to victims of family violence. Sixty-five per cent of their clients come from St. Albert, 10 per cent are from Sturgeon County and the rest are from the towns of Morinville, Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, Edmonton and other surrounding communities.
Slessor says navigating the court system can often seem more stressful than living with the abuse. Victims worry about losing custody of their children, or not being able to protect them from their partner. They don't move to traditional shelters in the city because they want to remain in their community instead of leaving for some place unknown.
She adds that people don't want a safe house or shelter in their neighbourhood and there are issues with providing safety for victims. That's why SAIF supports the safe house model in Sturgeon County.
Danger
"The most dangerous time is when you are leaving or have just left. That is when people get killed, that is when the stalking exists or when emotional and psychological abuse turns to physical violence," Slessor says.
Kellert says the women who come to Sparrow's Hope stay for 30 days. In that time, a live-in family helps them secure a new place to live and get their lives in order. They drive the children to school, take care of any home maintenance and talk to the women.
The group has also partnered with counsellors in Barrhead to provide mental health services and advice. Once the women move out, local volunteers stay in contact with them to make sure they are doing okay.
"They participate in the cleaning, they are part of the cooking, everyone is a part of the team," he says. "You are part of the home."
Rosychuk says they have to rely on community aid to finance the safe house as the government has no money to build shelters in every community. So far, the Jessica Martel Foundation raised $13,000 to put toward two apartments at Big Lake Pointe.
The building in St. Albert's North Ridge neighbourhood provides housing for victims of domestic abuse at reduced or no rent for a few months. People can later apply for financial assistance to move into another suite in the building.
Another $18,000 was raised and has been put toward building the safe house. Some money was also spent for emergency aid for victims of abuse, Rosychuk says. She says it will take at least five years until the house can be built. Until then, she hopes to raise awareness and tell people to not keep quiet anymore.
"In my daughter's case, people heard, and why no one called the police or said anything before that I don't understand," she says.
"I guess I do in a way because people don't want to get mixed up in other people's lives. It's scary. But all it takes sometimes is for the victim to know that somebody knows and can be their safety net."
On Sunday, June 23, the Foundation is holding its first official fundraiser in Morinville, the Jessica Martel Memorial Run.
The five-kilometre run and walk will start Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. at the corner of 101 Avenue and 107 Street. Registration takes place from 7:30 a.m. until 8 a.m. with adults paying $35 and youth paying $25 to participate.
