High cost of food hindering N.S. domestic violence shelters

At Nova Scotia's largest shelter for women and children fleeing domestic violence, it's becoming harder and more expensive to keep the fridge stocked. As the cost of groceries continues to soar, it's putting added pressure on organizations supporting survivors. Especially meat, dairy, and those staples that we need. Even diapers and formulas have risen substantially, at least 25%, I'd say. A new report by Women's Shelters Canada found that 96% of shelters surveyed feel their community is facing a food security crisis, while 75% said it had become more difficult over the preceding year to help residents access enough food. They're having to do more to fundraise. To build new partnerships and anything else that will just ensure that food keeps coming into the shelter. Briony House relies on partnerships with Feed Nova Scotia and other charities to ensure the women and children are fed. If we did not rely on other services, we wouldn't be able operationally to afford what we're doing. I mean, we would have to go without other things, right? The director of the Cape Breton Transition House says clients are showing up already hungry. The shelter has exceeded its food budget by $8,000 this year, making for some difficult choices. Feeding people is more important than Christmas, so you put more emphasis on, you know, feeding people. Or you kind of look around at things that we might need here that we can put off or, you know, costs that we could cut down on. The provincial and federal governments have put millions of dollars toward gender-based violence initiatives in recent years. But people working on the front lines say more core funding is always needed to keep their operations up and running. They say facing the current affordability crisis is one of the main reasons a survivor might return to an abusive relationship. Selena Alders, CBC News, Halifax.