On Thursday (Sept. 26), local MPP Lisa Thompson and Loretta Dunn, an Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) volunteer, met with staff and volunteers at the Women’s House Serving Bruce and Grey to learn more about the impact of a $20,700 Capital grant that was awarded earlier this year. The focus of the grant was to enable the women’s shelter to buy bed bug resistant furniture.
“This is a great use of the OTF grant,” said Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson. “It will help reduce the stress that bed bugs can cause to staff, volunteers, and residents, and it will allow Women’s House to continue its fine reputation of providing a safe, clean, and healthy environment.”
This investment will greatly benefit the shelter and will help to reduce the health implications or psychological effects of these fast-breeding pests, which are hard to find and difficult to remove once there is an infestation.
Most strains of modern bed bugs are highly resistant to available control products, making them difficult to eliminate. No one is immune to bed bugs as they can infest any property. They are proficient “hitchhikers” and can easily come home with you after a trip to a public place or on public transportation. And once they’re in a home, it can be very hard to eliminate them. That’s why bed bug resistant furniture is such a benefit to Women’s House. This furniture will save potential future costs in prevention and extermination of the unwanted bugs.
“The women have commented on how beautiful the rooms are now that all of the furniture matches,” said Lana Sanderson-Neeb, Shelter Manager. “It’s beneficial for residents, since the collapsible cribs allow us to be able to move the cribs from room to room to accommodate the needs of the women and children using our shelter. It’s safer for staff, as we are no longer struggling with mattresses and box-springs alone to wash bed bug covers. Since the transition to bed bug resistant furniture, mattresses can simply be wiped down, along with everything else, leaving the rooms much more sanitary. And there are less costs to the shelter, as we no longer need to keep replacing bed bug covers. In addition, we will save in the long-run with less need to pay for extermination or prevention of infestations.”
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded more than $108 million to 629 projects this year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities. For more information, please visit: www.otf.ca
