The local Rowan House Women's emergency shelter isn't just busy around Christmas time.

Executive Director Sherri Botten says it's been a tough summer.

"We've been busier than usual," she says. "Sometimes in the summer we have a little bit of a drop in need, but not this summer, we've been extremely busy, we're consistently full in the shelter and our outreach team is really  really busy supporting women that don't need the housing part but are still in need of support and education and advocacy."

Botten says there's a major reason for the increased number of clients.

"Certainly the economic downturn, as we know that can always impact the need for women to access services whether directly in a shelter or through outreach." she says. "We know that the level and the intensity of domestic violence can increase based on many stressors in a family's life and economic hardship is one of those stressors."

She says staff are also preparing for the resumption of educational programs in the fall when students return to school.

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