For eight years, homeless women in need of shelter could turn to Grandmother's House in Charlottetown.
Now any women is such dire straits must turn elsewhere. The only homeless shelter in the province for women has closed its doors.
So where do women, many in desperate circumstances, go to find a safe and warm place to spend a night or more?
The Native Council of P.E.I. that was forced to close the facility last week due to inadequate operating funds certainly doesn't know.
"That's a frightening I don't know,'' said Eileen Conway, a spokesperson with the Native Council.
"Do they go on the street? I'm not too sure. That is a possibility and it's not a nice possibility to consider.''
The old, white house located on Euston Street next to the former YMCA housed up to six residents a night since first opening its doors in 2004.
There was never a shortage of people looking to stay at Grandmother's House. The facility provided approximately 1,500 bed nights each year.
Open to both aboriginal and non-aboriginal women, Grandmother's House received start-up funding under the federal government's National Homelessness Initiative.
Keeping the place open, however, proved an ongoing challenge. The shelter was plagued with difficulties that often threatened closure.
The council at times relied on provincial funding to stay open.
In November 2007, the council resorted to the desperate measure of members camping on the sidewalks in Charlottetown in a chilly 24-hour vigil to raise funds for the shelter. The event was adopted as an annual fundraiser.
In the end, adequate funding could not be generated or secured to cover operating costs that ran at least $80,000 per year. So the council shut down the homeless shelter and sold the building.
Jamie Gallant, the council's chief and president, says Grandmother's House provided a welcoming environment for women in distress.
In addition to being a short-term residence for homeless women, the facility offered crisis intervention, employment counseling, housing assistance, and addiction counseling.
"We kept them safe and nurtured them back to life,'' she said.
"If we are ever in the position where adequate funding is available for another women's shelter, we will certainly be around the table. This is an essential service in Prince Edward Island.''
One former resident, who does not want to be identified, says Grandmother's House helped get her life back on track.
She became clean after being connected with addiction counseling. She is upgrading her education and she now has her own apartment.
"It was a real oasis for me,'' she said.
"I don't know what I would have done without Grandmother's House.''
