A Morinville woman who has led a campaign to build a shelter in memory of her murdered daughter is being honoured for her volunteer efforts to make her community better.
On Friday, International Women’s Day, Lynne Rosychuk will attend the Women of Worth gala in Toronto along with nine other women being honoured. Each will receive $10,000 from L’Oreal Paris Canada to put toward the charitable organization they champion.
Rosychuk will put the money toward Jessie’s House, a shelter for abuse victims that is expected to open later this year — a full decade after Rosychuk’s daughter, Jessica Martel, was murdered by her common-law husband.
Jessica Martel shown in a Facebook photo. (Facebook)
“It immediately brought me to tears. I thought about my daughter and how proud she would be of what’s happening in our community right now,” Rosychuk told CBC’s Radio Active about her reaction to the award.
“It’s been such an honour. The exposure we’ve gotten from this alone has just catapulted us to the next level.”
Rosychuk and her daughter, who had both been in abusive relationships, had dreamed about building a shelter for Sturgeon County people who needed a safe place.
“Unfortunately, when we tried to access some of those homes for her, they were always full,” Rosychuk said Monday.
In April 2009, on the day that Martel was planning to flee, the 26-year-old was murdered by her common-law husband in front of her three children.
Rosychuk founded the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation in 2012.
“It was just me, trying to make sense of her death and trying to honour this dream that we had to build this shelter,” she said. “And then this group of amazing individuals came forward and said, ‘Let’s do it.'”
Jessie’s House will be Sturgeon County’s first shelter for abuse victims, with a design that includes large suites allowing it to accommodate families, spaces for single women, and separate self-contained suites will offer shelter to men, seniors or LGBT individuals.
The original plan was for a 2,000-square-foot house. When the $1.2-million project broke ground in September, the plan had grown to a 9,000-square-foot shelter that will be able to accommodate as many as 35 adults plus children.
Rosychuk said she tries not to dwell on how things could have been different if such a facility had been available to her daughter when she needed it.
“I’m trying not to think about what could have been. And just trying to make a positive thing happen out of something extremely horrible.”
As part of the Women of Worth award, an online vote took place to choose one national honouree from the 10 regional winners. That person, whose name will be announced at the gala, will receive an additional $10,000 to put toward their project.