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This article was published 18/5/2016 (1585 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The non-profit board behind a shuttered women’s shelter is sitting on more than $360,000 worth of donations despite having nothing but an alleged phone line.

A provincial spokesman confirmed Wednesday $480,000 had been returned to Osborne House Inc. following a protracted battle with the province after a scathing 2013 audit. The lion’s share of the money, $368,000, was donated to the corporation prior to 2013.

The Osborne House board’s control over the shelter, once the largest in Manitoba at 45 beds, was suspended following the audit. The provincially funded shelter was placed under an appointed administrator.

The audit raised concerns about insufficient counselling services, poor finances, incomplete records and a toxic work environment and stated the health and safety of clients were threatened.

During that period, volunteer board member Ken Lee told the Free Press $400,000, along with property belonging to Osborne House, had been confiscated by the province in 2013.

'I couldn't believe that they have this kind of funding out there that they have not donated to shelters' ‐ Deena Brock, provincial coordinator for Manitoba's Association of Women's Shelters

A provincial spokesman said the money was returned because it was primarily donated. It was returned to the volunteer chairwoman of the board, Barbara Judt, in April 2015, after the service agreement officially ended. Any operating funds were retained by the province.

The provincial co-ordinator of Manitoba’s women’s shelter association says she is "flabbergasted" by news the board has retained almost $500,000 in funds.

"I couldn’t believe that they have this kind of funding out there that they have not donated to shelters," said Deena Brock, provincial coordinator for the Manitoba’s Association of Women’s Shelters.

The province announced last April the shelter would be run under a new name (Willow Place), with a new community board, with continued funding from the provincial government. The volunteer board of Osborne House continued to exist, with Judt remaining the chief executive officer, with a pledge to open a new shelter.

Judt, who ran unsuccessfully in the provincial election for the Progressive Conservatives in St. Johns, told the CBC this week she continues to operate a phone line out of her home and is the sole employee.

Osborne House’s Facebook page lists a number that goes straight to voice mail; the voice mail directs callers to an emergency crisis line run by Willow Place. Another number listed for the Osborne House crisis line online automatically forwards to Willow Place.

"We still continue to offer supports and services to women who call us.… We’re still helping families," Judt told the CBC.

Willow Place executive director Lesley Lindberg told the Free Press when Willow Place came into being April 9 2015, Osborne House agreed to forward the crisis line to Willow Place to safeguard the safety of women.

Efforts to reach Judt via social media and through voice mails left on the number listed on their Facebook page were unsuccessful. Repeated phone calls and emails to Lee were not returned.

Lindberg and Brock said they find donors are frequently confused when it comes to Osborne House. On its website, it advertises itself as "a Winnipeg non-profit shelter, currently searching for a new building for women and children escaping domestic abuse. Still offering services to help you."

"We have had people say, ‘I thought when I donated to Osborne House I was actually donating to you,’" Lindberg said. "And as a new organization it is always challenging to establish yourself in the community and in the community of donors."

Lindberg wants to remind Manitobans: "If you currently want to support women (suffering) from domestic violence, and if you want to support a shelter, Willow Place and Ikwe Widdjiitiwin are the two local shelters."

Brock said victims and donors are unclear over what Osborne House provides. As early as December, Osborne House held a fundraiser which raised over $1,600 for Osborne House, according to its Facebook page. The event asked for monetary donations and for guests to bring cards Osborne House would pass along to victims of domestic violence.

"It does bother me in the sense that is very confusing for victims, it is very confusing for donors," Brock said. "We need to be very certain out there that people know they are giving money to a board that operates a phone line."

Families Minister Scott Fielding said because Osborne House is a private corporation and the service contract was severed in 2015, the province has no authority over its finances.

"The monies that were given back to Osborne House were private donations; the government has no ability through an independent corporation to disband them," Fielding said. "None of it was government money."

When asked about Judt, a former provincial Tory candidate, Fielding said there is no connection between decisions made about Osborne House and government.

"The Province of Manitoba has no ability to dissolve private corporations," Fielding said.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca