Final day of Lafontaine death inquest highlights lack of community resources

On the final day of an inquest into the death of Nicole Lafontaine, jurors heard from YWCA staff who spoke to factors which may have contributed to the 31 year old woman falling from a 5th storey window.

On the final day of an inquest into the death of Nicole Lafontaine, jurors heard from YWCA staff who spoke to factors which may have contributed to the 31 year old woman falling from a 5th storey window.

Lafontaine was seen experiencing what several witnesses referred to as psychosis before the woman attempted to climb out of her window. Lafontaine's roommate said “it seemed like [Lafontaine] thought she saw someone out there,” when recalling the scene.

Staff of the YWCA expressed that while many of their clients struggle with mental health issues, they are not a mental health facility. Due to a lack of community resources, the role of the YWCA has been blurred as they reach to fill gaps in the system which they are not properly equipped for.

"We are not mental health professionals, that's not our role yet it seems to be something that we're being forced into doing because there is such a lack of resources in the community," said April Markus, assistant director of shelter for the YWCA.

"We often find ourselves biting off more than we can chew. And we have to step back, there's been so many instances and we've had to do that. I think in many ways, we walk the line, we get really close to it and that doesn't feel good," Melissa Coomber-Bendtson, CEO for YWCA Regina said.

One person in the room who had additional questions for each witness was Nicole's mother Valerie Lafontaine. Valerie has been actively calling for more to be done following the death of her daughter since the incident occurred over a year ago.

"She was beautiful, she had a good heart on her, a really special young woman, she loved her babies, she likes being artistic, she really had a lot of loves," Valerie said.