An Ottawa shelter so full that it turned away more than 1,000 women and children fleeing domestic violence last year has received new funds from the Ontario government — enough to make the necessary repairs to stay open, but not enough to expand.

La Maison d'Amitié is getting $65,000 of approximately $250,000 for francophone community groups serving people with developmental disabilities or women escaping domestic violence, announced Madeleine Meilleur, minister of community and social services, on Tuesday while visiting one of the shelter's two sites.

The building in Ottawa's Vanier neighbourhood, which is studded with security cameras, is kept secret out of fear that the abusive partners of the women staying there will show up.

Eugénie Doré, president of the shelter, said the money will help shore up the crumbling foundation of the building and make it safe so it can continue to take in abused women and children.

"Our priority right now is to fix the foundation and I'm sure that is going to eat into most of those dollars, and then we'll see from there," Doré said, suggesting that there won't be enough left over to help expand the shelter or even make wheelchair accessible.

Last year, the shelter took in nearby 200 women and children, and had an average occupancy of 99 per cent, but turned away 1,143 others because there was no room for them, said Jenny Wolff Jean-François, the shelter's acting director.

The women and children turned away were directed to shelters outside the region or to temporary accommodations at motels and other places. The shelter's operators worried they might have trouble receiving services in their language as a result.

Meilleur said she was shocked by the figures.

"It's a problem that was unknown to me," she said. "I knew there was such a thing as domestic violence, but I didn't know the extent of it."