I'm talking about Canadian shelters that were established as nonprofit charities by groups of women in Canada.  It took a decade or 2 to establish the service before governments started to provide some core funding to these nonprofits -- they were initially funded entirely by private donations, other charities, and volunteers.

Which brings us to Earl Silverman -- he ran a .shelter out of his private house, which would make it hard for government to give him money, as opposed to giving money to a nonprofit organization with a clear governance structure and established programs..  But more to the point, Mr. Silverman apparently wasn't successful in private fundraising either.  If men saw the value in this service in Calgary, why didn't they donate to keep it going?