St. Jude Community Homes
Finding a place

St. Jude’s new community house at 270 Milan Street provides a near-perfect long-term home for people living with schizophrenia and mood disorders.

YWCA in Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls, Ontario
A turning point

With no emergency shelter beds
and nowhere to turn in Niagara Falls, local women and their children in need had to travel out of town or hope to find temporary accommodation in a motel — until now. Thanks to the YWCA of St. Catharines, a former shelter has been reborn, giving badly-needed local services a boost.

Abuse, family conflict and addictions are just a few of the situations that bring troubled youth in Haldimand and Norfolk to St. Leonard’s Community Services. This non-profit organization prevents youth from becoming displaced from school, employment, their families, and from falling further into a life of homelessness or criminal behavior. Now, a partnership between St. Leonard’s and the Children’s Aid Society of Haldimand and Norfolk has led to the opening of Varency Home, providing youth with a safe haven in their own community.

Maria House: A home for families in transition, Brantford, Ontario
Breaking the cycle

For someone leaving an abusive situation, ending the cycle of violence begins with finding a safe haven. Since 1983, an emergency shelter at Nova Vita Domestic Violence Prevention Services has been that sanctuary for abused and homeless women and children. Nova Vita also provides a 24-hour crisis line and a range of programs that help women and children make the transition to a life without violence.

Summerville Pines Seniors Residence, Mississauga, Ontario
Dream homes

A Clean, safe, affordable and comfortable rental living can seem like an unattainable dream. Yet for many seniors, that dream became a reality with the Spring 2005 opening of the Region of Peel's newest modest-income housing development, Summerville Pines.

Manitoulin Family Resources Inc. Manitoulin Island, Ontario
Refuge in a Crisis

Women and children who need to escape an abusive home situation have access to free, confidential support at Manitoulin Family Resources Inc. and its 10-bed Haven House Shelter.

The agency serves a huge and remote area encompassing Manitoulin Island, Espanola and the north-east shore of Lake Huron, where women and children have access to few such services. Based on Manitoulin Island, Manitoulin Family Resources Inc. also serves the outlying community through satellite Resource Centres in Little Current, Gore Bay and Mindemoya.

Trellis Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
Celebrating Spring

By March 2003, 31 adults and 42 children had settled in to Trellis Gardens. Anticipation was in the air as they waited for the finishing touches that would make Trellis Gardens their home. As spring approached, landscaping was planned and planting would soon begin for a community garden.

Women’s Community House
Support for Change

Women’s Community House helps women as they choose to leave abusive situations, and keeps them safe when they do. With the opening of a new 27-bed residential facility, the shelter is even better positioned to provide a safe, supportive and secure environment where residents can regain their strength and independence, connect with other women and the community, and begin to move toward a life free from violence.

Transition House
Community Support

The Transition House Coalition of Northumberland began in February 1999, as a steering committee and shelter, located in an old house in Cobourg, officially opened in December of that year. Transition House is a local solution to meet basic housing needs and assist its residents with the tools they need to live self-sufficiently into the future.

The New Emily Stowe Shelter for Women
A Place to Heal

Abused women and their children find the support they need to re-build their lives at Emily Stowe Shelter for Women. The shelter recently opened a new, larger facility on the site of the small, dilapidated house where it first began operation in 1982.

Interval House
Sanctuary, Support and a New Start

Women who have suffered from abuse can find sanctuary, support and a new start at Interval House. Canada’s first shelter for abused women and their children recently opened new larger facilities in downtown Toronto.

Native Women’s Centre, Hamilton, Ontario
A Safe Haven

The Native Women's Centre is an emergency shelter for women in the Hamilton area. These women are provided a safe haven regardless of age, ancestry, culture, place of origin, sexual orientation, with or without children. The Native Women’s Centre assists women who are in transition from abusive situations, addictions, homelessness or conflict with the law. Many support services are offered including counselling in job placements, housing, education, cultural welfare, Aboriginal rights and child care. Women are encouraged and supported as they seek a new beginning for themselves and their children. Helping these women avoid homelessness is an important way to offer hope.

Abbott House — Youth Emergency Shelter, Peterborough, Ontario
Much More Than a Shelter

Homeless youth can find much more than shelter at Abbott House. They gain the life skills and job training necessary to live independently.

This transitional housing facility accepts homeless youth aged 16 to 24 from Peterborough’s emergency shelter who have made a commitment to move ahead – whether to finish school, find work, or seek treatment for emotional problems or substance abuse.

WoodGreen Homeward Bound, Toronto, Ontario
Starting Over

Homeward Bound provides 32 single parent, female-led families with stable housing and a comprehensive strategy of employment training and childcare supports.The goal of Homeward Bound is to support women successfully transitioning from homelessness to secure and appropriate housing, from under-employment to sustainable employment, from shelter life to independent living.

Adelaide House, Oshawa, Ontario
Community Support

The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Oshawa provides the only emergency housing available in the community to women over the age of 16 and to women with children who are at risk or may have been abused. It is an important service for women, offering shelter, counselling and life skills training. More than one thousand women were supported in 2003. Adelaide House is a warm and welcome change for women suffering anxious circumstances.

Herizon House, Ajax, Ontario
A Safe Haven

Creating a place of joy and inspiration was an important goal when a portion of the former New Market Health Centre was redeveloped and converted into 58 residential rental apartments for lower-income seniors. The newly created complex was named Armitage Gardens and consists of two similiar wings, which are joined by a common area.

Armitage Gardens, New Market, Ontario
The Future Blooms

Creating a place of joy and inspiration was an important goal when a portion of the former New Market Health Centre was redeveloped and converted into 58 residential rental apartments for lower-income seniors. The newly created complex was named Armitage Gardens and consists of two similiar wings, which are joined by a common area.

Amik, Toronto, Ontario
A New Beginning

In October, 2002, a moving prayer marked the opening ceremony for Project Amik. "Great Spirit of the Universe," Rev. Charles Catto, founding director of New Frontiers Aboriginal Residential Corporation, said gravely, "amidst our rejoicing this day, we give thanks for the triumphant vision and strength that has carried our dream of nine years through to shining reality, turning a derelict garment factory and a vacant lot into hope and homes for 74 families."

Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation, Manitoulin Island, Ontario
A New Future

An ancient legend of the Odawa people tells us that the Great Spirit wished for an Island retreat, so he created Manitoulin Island. "MANITOU MINISSING" — Island of the Spirits.To the Ojibwe people of Manitoulin, it is the sacred place of their ancestors and the place where they want to raise their children.

Today, the Ojibwe people of Manitoulin look to a new future in the place of their ancestors with the completed construction of phase one of the Amelia Heights sub-division.

Heartwood Place, Kitchener, Ontario
19-21 Gaukel Street Project

19-21 Gaukel Street opened in downtown Kitchener in October, 2003, offering 33 affordable rental homes to low-income tenants.The transformation of the recently underutilized and vacant building into attractive, well-planned housing is a distinguished continuation of its colourful history. In the past it was a white-wear factory, button company, heating and plumbing shop, a textile store and most recently, a sportswear store/warehouse.

Iris House, Windsor, Ontario
A New Future

When IRIS House opened in downtown Windsor in September 2002, offering a home and 24-hour care to 55 residents, it was a new beginning after three years of persistent effort by six families lead by a retired but tireless community college teacher. The event also paid tribute to the spirit of the community that rallied behind this project and the commitment of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP).

Tumivut, Na-Ma-Res Toronto, Ontario
Hope for the Future

This story began in 1986 when Na-Me-Res was established to provide temporary accommodation for Aboriginal men. The Shelter offers a safe, clean haven for their residents with nutritious meals and a bed to sleep in. A lounge, recreational and fitness facilities, a dining room and kitchen, all contribute to relieving the stresses of homelessness.

Shermount Co-operative, North York, Ontario
Evolution

For more than 30 years, from 1957 to 1988, 650 Lawrence Ave. West was the Toronto Branch office of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). 2002 heralded a new chapter in a unique evolution from an office building full of individuals dedicated to delivering housing initiatives, to the affordable housing complex know today as Shermount Co-operative.