About Us
Our story is one of necessity but resilience, a story, more than four decades long, of a community coming together to end violence against women and marginalized genders.
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and that Toronto now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands.
Here’s what we provide
Emergency Shelter
NYWS provides a 17-bedroom emergency shelter with the capacity to house up to 40 survivors, plus - a first in the Toronto area - a kennel for their pets!
Anne Marie D'Amico Community Collective
The Anne Marie D'Amico Community Collective offers wrap around services to survivors within the North York community who have or are experiencing violence.
Transitional Housing Support is available to community members in need. Please get in touch if you're interested in receiving support accessing appropriate accommodation after experiencing violence.
Our Vision
A community characterized by gender equality where women, trans and non-binary people and their children are empowered and safe.
Our Mission
North York Women’s Shelter actively supports the rights of women, trans and non-binary people and their children to build lives free of violence by providing non-judgmental safe shelter, advocacy, and a range of programs and services including 24-hour crisis support.
A Place of Hope Since 1984
“The history of North York Women’s Shelter is a history of people who care, a history of individuals with drive and determination, of people fighting for a cause they know is right, a cause well worth fighting for.”
These were the words of Reta Duenish, the shelter’s first president, who was a survivor of abuse and a life long activist who channeled her experiences so that others could live without violence.
The project to establish a women’s shelter in North York began in 1980, when the women’s services committee of North York Inter Agency Council reviewed reports from two North York hospitals which shared that, on average, they were treating 5 cases per week of what was then known as 'battered women'. This alarming statistic catalized the committee to begin proceedings to incorporate an organization to start a safe shelter.
Since September of 1984, NYWS has been in operation 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, and is able to accommodate 40 adults and children at any given time. For more than four decades, NYWS has been a place of healing, empowerment and refuge. NYWS has been able to help over 11,000 survivors to date to heal from the trauma of abuse.
For over 40 years, NYWS has
provided safety and support for over 11,000 survivors impacted by violence.
It takes a community.
Join us and take action to end violence.
To the Future
In March 2020, after three years of construction, NYWS opened our updated 24,000-square-foot anti-violence centre, including a community services collective and an emergency shelter with 17 bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and capacity to house up to 40 individuals.
As our understanding of gender-based violence continues to evolve, we recognize that the needs of our residents have shifted and grown; demanding a more complex, evidence-based and holistic response from us as an organization and as a society. From this day forward, we work to renew our efforts to serve survivors in a productive, supportive and impactful way.