The Welcome Centre Shelter for Women provides comprehensive services to women and families experiencing homelessness, serving anyone aged 16 and over. Embracing a ‘housing first’ approach, the shelter’s primary goal is to offer a safe and stable place to live rather than a place to receive treatment. The Centre is committed to maintaining a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for up to 120
women and families. An integrated, anti-racist, anti-oppressive, feminist service delivery model guides all operations, promoting empowerment, dignity, privacy, respect, and independence for every resident. The Welcome Centre Shelter for Women remains Windsor’s only emergency shelter facility dedicated to supporting women and families. The shelter recognizes that women’s poverty and homelessness are systemic and societal issues, not individual failings. Its programs create opportunities for personal growth, advocacy, and feminist empowerment, emphasizing self-help and self-reliance. Through group and individual discussions among staff, residents, and volunteers, women have opportunities to engage in deeper analysis of women’s issues. This consciousness-raising work helps reduce isolation, shame, and self-blame while fostering community support, education, empowerment, and civic engagement. In 2021, the City of Windsor approached the agency regarding the purchase of a former hotel at 500 Tuscarora Avenue in downtown Windsor. Following extensive renovations, the Centre relocated in July 2022, expanding its capacity to include beds for up to 32 single women and 21 families, with overflow potential for upwards of 29 families during peak demand. The new facility also includes an on-site medical space through the Shelter Health Network, expanded office space, a children’s area, and shared common spaces. This relocation marked the largest transformation in the agency’s history, resulting in expanded staff positions, enhanced programming, and renewed investment in the Centre’s mission to provide safe housing and support for women and families in need.
