We’re Working to Build a Safer Future.

Urgent Needs Demand Bold Action

We have been planning a renovation to adapt our current spaces to mirror our support to our vulnerable clients. Given the realities of our present work and future demand forecast, the need has become abundantly more urgent. After careful examination and consultation, it is apparent that Gillian’s Place not only renovates our current space but also expands to better meet our community’s needs. This expansion will not only increase our shelter capacity but also improve our services, providing a safer and more supportive environment for survivors of gender-based violence.

Our vision involves two phases. Phase One will see us reimagine several areas of our facility currently used for legal and community outreach programs and administrative spaces. These areas will be converted to additional shelter resources – more bedrooms, bathrooms, counselling spaces, living areas, and a group and life skills programming room. Out of necessity, many of our current meeting spaces and smaller living areas have been converted to makeshift bedrooms. This certainly is not an ideal way for our vulnerable clients to reside, and this detrimentally affects other shelter services and experiences due to the lack of space. This renovation will allow Gillian’s Place to not only shelter more survivors with ten additional beds but also enable us to provide the compassionate, client-centred, trauma-informed, and harm-reductive care we aim to deliver. 

The spaces renovated in Phase One are contingent on facility expansion. Phase Two of our vision will see a 8,000-square-foot addition that will be home to the…

Marotta Family Centre for Violence Prevention & Outreach Support.

Many of the spaces that were previously located in the existing building will move to the new Centre. The three-story, 8,000-square-foot addition will allow for expanded programming for outreach counselling, legal assistance, transitional and aftercare support, violence prevention work, and administration. Many of these programs and services either did not exist or have grown significantly since 2008, when Gillian’s Place moved into the former Victoria Public School.