Over the last 45 years, we’ve grown from a small 8-bed volunteer-run shelter to a multi-site provider of client-centered compassionate support services.
While we were able to shelter 322 adults and children last year, we were forced to redirect 430 due to capacity limitations. Each and every time this is a heartbreaking reality, as we know a survivor’s best chance of breaking the cycle of abuse is here at Gillian’s Place.
Our community outreach services designed to provide intensive support to survivors, yet not safe shelter are also experiencing all-time high demand. Since the start of the pandemic, these services have responded to an over 90% increase in demand. Since moving to our building in 2008, many of these programs and services did not exist or were limited in scope, but have grown out of the need to provide superior service to our community.
In the last five years there have been 850 deaths of women and girls in Canada, or one every 48 hours.
It is clear that the demand for our resources at Gillian’s Place is reaching a breaking point. The size and layout of our current 18-bedroom, 34-bed shelter are no longer adequate to respond to the growing need. Nor is it conducive to achieving the compassionate care we strive to deliver. Not only do several areas of our shelter need to be reimagined, but we also need to expand to meet our vulnerable clients’ unique and complex needs effectively.
The proposed improvements necessary to provide service excellence at Gillian’s Place involve renovations to our existing facilities, and a 9,000 sq. ft., three-story building expansion. This will be home to the…
Marotta Family Centre for Violence Prevention & Outreach Support.
5 new bedrooms
10 shelter beds
Security upgrades
Communal spaces
Staff wellness space
Pet shelter
Child & youth room enhancement
Group programming, life -skills & collaboration room
Revitalized client services spaces
Private & separate bathrooms
Non-denominational prayer & healing space
Expanded outreach department
Gillian’s Place is excited to share that longstanding donors, Angela Marotta, Melissa Marotta-Paolicelli, and their family have generously donated $1.5 million the Build a Safer Future Campaign. This gift will establish the Marotta Family Centre for Violence Prevention and Outreach Support in recognition of the Marotta’s generosity. The Marotta Family Centre for Violence Prevention & Outreach Support will see a three-story nine-thousand-square-foot expansion to the current Gibson Place facility. In addition, the Centre will be home to a new outreach counselling department, designed for women who require support but not safe shelter. Demand for this type of service has increased by 98% since the pandemic’s start, with survivors requiring more intensive and interconnected levels of support. The Centre will also house expanded areas for legal advice and support, transitional housing and support, the domestic violence response initiative, community education, and violence prevention programs. Many of these programs and services either did not exist or have significantly increased since 2008, when Gillian’s Place converted the former Victoria Public School to our current operations.
905.684.4000 ext. 254