Women’s Housing Services

Affordable Housing Crisis in Hamilton

Hamilton has become one of the most expensive cities for housing in North America. A recent study ranked Hamilton as North America’s third least affordable city, behind Vancouver and Toronto, leaving many Hamiltonians priced out of both the housing and rental markets. Hamilton also has a shortage of new housing specifically geared to people who cannot afford market prices. Currently, over 6,000 people are on the waitlist for affordable housing, which translates into a three to five year wait. Coupled with the rise in “renovictions,” when landlords renovate and push tenants out to jack rents, Hamilton is faces a major deficit of affordable, reliable, and safe housing.

Through our housing programming, YWCA Hamilton works to provide solutions for women and families. We offer safe spaces for women and women-identifying individuals who are experiencing homelessness, fleeing violent situations, or in need of temporary housing.

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In need of emergency shelter tonight? Contact:

Mary’s Place: (905) 540-8000
Native Women’s Centre: 1-888-308-6559
Martha House and Inasmuch House: (905) 523-8895
Interval House: (905) 387-9959

Are you a woman or family fleeing domestic violence? Contact:

YWCA Phoenix Place (905) 527-2238 during business hours.

If you require an urgent safety plan, please call one of the following crisis lines:

Martha House: 24-hour crisis line (905) 523-6277
Inasmuch House: 24-hour crisis line (905) 529-8600
Interval House: 24-hour crisis line (905) 387-8881
SACHA: 24-hour support line (905) 525-4162

OUR HOUSING PROGRAMS

Through an intersectional approach, we serve women, girls and their families through a continuum of critical programs and services that empower women. As an organization that is for, by, and about women, we work to end violence in all of its forms, against all women, provide housing solutions for women and families facing homelessness, and enhance women’s leadership opportunities.

General Inquiry

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM

Private facility

Shared kitchen and community space

24-hour staff support

Mindfulness and positive mental health Wraparound Services

Safe and respectful space

Transitional Living Program

YWCA Hamilton’s Transitional Living Program provides safe, affordable and temporary housing to over 100 single women and women-identifying individuals each year at YWCA Hamilton’s MacNab Street location. The Transitional Living Program provides a home for up to eleven months for women and women-identifying individuals at risk and struggling with the impact of poverty, homelessness and violence.

In addition to a 65 bed residence, this program offers residents with the opportunity to access wraparound services including access to health and wellness opportunities, employability and life skills training and individualized case management, one-on-one support and client advocacy.

For more information contact:
Women’s Advocate at (905) 522-9922 ext. 114

Phoenix Place

Phoenix Place serves as a safe haven for women and their children who are escaping domestic violence. This second-stage housing program at a confidential location impacts over 100 women and children each year through supportive housing, counseling and client advocacy.

Women and their families are able to reside at Phoenix Place for up to one year. In addition to second-stage housing, women and children residing at Phoenix Place receive individualized supports including counseling, advocacy, service and support navigation and safety planning. YWCA’s Phoenix Place offers refuge for women and their children and the time that they need to engage in self-care and to get back on their feet.

For more information contact:
Transitional Housing Support Worker at (905) 527-2238.

Carole Anne’s Place

Carole Anne’s Place is a low-barrier overnight drop-in centre that offers women a safe, warm place to rest when shelters are full and is operated in partnership with St. Joseph’s Healthcare and Mission Services and with funding from the City of Hamilton, Out of the Cold and Sisters of Charity.

Carole Anne’s Place is a critical service as emergency shelters and transitional housing programs for women in Hamilton are consistently full and even operating at overcapacity. In addition to providing a safe place to sleep, Carole Anne’s Place also provides access to withdrawal management services, meals, shelter placement assistance, and winter clothing to women who would otherwise be at risk of freezing to death outside on the coldest nights of the year.

For more information contact:
Women’s Advocate at 905-522-9922 ext. 100

Shelter Health Network

YWCA Hamilton is committed to community collaboration, partnership and works on an ongoing basis with Hamilton community and social service organizations. YWCA Hamilton continues to partner with the Shelter Health Network, a collaboration of health care professionals and social service organizations, to reach high-risk populations of people who do not have stable housing and who have complex health issues.

To help remove barriers to accessing health care, YWCA Hamilton provides a space at 75 MacNab Street at no cost to health care professionals and clients accessing services, to deliver health care clinics two days each week. The primary focus is on primary care, mental health and addictions treatment, along with chronic care and preventative health services. Our goal is to ensure that all individuals, with our without a place to call home, has access to quality health care within their community.

For more information contact:
Shelter Health Network at (905) 526-7137.

Hours of Operation:

Monday	1:00pm – 4:00pm – Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
Tuesday	1:00pm – 4:00pm – Dr. Erica Roebbelen
Wednesday	closed
Thursday	1:00pm – 4:00pm – Dr. Erica Roebbelen
Friday	closed
Saturday	closed
Sunday	closed