
More than a roof… healing homelessness, with the La rue des Femmes Relational Health Institute!
For almost 30 years, we have been welcoming and caring for women who are living in a state of homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
These women are survivors of severe trauma, often experienced in childhood. They are experiencing chronic post-traumatic stress, which breaks down their relational health and impedes their ability to feel safe and connected to themselves and others.
Our experience, combined with recent discoveries in neuroscience, has enabled us to develop a proven approach that has shown us clearly that healing homelessness requires acknowledgement of the relational wounds caused by violence. It also requires access to safety, security and care.
This relational health intervention approach enables women experiencing homelessness to liberate themselves from this post-traumatic stress, to heal and to return to a normal life.
The La rue des Femmes Relational Health Institute will enable a better understanding, better care and better prevention of homelessness.
What is the La rue des Femmes Relational Health Institute?
- A relational health centre for curative and preventive care, including day centres offering various therapeutic methods to ensure inner security, healing and a return to normal life for women who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
- Emergency and transitional accommodation services.
- An outreach clinic.
- An integrated research and expertise centre offering internships and training in the field of relational health.
- A creator of alliances and partnerships with organizations working in the field of homelessness, particularly women’s homelessness.
- A driver of change, an agent of awareness and promotion of relational health with the public and governments.
Why give?
- To enable the hiring of therapists and specialist intervention workers so that we can provide up to 10,000 hours of care by 2024.
- To acquire the space required for therapeutic care, including complementary therapies: art workshop, choir, writing, yoga, drama therapy, dance, and more.
- To open an outreach clinic at Jacqueline House.
- To create the first centre for research and expertise in relational health.
- To support emergency and transitional accommodation services.
Your impact
- Accelerate the healing of women experiencing homelessness.
- Increase the number of women receiving care and services to 1,500 by 2024.
- Significantly increase the number of women given accommodation, from 350 to 700 by 2024.
- Change perceptions of homelessness.
- Promote the relational health intervention model.
- Innovate with a winning and enduring solution to homelessness.
Our Campaign Team
Honorary Patrons
Co-Chairs
Members

Patrice Martin
Partner, BLG Avocats
Our donors
$1,000 000 +
$500 000 – $999 999
$250 000 – $499 999
$100 000 – $249 999
$50 000 – $99 999
- Bombardier – Fondation J. Armand Bombardier – Fonds de bienfaisance
- Dollarama
- Caisse du Complexe Desjardins
- Fondation Écho
- Hélène Cartier
- Madeleine Chenette
- Mitch Garber
- Pierre Anctil
$10 000 – $49 999
- ABB
- Alain Dumas
- Bell Canada
- Beneva
- Borden Ladner Gervais S.E.N.C.R.L
- BNP Paribas
- Canderel
- Énergir
- Fondaction
- Fondation Luc Maurice
- Lavery avocats
- Normandin Beaudry
- Pomerleau Inc.
- Sun Life