It’s fair to say that things are expensive right now. Over 50% of Canadians are feeling the pinch, and rising costs are pushing families even farther into the margins.

One building is working to address the existing gap in services available for the most vulnerable families in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) neighbourhood. Union Gospel Mission’s Women & Families Centre accepted its first program participants and tenants in January 2022, and is offering women and children a safe and secure home.

The newly opened, 77,000-square-foot building features a mix of living spaces, with 63 housing units for women and children. The Sanctuary, a unique recovery program designed specifically for women, will operate out of the building, and encompasses transitional housing, stabilization, and supportive recovery programming. With trauma-informed counselling services and childcare on site, the Women & Families Centre prioritizes a holistic, wraparound continuum of care that will lift up mothers and families.

UGM currently is the only organization in the DTES that provides full-time services for women with infants in their care, giving space for them to maintain a recovery-centred life and build a foundation for their future. Families can make the building home for up to five years, relieving the pressure of rising inflation and housing insecurity in the midst of a housing crisis.

And we can’t do it without you! It’s through the support of donors, sponsors, and volunteers that UGM can continue to transform communities.

Partner with us to support Metro Vancouver’s families in overcoming poverty, homelessness, and addiction, one life at a time.