Together We're Ending Women's Homelessness

About Powell Place

Opened in 1977 and reopened after renovations in March 2015, Powell Place was the first women-only shelter in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. We serve women who live with the intersecting challenges of violence, abuse, poverty, mental illness and addiction. Our innovative, strengths-based approach encourages women to make their own choices and supports them as they reach toward their goals. Providing accessible, non-judgemental individualized supports 24 hours a day, every day, our priorities are safety, stability, harm reduction and self-determination for every woman. The new facility doubles our capacity from 26 to 52 beds and expands our support services. Following expansion, Powell Place now includes a secure street-level reception area, medical room, learning space, counselling rooms, 1-on-1 support rooms, kitchens and a dining room.

Stories of resilience and hope

• Brianna’s Story: Brianna is a young woman who stayed with us at Powell Place off and on for years. She was very athletic when growing up, proud to have been a competitive snowboarder. She struggled with her addiction for years and had gone to treatment several times. It proved difficult to maintain her sobriety. From Powell Place, Brianna went to treatment and has been in recovery for the past five months. Now she is reconnecting with friends and family. It was great providing support to her. We loved her wonderful sense of humour and she challenged us to provide better vegetarian meal choices for her and others.
• Helen’s story: Helen stayed with us for six months. She was being evicted from her housing due to unsanitary living conditions. She had health issues and short-term memory loss. She had trouble keeping up with housework.At the shelter, we accompanied her to medical appointments and made referrals to housing options. We facilitated meetings between her, our workers, health-care providers and family to assist in finding the right housing and supports.Helen chose to work with our Adult Guardianship program, which assisted her with budgeting her trust and disability benefits. Our workers helped her with touring community housing options. She was accepted at a mental health housing program, and despite initial hesitations to live alone, Helen has thrived in this housing community for two years.
• Nancy’s Story: Nancy never expected to be living in a shelter but her landlord refused to fix her suite. It became unsafe and was affecting her health. She didn’t have references for market housing and had very little money.We provided her with applications for subsidized housing and she applied to many housing providers. In working with her we discovered that she was eligible for disability assistance, having both physical and mental health issues. We provided emotional support for the ensuing appointments with her doctor and the welfare office, and assisted with her successful application.She stayed with us for almost a year while she waited for suitable housing to become available. During this time, she was connected to resources and supports in the community. When housing became available, she was given referrals for free house wares and low-cost groceries. It was wonderful for us to share Nancy’s excitement about her fresh start in a new home.