Location: 233 Carlton St.
Tentative client group: Women
Number of expected overnight spaces: Up to 28
Expected opening Date: Q3 2024
Service Operator: Fred Victor Centre with partner organizations
The City has leased the property at 233 Carlton St. as the relocation site for the Adelaide Women’s Resource Centre. Construction is ongoing and is expected to be completed early 2024.
233 Carlton Street is expected to replace the existing Adelaide Resource Centre for Women (67 Adelaide St. E.). The site will focus on providing 24-hour drop-in and support services for vulnerable women who are at risk of gender-based violence and experiencing homelessness.
Additional project partners may be brought on board once the service is moved to 233 Carlton St. based on client and service need. Fred Victor currently runs the women’s 24-hour drop-in service that includes the emergency overnight spaces. The current partner organizations that deliver other services at 67 Adelaide include:
The Adelaide Resource Centre for Women was established in 1998. In 2014, the Women’s 24 hour drop-in program was created at 67 Adelaide Street East as a result of Council direction to provide additional safe overnight space for women in the Downtown East neighbourhood.
The aging infrastructure at 67 Adelaide St. E. presents challenges for the effective delivery of the Adelaide Resource Centre for Women’s services. 67 Adelaide was also identified as being an optimal location due to its size for the creation of a new municipal shelter as its use as a 24 hour drop in centre did not optimize use of the space. 233 Carlton St. was identified as a suitable relocation site for a number of reasons: its close proximity to the existing location will facilitate service continuity given its important role in serving vulnerable women from the Downtown East, easy access to public transit and space for the delivery of a range of services.
It is most helpful to think of the Adelaide Resource Centre for Women as a resource centre offering many programs and services, where some women rest overnight.
While women can stay as long as they want or need to, the resource and 24 hour drop-in centre is not a shelter. Some women will visit the site for daytime hours only, some will sleep over only occasionally and others will stay overnight more often. For many, whether they stay overnight or not, the Adelaide Resource Centre for Women is their “safe place.”
At its new location, the Adelaide Resource Centre for Women will adjust these programs to take advantage of new facilities, such as a teaching kitchen, and potential new partnerships with local agencies such as Dixon Hall and the Yonge Street Mission. Through supports at the Adelaide Resource Centre for Women and connections with other service providers in the area, Fred Victor will continue to help clients find permanent housing, leading to improved well-being for the clients. The service will likely serve a combination of existing clients and women in Cabbagetown.
City staff site new locations for shelters under delegated authority as approved by City Council to address the urgent need for shelter spaces in the City of Toronto. The relocation of the Adelaide Resource Centre for Women to 233 Carlton St. falls under this authority as it is required due to 67 Adelaide St. E. being selected as a prospective new shelter site.
Community engagement usually starts six to nine months before a new location is opened and focuses on addressing concerns and how to support the success of the service in the community, rather than on service location. As a result of community interest and council direction, Toronto Shelter and Support Services has accelerated early engagement components of the community engagement plans for the services being developed at 233 Carlton Street.
Preliminary community engagement took place in late 2019 and early 2020, including meetings with key stakeholders, flyer distribution and an in-person public session. The community information session was held on January 21, 2020 at the Cabbagetown Youth Centre to learn more about this service and how to get involved with our service partners. The event featured a number of stations with a number of topics, including five main stations each staffed by specialists on the topic. Residents expressed their initial ideas and concerns at the forum with feedback recorded by City staff.
As the minor variance has been approved, community members can expect a number of engagement opportunities, led by a third-party facilitator, including but not limited to:
Learn more about the City’s approach to working with the community on our community engagement web page.
If you wish to learn more about the community engagement for 233 Carlton St., please email clc.233carlton@gmail.com.
Please see the following community bulletins for 233 Carlton St:
Additional community engagement opportunities along with infrastructure and programming updates for this location will be provided on an ongoing basis when available.
If you wish to join the City’s electronic mailing list for 233 Carlton St., please email clc.233carlton@gmail.com.