Cornerstone women’s shelter returns to Centretown after 13 months, three moves

After a tumultuous 13 months, Cornerstone Housing for Women is returning to its original shelter location on O'Connor Street in Centretown.

In December of 2020, the Ottawa shelter was relocated to the Friel Physical Distancing Centre, a University of Ottawa residence, in order to complete life-cycle updates on its emergency shelter; to support more women experiencing homelessness in the city and to allow for physical distancing. 

Cornerstone went from supporting 61 women to 125 over the course of two months. It's seen an overall 102 per cent increase in local women needing shelter during the pandemic, and officials say they still haven’t seen the full effects of the pandemic on vulnerable women in Ottawa.

At the end of June 2021, Cornerstone worked with the City of Ottawa to transition 107 women to a temporary location at a community centre in Alta Vista.

Its emergency shelter in Centretown offers food service, showers, dining, community space, and access to computers, Wi-Fi, and television.

“We’re grateful to be returning back to our neighbourhood, in a building known to us,” says Sarah Davis, executive director of Cornerstone Housing for Women. “These three moves would not have been possible without the city staff, our dedicated staff team, who continue to provide quality care to vulnerable women amongst the challenges of working front line in a pandemic, and all of the volunteers and community partners who helped make these moves successful. We’d also like to thank the different communities for welcoming and supporting us throughout these moves.”

Cornerstone will move back into its Centretown location with 53 women.