Downtown Eastside Women's Centre

The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) is one of the busiest women’s centres in the country, operating a non-profit Drop-In Centre and Emergency Night Shelter in one of the poorest communities in Canada. DEWC is unique in that it is one of the only safe spaces within the Downtown Eastside specifically and exclusively for all women and their children, and has been a permanent and pertinent part of the community since 1978.

DEWC provides free basic necessities including nutritious hot meals, laundry, secure bathrooms, showers, and clothing. Our kitchen program serves up to 500 meals daily, totaling up to 182,500 meals annually. We deliver an array of specialized services at DEWC including Advocacy, Housing Outreach, Victim Services, HIV Case Management, Chinese Senior Outreach and Cultural Programming. DEWC is experiencing unprecedented challenges with the increasing growth in homelessness. The demand and cost to deliver theses services is growing exponentially and we rely heavily on community support in order to meet the current capacity.