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For a new parent, the middle of the night can feel especially long.
A baby is crying. Maybe there’s a fever. You’re tired, worried, and wondering what to do next. For a mother experiencing homelessness, those everyday uncertainties of parenthood can be compounded by much bigger questions: Where will we sleep? How will I keep my baby safe? Where can I turn for help? At Marillac Place in Kitchener, mothers facing those circumstances don’t have to navigate them alone.
Marillac Place is a 24/7 transitional shelter supporting women who are pregnant, parenting children under two, or working to regain care of their children while experiencing homelessness. With space for up to 10 mothers and 11 babies at a time, the organization provides much more than a safe place to stay.
Its trauma-informed, strength-based approach surrounds women with practical and emotional supports, including social workers, psychotherapy, and staff on site around the clock. The goal is to meet each woman where she is and help her build the stability, skills, and confidence she needs for greater independence.
The need is significant.
In 2025, Marillac Place was at or near capacity throughout the year. A total of 204 women approached the organization for help. Marillac Place was able to provide shelter to 19 mothers and 11 babies, while its waiting list averaged 11 mothers each month.
For Debbie Adare, Director of Development at Marillac Place, those numbers represent something much more personal. As she puts it, “We’re talking about human beings. We’re talking about souls here. It can’t just be metrics and numbers.”
Moving into stable housing is an important milestone, but it doesn’t mean every challenge disappears. That’s why Marillac Place offers an After Care program to women after they leave the shelter, and why the Kindred Charitable Fund provided a $10,000 grant to help support this work.
Women can voluntarily participate in After Care for up to three years. An outreach worker stays connected with them at least monthly and provides support based on what each mother needs. That could mean transportation to a medical or legal appointment, help accessing housing supports, diapers or hygiene supplies, or simply having someone familiar to call when a new challenge arises. Marillac Place also helps women connect with other community resources. A recent partnership with Food4Kids Waterloo Region, for example, provides food hampers to women participating in After Care.
For Debbie, the purpose is both practical and deeply relational. “What we’re trying to do is remove barriers to their success,” she explains, “and we’re also trying to ensure that the strengths and the progress they’ve made while living at Marillac Place continues when they’re in the community.”
Perhaps most importantly, leaving Marillac Place doesn’t mean leaving its community behind.
“It’s not just, ‘Nice to see you. Off you go. Hope all goes well,’” Debbie says. “It’s, ‘We’re still here for you.’ … There’s a hand to hold on to.”
That continued relationship can extend across some of the most formative years of a child’s life. A mother who arrives at Marillac Place with a newborn could receive a year of support while living in the shelter, followed by up to three years through After Care. It’s an opportunity to help a mother continue building independence while giving her child a more stable beginning.
That matters because, for some families, homelessness is intergenerational. In a 2025 survey of former Marillac Place residents, 36 per cent said they themselves had grown up experiencing homelessness or precarious housing.
The question Marillac Place is asking is a powerful one: how do we help break that cycle?
Answering that question is also shaping what comes next for Marillac Place. The organization is exploring a longer-term vision for a continuum of care that could offer different levels of housing and support as mothers move towards greater independence. While those plans are still being developed, the goal is to look closely at the gaps that exist between current systems and consider new ways of helping mothers and children build lasting stability.
Kindred has entered into a multi-year funding agreement with Marillac Place to help give the organization greater capacity to explore that future while continuing the important work happening today.
At Kindred, our focus on housing stability is about more than having a roof overhead. It’s about helping create the conditions in which people can build stability, wellbeing, and hope for what comes next. Through its shelter, After Care program and vision for the future, Marillac Place is walking alongside mothers and their children at a particularly vulnerable time and helping them move towards a future where they can not only find a place to live but build a place to belong.