Red Door Family Shelter

About Red Door Family Shelter:

Founded in 1982, Red Door Family Shelter (Red Door) is now one of the largest family shelters in the Greater Toronto Area. The charity operates a family shelter and a women’s shelter that serves women experiencing domestic violence. Red Door aims to reduce the impact of homelessness by providing shelter and support services to families. Provincial and municipal funding finance the shelters’ basic operations while donations fund programs including medical services, counselling services, legal support, parenting and life skills workshops, and children’s programs.

In F2018, Red Door Family Shelter housed and supported 347 families. Families are referred to the shelter by agencies such as Children’s Aid Societies, Police Services, Central Family Intake, or through the advice of friends. 190 of these families received emergency shelter, including 158 mother-led families and 360 children. Red Door reports that 55% of the families housed were escaping domestic violence, 24% experienced eviction, and 21% were refugees.

Over half of Red Door’s residents are children, many of whom struggle with trauma and confusion. Red Door runs an after-school program that helps children establish a regular routine, and youth workshops for teenagers and parents on topics like Violence Prevention, Youth and the Law, and Healthy Eating. In F2018, 360 children and youth benefitted from the program.

Red Door’s weekly food bank supports families who have moved out of the shelter during their transition into independence. In F2018, 46,280 lbs of food were distributed to 226 families.

Red Door’s moving program supports families as they transition from the shelter into permanent housing. The program reduces moving costs and provides donated furniture and household items. In F2018, the program helped 77 families with average savings of $1,800 per family.

In March 2014, Red Door Family Shelter’s location at 875 Queen Street East was placed into receivership. Since then, the shelter has been operating at an interim location at 1430 Gerrard Street East. An agreement was made between Red Door, Harhay Development, and the City of Toronto for the original Queen Street location to become a mixed-use development, combining a shelter, retail and residential condos. The new shelter is expected to be completed in Spring 2020.  

Results and Impact: In F2018, Red Door Family Shelter helped 80 families find and move into permanent housing. Of these families, 68 moved into private rentals and 12 moved into subsidized housing.

Financial Review:

Red Door Family Shelter is a small charity, receiving $919k in donations in F2018. Most of the charity’s funding comes from provincial and municipal governments, which made up 85% of total revenues in F2018. Administrative costs are 9% of revenues (excluding investment income), and fundraising costs are 31% of donations. For every dollar donated, 60 cents go to Red Door’s programs. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Red Door's funding reserves consist of $2.2m in cash net of $145k in mortgages. Net reserves of $2.0m can cover program costs for 5 months.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Red Door Family Shelter for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on May 24, 2019 by Caroline McKenna.