Nellie's is a 5-star charity that provides shelter and other assistance to women and children experiencing violence, poverty, and homelessness. It is financially transparent and has good reporting on the results of its programs. Its overhead costs fall within Ci's reasonable range.

Founded in 1973, Nellie’s was Toronto’s first women’s shelter. Named for Canada’s pioneering suffragette, Nellie McClung, it was co-founded by a group of female activists including June Callwood. Nellie’s began as a shelter with 16 beds for homeless women, fleeing domestic abuse. In November 2021, Nellie's opened a 40-bed, 22-bedroom shelter. This shelter houses women and children leaving domestic violence situations and dealing with other issues like poverty and mental health. Its goal is to ensure the women it serves move on to safe and affordable housing so they do not return to violent situations. Nellie’s is a community-based feminist charity that sees itself as anti-racism and anti-oppression. It is committed to social change through education and advocacy, to achieve social justice for all women and children.

Women come to Nellie’s from all backgrounds: women who are pregnant, immigrants, some single, some with children. In F2021, 36 single women and 22 families arrived at Nellie's. Five babies were born and 35 children lived at Nellie's. 36 women fled violence or intimate partner abuse.

In addition, Nellie’s has added programs (helping mothers find child-care, register for schools, deal with Children’s Aid), and programs for children like art programs and summer camp, to help children process the violence they may have witnessed.

Beyond being an emergency shelter, Nellie’s provides its community a weekly drop-in dinner for women and children who are homeless or living in poverty. Every week between 60 and 80 single women and families visit the program. 

Nellie's received $1.6m in donations in F2021, a 60% increase from donations of $989k in F2019. Nellie's also received $2.7m in government funding. This makes up 62% of its total revenue in F2021. Fundraising costs are 3% of donations and administrative costs are 6% of total revenues. For each dollar donated, 91 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending.

Funding reserves of $3.3m can cover program costs for just over 1 year.

This report is an update that has been sent to Nellie's. Changes and corrections may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 28, 2022 by Emily Downing