Acquisition will help shelter grow from 12 beds to 42

My Friend’s House has purchased a third property in Wasaga Beach, to further expand safe housing and support for women and children experiencing gender- based violence across South Georgian Bay.

The organization will move its existing emergency shelter into the new property, allowing the current shelter building in Collingwood to be repurposed as transitional housing. Combined with House of Hope,

acquired earlier this year, and five additional crisis beds, this expansion will grow My Friends House from its current 12-bed capacity at the shelter to 42 beds across all three properties, consisting of both emergency and transitional housing.

This growth is about more than increasing the number of beds; it creates a pathway for women to move from immediate safety into transitional housing and toward greater stability and independence while opening emergency shelter spaces for women who are still in crisis.

Last year, My Friend’s House received 7,011 crisis calls from women seeking help. Another 558 women and children had to be turned away because there simply wasn’t enough safe space available.

“Every time we have to tell a woman that we don’t have a safe space available, we know what is at stake,” said Samantha Jones, executive director of My Friend’s House. “Growing from 12 beds to 42 means more opportunities for us to say the words we want every woman who reaches out to hear, which is ‘Yes, we have a place for you.’ This expansion will fundamentally change what we are able to offer women and children across our community.”

The location of the new property in Wasaga Beach also expands My Friend’s House’s physical presence within one of the communities it serves, strengthening the regional response to gender-based violence and creating more options for women and children closer to home.

“When a woman or child in our community needs a safe place to turn, that support should be there for them. It was important to see a path forward for My Friend’s House to establish a home in Wasaga Beach, and I’m grateful to have been part of that process. Council is grateful for their investment in our community and for the important work they continue to do across our region.”

For My Friend’s House, the purchase represents an important milestone in a much larger vision for the future.

“This is about creating more room for safety, more room for possibility and more pathways forward,” added Jones. “When a woman reaches out to My Friend’s House, we want to be able to meet her where she is and continue walking alongside her through what comes next. “This expansion brings us closer to writing the next chapter for My Friend’s House, and the women and children in our community.”