Chez Doris, located in

Shaughnessy Village Shaughnessy Village (sometimes referred to as the Concordia Ghetto) is a neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, located on the western side of the Ville-Marie borough. It is bounded by Guy Street to the east, Atwater Street to the west, S ...

on the western side of the Ville Marie borough of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, is a

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

that offers a daily daytime shelter for women in need. The shelter provides meals, shelter, clothing, hygiene services, socio-recreational activities, and practical assistance to women in difficulty. The facility is

multi-lingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monoling ...

; the languages spoken are

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, and

Inuktitut Inuktitut ( ; , Inuktitut syllabics, syllabics ), also known as Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the North American tree line, including parts of the provinces of ...

. Chez Doris provides drop-in services, meals, financial administration and

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

filing assistance, clothing, and hygiene services, including access to washrooms, showers, and haircuts. It operates an

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

assistance program and an Aboriginal housing program.

History

The idea for Chez Doris was formed during a series of conversations between Sheila Baxter and Doris Halfkenny Seale, whom Baxter had been interviewing as part of an effort to interview female

prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...

to learn about their situations and what they needed. Seale, who was also homeless, responded by stating that it would be good to have “'a place to go without prying eyes and too many questions'”. This later prompted Baxter to create a women's shelter for impoverished women in the Montreal area, seeing as how men in the 1970s had their own shelters, but women did not. Seale was found murdered on

St. Urbain Street Saint Urbain Street () is a major one-way street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The original, southernmost section of the street was built by Urbain Tessier (c. 1624–1689), a farmer and carpenter who settled in the area. The name also mak ...

in Montreal's

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

on November 2, 1974, prior to the opening of Chez Doris. The murder remains unsolved. Since its opening in 1977, Chez Doris had struggled to retain its daily upkeep, especially after facing large renovation and maintenance costs in 2016. However, following a $1 million donation in 2018 from retired Montreal businessman

Andrew Harper Andrew Harper (13 November 1844 – 25 November 1936) was a Scottish–Australian biblical scholar, teacher, and school and university college principal. Early life Harper was born at 167 Main Street, in the Gorbals in Glasgow, Scotland, son ...

, Chez Doris is not only able to sustain regular finances, but also expand its services. Chez Doris is located at 1430 Chomedey Street and offers services to upwards of 80 women per day. Following the donation, Chez Doris bought a second building across the street and announced that it will offer a space for the shelter to open an overnight shelter for women. In 2018, Chez Doris announced that it would undertake research on the growing needs of the shelter. As a result, in 2020, the shelter expanded its facilities, including a 22-bed emergency shelter which was funded by the federal government. Another addition was a residence with 26 studio apartments for women living on the streets or who are at risk of homelessness.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.chezdoris.org 1977 establishments in Quebec Homeless shelters in Canada Women's_shelters_in_Canada Charities based in Canada Non-profit organizations based in Montreal Organizations established in 1977