In Toronto, an Indigenous Women’s Emergency Shelter Provides a Safe Haven to Recover

A large wooden table in the center of the communal kitchen/dining room is the gathering spot. Here, women are learning to make modern takes on traditional Native American ribbon skirts or create vision boards as part of the cultural, wellness, and life skills programming offered by Anduhyaun, the oldest Indigenous women’s shelter in Canada (and the only one of its kind in Toronto). The table has been refurbished and brought over from the shelter’s former location, a cramped, city-owned historic home, to Anduhyaun’s new, 11,862-square-foot building designed by LGA Architectural Partners, a local firm with years of experience designing transitional shelters and affordable housing.