The YWCA says its safe homes pilot project helped 73 women in Fort Simpson and Fort Good Hope. The group has now released a blueprint for other NWT communities to replicate the initiative.
Started in 2019, the project was intended to support women and children fleeing violence in communities without a family violence shelter. The safe homes opened in 2023. Fort Good Hope and Fort Simpson took ownership of them after the YWCA’s pilot term ended in March 2026.
“The pilot was initiated in response to the high rates of intimate partner violence and family violence in the Northwest Territories, as well as the limited number of shelters available across the territory,” a Monday news release stated.
“For women and children in small and remote communities, leaving violence should not always mean having to leave their home community, culture, families, jobs and support system,” Hawa Dumbuya-Sesay, YWCA’s executive director, was quoted as saying.
The GNWT’s Department of Health and Social Services website currently lists five family violence shelters – in Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk and Yellowknife.
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The YWCA’s program was inspired by a safe homes program in BC that was created as part of that province’s 10-year, $734-million plan to build and operate 1,500 new units of housing for women.
For communities interested in starting their own safe homes, the YWCA has now developed a blueprint detailing learnings, challenges and recommendations from the pilot project.
“This blueprint shares what we learned throughout the project, so other communities can build on this work and create safe, culturally relevant options that meet their own local needs,” stated Dumbuya-Sesay.
Aside from being a safe shelter, safe homes also offer emotional support, crisis intervention, safety planning and referrals to housing, financial, medical and legal services, the 20-page blueprint document asserts.
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“Not only does a safe home afford women more choices when it comes to safety, as previously they may have had to travel long distances to access a shelter, but it also sends an important message within a community that violence is not okay and will not be tolerated,” the document states.
The YWCA said community ownership, dedicated coordination, flexibility and close relationships were key factors in the success of the safe home.
Challenges included a lack of housing availability – the YWCA recommends a home with three bedrooms or more should be used – as well as limited funding, stigma, maintaining clear criteria while responding to real needs of women, and substance use.
