Core Programs
Crisis and Support Line
Emergency Shelter
Services for Women
Services for Children
Public Education
Caring Dads
Crisis and Support Line
Our counsellors are available 24/7 to take calls from women in crisis to immediately assess the level of danger and help women take appropriate action. Our crisis and support line is a critical first step for women experiencing abuse, and we ensure that every single call for help is answered. We answer, on average, 83 calls per week.
Emergency Shelter (2 Locations)
One has sixteen beds and four cribs, providing space for four families, and including one accessible unit. Our second shelter has sixteen beds and three cribs, providing space for five families, and including one accessible unit. Inside our walls, women and children know they are safe. The next step is to begin to rebuild their lives using an array of our services.
Services for Women
Each woman who comes to our doors has her own set of circumstances and experiences and we work with each person to help her chart her own path to a new life:
Let's Talk Child Witness Program: Supportive group sessions in our 8-week program for mothers with children ages 5-12. It is an early intervention program that is offered concurrently to children and their mothers. The mother’s group helps women enhance their parenting skills and understand the impact of family violence on their children.
Individual and Group Counselling sessions to help women heal and rebuild their lives, including our 10-week When Love Hurts group program to help women understand the patterns of abuse, recognize how it affects them, and explore ways to regain self-esteem and confidence.
Parenting Support including our Mothers in Mind® program for moms of infants and toddlers.
Legal Information and Support: provides women with assistance in dealing with family law matters, such as marital separation. Women with other legal matters, i.e. immigration, are supported in finding assistance.
Immigration Consultant: works closely with the Legal Support Workers and provides women with consultation and education on immigration matters, including the review of applications and related forms, and supporting documents in the immigration process.
Transitional Housing Support Worker: provides short-term assistance for women who are in the process of leaving an abusive situation by providing community referrals, as needed, and help with finding affordable housing.
To enroll in these programs and services, please email screening@yellowbrickhouse.org
Services for Children
Children who experience or witness abuse are impacted in many ways – not all of which are immediately visible. We work with each child in their own time and space to build trust, help them express their feelings, and help them enjoy their childhood.
We offer:
Individual counseling to help children deal with the impact of experiencing violence within their families.
Supportive group sessions in our Let’s Talk Child Witness Program, a 10-week program for children age 5-12 to teach children how to understand their feelings and learn ways to cope, as well as reinforcing that they are not responsible for the abusive situation they have experienced or witnessed. The program covers a range of topics, including: Normalizing Healthy Expression of Feelings, Conflict Resolution, Responsibility for Abuse, Changes in the Family, Safety Planning and Self Esteem.
Mothers in Mind – a 10-week parenting program for mothers and their young children under the age of four who have experienced trauma. The program focuses on the needs of mothers who find that these hurtful experiences are making parenting difficult, enabling them to develop strong attachment with their young children.
To enroll in these programs and services, please email screening@yellowbrickhouse.org
Break The Silence: Silent No More
In order to end domestic violence, we need people to talk about it. We need to identify it, prevent it and understand the options available to help those who are hurting.
Women who endure abuse do so in silence, and often, in isolation. We are their voice.
Through our work in public education, we facilitate discussions in schools and elsewhere in the community about the harmful effects of domestic violence. We conduct abuse prevention workshops for students from Grade 6-12 through our Schools for Change program, speak with college and university students about intimate partner abuse, and provide our unique perspectives to professional associations and groups who may come in to contact with abused women. We also conduct workplace Lunch & Learn sessions on Bill 132, the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act.
Caring Dads
Caring Dads is a 17-week group intervention program for men who have abused, neglected or exposed their children to domestic violence. Caring Dads is a child centered program and focuses on directly engaging fathers in efforts to enhance the safety and wellbeing of their children. Founded in 2001, the Caring Dads Program was designed from the premise that violence against women and violence against children are intricately intertwined, and that these two issues can and should be addressed together. In consultation with children protective services, children’s mental health agencies, women’s advocates, centers for children and families involved in the justice system, the program was developed by Dr. Katreena Scott, Dr. Claire Crooks, Tim Kelly, and Dr. Karen Francis. Yellow Brick House will be the first organization in York Region to offer the Caring Dads Program!
Group facilitation to begin December 2022.
