No Baby Should Start Life Homeless
Every baby deserves a safe place to sleep. A calm place to grow. A stable beginning.
Marillac Place is a 24/7 staffed transitional shelter in Waterloo Region dedicated to supporting women who are pregnant or parenting a child under two.
We provide transitional housing, stability, and support so babies can begin life in safety, not crisis.
A Child’s Future Begins Before They Are Born
The earliest years of life shape brain development, emotional health, and long-term wellbeing. When babies experience housing instability during this critical period, the effects can last a lifetime.
36% of women we serve reported experiencing homelessness as children. Without early intervention, instability repeats across generations.
Marillac Place exists to break that cycle, before it takes hold.
Hope begins one baby, one mother, one safe start at a time.
Every donation means a baby comes home to a crib instead of a car or a couch, with a mother supported by the wraparound care at Marillac Place.
Together, we can change how a child's life begins.
A Story of Second Chances
At nineteen years old, she arrived at Marillac Place with a newborn baby and nowhere to go. She was homeless, overwhelmed by depression, and unsure how she could build a future for herself or her daughter.
At Marillac Place, she found something she hadn't felt in a long time: Hope
Her journey was not easy, but the time she spent at Marillac Place became the beginning of a path toward recovery and rebuilding her life.
Transitional Shelter for Mothers and Babies
Marillac Place is the only 24/7 staffed transitional shelter in Waterloo Region dedicated exclusively to supporting women who are pregnant or parenting a child under two, regardless of their age, race, or the circumstances that led to their experience of homelessness.
We walk alongside each mother during the most formative time in her child's life, offering trauma-informed care that makes a stable future possible for them both.
Two lives. One safe beginning.
Changing the Course of a Life
When a mother arrives at Marillac Place, she finds more than a roof over her head.
She finds a place where she can breathe, heal, and begin to hope again.
Every day, we walk with mothers and babies as they:
- heal from what brought them here
- learn the skills to care for themselves and their babies
- grow in confidence as mothers
- step into a future they can believe in