Housing & Support
WINGS empowers women and children who are escaping domestic abuse to have safe, independent futures by delivering secure long-term housing and wrap-around support services to help families 24/7. While these fully furnished apartments provide needed shelter for survivors, WINGS does much more than provide a roof over their heads.
Unlike many domestic violence organizations that provide short-term emergency shelter, WINGS offers long-term housing solutions, allowing survivors the time and stability needed to rebuild their lives. Domestic violence is often a clear path to homelessness. This is not only true for women subjected to violent homes, but children exposed and traumatized by violence in the home often leave to a homeless state to escape the trauma. WINGS’ long-term housing and support services are crucial in breaking the cycle of abuse. By providing stable housing, financial education, and emotional support, we significantly reduce the risk of survivors becoming homeless or being forced to return to abusive environments. WINGS is one of the few organizations offering long-term housing, helping to solve this critical need and prevent homelessness for women and children escaping violence.
WINGS creates a safe and welcoming home for women and children. Our trauma-informed approach, intensive counselling, onsite childcare, life skills training, as well as child and youth programs – encourage healing for the whole family. We give women time to process and the tools they need to recover from the horrific trauma they have experienced. Our full-circle healing helps women and children become more stable, access new skills and set a healthy course for their lives.
Wrap-Around Services
WINGS provides a full spectrum of support—housing, counselling, legal assistance, financial literacy, health and wellness support, and children’s services—all designed to address the many barriers survivors face in escaping abuse and achieving independence.
The families who live at WINGS have left situations of domestic violence, and are in need of a safe, caring, and supportive home. The women and their children are healing and trying to manage the effects of trauma; some may end up with PTSD, anxiety, and addiction issues. WINGS staff work with the families so that women and children are able to heal, and gain the tools they need to lead safe, healthy, and bright futures. Our programs are designed with trauma-focused care and best practices, aimed at addressing the physical, psychological, and emotional effects of experiencing violence in the home.
Our full-time Nurse Practitioner provides on-site health care to families, and through partnerships with organizations like ‘YWCA and Legal Aid,’ WINGS integrates services such as trauma-informed counseling, healthcare, and legal advocacy, providing a one-stop solution for families in crisis.
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*Two apartment buildings (49 suites), located directly beside each other – WINGS’ Second Stage Shelter and The Home Next Door.
*Two and three bedroom, fully furnished suites in a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment.
*Barrier Free apartments are available.
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*One-on-one and peer counseling
*Group counseling
*Healing circles
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*Safety planning
*Mental health and addiction support
*Health Education sessions and medical follow up with onsite NP
*Court accompaniment
*Food Pantry and Grocery Gift Cards
*A Donation Program providing clothes, personal items, school supplies, and household goods.
*Family and holiday events including BBQs, pizza parties, field trips, arts & crafts activities.
*Life skills education including:
*Collective Kitchen program (teaching cost effective nutritional meal planning and cooking)
*Financial Literacy
*Humanities 101 (UofA)
*Plus much more!
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*Onsite Daycare with hot lunch program, nutritious snack, and trauma informed early education programs.
*Teen group, safety planning, and early intervention support
*Kids groups, activities, and field trips
*Recreational programs
*Summer camp
*Dog therapy and more!
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*The next step for families to spread their WINGS!
*Safe, long term, affordable housing to promote continued healing and independence.
*29 two and three bedroom, fully furnished apartments in a safe, supportive and welcoming environment.
*On-site fully licensed and accredited Rocky Forest Day Care and Out-of-School Care, allowing the women to return to work or school while offering trauma informed, quality care for their children.
*A live-in caretaker for enhanced safety
*Kids group and youth programming; recreational activities and field trips
*Access to WINGS Donation Program
*Outreach Program which continues to support women and their children as they integrate into the community:
*Provides Counseling support and education/information resources to families overcoming the effects of domestic abuse.
*Assists women with ongoing safety planning and safety checks.
*Helps women to identify their goals.
*Provides advocacy, referrals, and networking support.
*Accompaniment to court and other scheduled appointments and more.
Youth & Children’s Programs
The supports and interventions offered by our Children’s Programs help to mitigate the impact of domestic violence on children and build the capacity of children to overcome the challenges they face. WINGS staff and Board of Directors are dedicated to improving the quality of life for the children and families at WINGS and the Home Next Door.
Our trauma-informed care and early education programs assist with the emotional, developmental, and behavioural challenges of the children, many of whom have suffered from trauma and PTSD. It is our goal to create structure and routine so that we can reduce the suffering in children and support them in their growth and development.
Without early intervention and education, children who have experienced family violence are at increased risk of being victims of, or perpetuating, family violence. Our programs help stabilize the children and their families and offer a safe, caring, and healthy environment to participate in fun, creative, and educational activities while learning about one another.
Programming Includes:
Youth Workers who support and encourage the children and youth (6-18 yrs)
Onsite childcare (3mos-kindergarten) while mom attends daily group
Children and Teen groups (early interventions, safety planning, life skills development)
Recreation Programs and Field Trips (both on-site and off-site)
Healthy Snacks, Food Education, and Meals during groups
Summer Camp during July and August
Dog Therapy with CAAWLS
Family Days, BBQ’s, Park Days, and Holiday Celebrations
Fully licensed Rocky Forest Daycare & Out of School Care for Home Next Door residents (3mos-12yrs)
The Rocky Forest Daycare & Out of School Care
The Rocky Forest Daycare & Out of School Care is located onsite at the Home Next Door. We are licensed Daycare for 33 children, infant to 5 years old and our Out of School Care has space for 15 children, 6 to 12 years old. Our centre is trauma-informed, which means we are mindful of the circumstances of domestic violence and how that affects a child’s development and ability to form trusting relationships. We take pride in building relationships with the child and the mother so they feel safe and secure. Planning and programming follow with Alberta’s Early Learning FLIGHT Framework Curriculum intended to guide the significant work of early learning and childcare educators with young children (ages 0-6yrs) and their families in centre-based childcare facilities.
The Rocky Forest Daycare’s Hot Lunch and Snack Program continues to be a great success, with a special thank you to our funders for assisting with the cost of providing high-quality, nutritious, and delicious foods. Canada Food Guide approved Hot Lunch and nutritious snacks are served daily to children. The families living at the Home Next Door are challenged with poverty and the direct and indirect effects of suffering from abuse. Many of the women are unable to afford the high cost of groceries and healthy meals for themselves and their children. The program helps to alleviate the financial pressure on moms to provide healthy meals throughout the day. In addition, the children enrolled in the daycare are provided with healthy food options and a balanced diet. The daycare staff ensures that there are increased provisions for fruits and vegetables. As part of the program, the children try foods from all different cultures, which they very much enjoy, and food literacy is also incorporated.
We aim to reduce hunger for the children whose families face poverty and food insecurity, in addition to the direct effects of domestic violence. Our Daycare offers trauma-informed, specialized support that changes the lives of the children through education, nutritious foods, and healthy, playful activities.
Quality Foods for Growing Minds
Alberta’s Early Learning FLIGHT Framework
This is a flexible framework for thinking about how children learn and experience their worlds, as well as a guide that fosters strong early childhood communities. The child and the Educator become co-learners, co-researchers, and co-imaginers of possibilities with high regard for the child’s potential. Children’s play is central to this curriculum framework as an active, exploratory, creative, expressive process deeply embedded in children’s everyday experiences and through which children participate in, learn about, and actively make sense of the world.
This same philosophy is true in the Out of School Program, 6 to 12 years old; this is a way of planning curriculum in response to children’s interests to create meaningful learning experiences. Activities and projects are planned to educators to match the skills, interests, and unique needs of the specific children they are working with.
What is the FLIGHT approach to early learning?
If you have any questions or want to learn more about the daycare, please contact the Director of Rocky Forest Daycare at bkotylak@wingsofprovidence.ca
