Подфондови SF2 - Women's Refuge and Infants Home

The Women’s Refuge and Children’s Home was opened in 1876 by the WCA with the aim of sheltering infants and women who were deprived of housing and support. The Refuge took in children under the age of two who were orphaned or deserted, with the goal of adopting them into other families. Women who entered the home were expected to pay an entrance fee and stay for a least a year to help establish a more fortunate situation upon their leave of the home. In 1878, the Women’s Refuge moved from their original location on Grey Street to 190 St. James Street, where it remained for the next thirty years.

Renovations and additions were completed on the home from 1899-1900, after the decision to improve the current home instead of purchasing a new one. In 1907, the lot behind the home was purchased and turned into a vegetable garden to improve food budgets and provide some responsibility to the young women residents. In the 1910s, the home also served as an alternative residence for women who applied to live at the Aged People’s Home.

In 1916, the Women’s Refuge and Infant’s Home was unexpectedly closed. Government inspectors censured the Home for not taking precautions to isolate a mase of measles. The responsibility for the infants was transferred to the Protestant Orphans Home. The Home became an Annex to the Aged People’s Home, with a single nurse and twelve residents. In 1919, the home was officially sold to the University of Western Ontario to be used as a library.