About
Back in 1980, our founders – a group of like-minded women from across Calgary – saw an urgent need to help women living in abusive relationships. They realized that women and children who left an abusive home, had nowhere to turn once they had to leave the emergency shelters in a few weeks. This was forcing many women back to an unsafe home. Domestic violence wasn’t widely recognized or talked about at the time, but that didn’t deter our founders. They knew they had to act. So, together, they started a small 9-unit shelter here in Calgary.
Since then, we’ve grown to a 19-unit shelter, and we now support about 100 families living throughout the city. We support these families for around two years, giving them long-term support as they rebuild their lives. With a focus on addressing childhood trauma to ensure the cycle of abuse doesn’t continue with future generations, we offer counselling, financial empowerment, safety planning, housing support, programs for children and youth, and access to any resources we can get to empower families, so they never need to return to violence.
Discovery House makes transformational change possible by removing barriers and providing the space, emotional support, and skills needed to reset, reimagine, and rebuild. Survivors – both parents and children – find themselves, develop resilience, and discover their next chapter. They are empowered to put the abuse behind them and start a better life.
Discovery House is one of only three second-stage shelters in Calgary, housing families for up to two years, and built to address the reality that the path to healing and independence is a long journey. We serve 600 people annually, 70% of them children.
Our Impact
Programs that enable survivors and their families to heal are critical to breaking the cycle of violence. The emotional, physical, and mental health consequences of domestic violence ripple through generations of families directly impacted, and through our communities.
We are all affected.
“After two weeks in an emergency shelter, I moved into Discovery House. I started gaining hope. I felt at peace. I knew I was safe. I gained my confidence and found my voice. I was getting all the help and support I could get. My husband used to call me a nobody; now I know I am a somebody. I am worthy.”
-Discovery House client
At Discovery House, mothers receive counselling, support, and programs to help them build a better future for themselves and their children. Families also receive counselling to address abuse, and build coping skills, emotional regulation, confidence, and healthy relationships.
Your support helps prevent the cycle of domestic violence from repeating. There’s no better investment than interventions that can change a family’s life so decisively. There is a $20 return for every dollar invested in domestic violence prevention and intervention initiatives.
Hear from one of our clients, Nahla*, on her life-changing experience at Discovery House.