Nellie's is a 3-star charity that provides shelter and other assistance to women and children experiencing violence, poverty, and homelessness. It is financially transparent and has a below-average results reporting grade. Its overhead costs fall within Ci's reasonable range.

Founded in 1973, Nellie’s, formally named Women's Hostels Incorporated, was Toronto’s first women’s shelter. Named for Canada’s pioneering suffragette, Nellie McClung, it was co-founded by a group of female activists including June Callwood. Nellie’s is a community-based feminist charity that sees itself as anti-racism and anti-oppression. It is committed to social change through education and advocacy to achieve social justice for all women and children. The charity began as a shelter with 16 beds for homeless women fleeing domestic abuse. In February 2022, Nellie's moved to a 22-bedroom shelter with 40 beds. This shelter houses women and children leaving domestic violence situations and dealing with other issues like poverty and mental health. Its goal is to ensure the women it serves move on to safe and affordable housing, so they do not return to violent situations. 

Women who come to Nellie’s are from all backgrounds: people who are pregnant, immigrants, some single, some with children. In F2022, 45 single women and 24 families arrived at Nellie's. Two babies were born, and 44 children lived at Nellie's. 28 women came to Nellie’s after fleeing from violence or intimate partner abuse.

In addition, Nellie’s has some smaller programs, including Peer Support and Children and Youth. Nellie’s Children program provides kids with recreational and educational opportunities, like art and music classes and summer camp, to help them process the violence they may have witnessed.

Beyond being an emergency shelter, Nellie’s provides weekly drop-in dinners for women and children who are homeless or living in poverty. Every week, 40 single women and families attend the program. 

In F2022, Nellie's received $1.5m in donations. Nellie's also received $2.6m in government funding, representing 63% of its total revenues in F2022. Administrative costs are 6% of total revenues, and fundraising costs are 7% of donations. This results in overhead spending of 13%. For each dollar donated, 87 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci's reasonable range for overhead spending.

Nellie’s has $3.1m in reserve funds. The charity could cover over 11 months of its annual program costs with its reserves.

In its T3010 filing, Nellie’s does not report its payments to 36 part-time staff. Without this information, it is not accurate to calculate its average full-time salary, so Ci calculated the average full-time and part-time salary instead.

This report is an update that has been sent to Nellie's. Changes and corrections may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 21, 2023 by Krystie Nguyen.