Red Door Family Shelter is a 3-star charity. It is financially transparent and has overhead spending within Ci’s reasonable range and an above-average results reporting grade.

Founded in 1982, Red Door Family Shelter (Red Door) is now one of the largest family shelters in the Greater Toronto Area. The charity operates a family shelter and a women's shelter that serves women experiencing domestic violence. Red Door aims to reduce the impact of homelessness by providing shelter and support services to families. Provincial and municipal funding finance the shelters’ basic operations while donations fund programs including medical services, counseling services, legal support, parenting and life skills workshops, and children’s programs.

Red Door’s largest program is its emergency shelter program. Agencies such as Children’s Aid Societies, Police Services, and Central Family Intake refer families to the shelter. In F2022, Red Door Family Shelter supported 135 families. 64% of Red Door’s residents were children, many of whom struggle with trauma and loss. Red Door runs an after-school program through its shelters that helps children establish a regular routine. The shelter also runs youth workshops for teenagers and parents on topics like Violence Prevention, Youth and the Law, and Healthy Eating.

Red Door runs food bank and moving programs to support families as they transition into permanent housing. Red Door’s weekly food bank supports families who have moved out of the shelter during their transition into independence. In F2022, the food bank provided three meals a day for residents, with 143 new families accessing the program. During the same year, the charity also provided healthy lunches for 70 to 80 children to take to school. Red Door’s moving program reduces moving costs and provides families with donated furniture and household items. 

In F2022, Red Door Family Shelter received donations of $2.6m. The charity received government funding of $6.3m in F2022, which made up 70% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues, and fundraising costs are 11% of donations. This results in overhead spending of 17%. For every dollar donated, 83 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Red Door has $5.9m in reserve funds. The charity could cover 99% or around one year of its annual program costs with its reserves.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Red Door Family Shelter for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 29, 2023 by Krystie Nguyen.