Our Story
Since 1987, Harmony House has been helping women and children flee violence and live safely. As Ottawa’s only second-stage women’s shelter, we bridge the gap between a woman living in crisis to eventually living independently in the community.
We are able to do that by providing safe, affordable transitional housing coupled with many programs, counselling and other supports needed to work through trauma and learn how to become empowered to be independent.
At Harmony House, we aim to break the cycle of women returning to abusive people because they are afraid or feel unworthy of the alternative. We empower, inspire and RISE women and children up so they can be their best selves and live a life free of violence and oppression.
Play Video
Mission
Providing safe, supportive transitional housing while empowering survivors of violence as they rebuild their lives.
Vision
A world where all communities and families are safe, valued and free from all forms of violence and oppression.
Values
At Harmony House, we recognize that staff and board members live out their values in ways that are shaped by their experiences and identities. As such, we understand that shared values do not always lead to shared conclusions about how we should practice. Nonetheless, our vision requires a set of shared commitments. Grounded in a spirit of ongoing learning, we agree to hold each other and ourselves accountable to the following values:
- Feminism – We promote achievement of equity and equality across all genders.
- Anti-oppression – We work to address systemic inequalities that manifest in the individual, group and institutional levels.
- Safety – We stand for freedom from violence in any form, and for everyone to feel secure in their own environment without fear.
- Lived-experience Leadership – We encourage those with lived experience – who are experts in their own stories – to have input into decisions within Harmony House at board, staff, volunteer and advisory levels.
- Empowerment – We support living with choices and purpose, setting and enforcing healthy boundaries, having self-respect and being able to understand and meet one’s own needs.
Subscribe to our Updates
To get the latest news and updates, sign up here!