2023 marks 50 years since we first opened our doors. It is an incredible milestone, and a reminder of the shelter and support we have given to thousands of women and their children fleeing violence, trauma and homelessness since 1973.
In an occasional series, we’re highlighting stories from 50 years of Nellie’s, including former board members, volunteers, staff members, and more.
Margaret Bryce was one of Nellie’s earliest board members, acting as treasurer from February 1975 to November 1977. After being asked to join the board by founding board member Vicki Trerise (Vicki had to ask Margaret twice, in fact!), Margaret agreed, because she was passionate about housing and women’s issues. “I was very involved with feminism in those days,” explains Margaret, and helping to make Nellie’s a sustainable source of support for the women and their children who needed them was an amazing way of giving back to her community.
One of Margaret’s most impactful contributions to the history of Nellie’s is that she helped to negotiate the purchase of our original building. Initially, Nellie’s shelter building was a joint venture with the YMCA, who owned the house adjacent to their main building. But after the YMCA was demolished and the property was sold to a developer, Nellie’s was able to buy the property, with the help of a federal funding program for housing.
But even with their own property secured, Nellie’s was always “living hand to mouth”, as Margaret puts it. The board was constantly hard at work to find more money and become more sustainable. From applying for grants to doing outreach to city councillors and the media, the board knew that if they wanted to continue to help the women of Toronto who needed them, then they needed more financial support. Margaret shared one story of founder June Callwood making a radio appearance for a CBC morning show, and how after that interview the cheques started pouring in. “People would send cheques straight to the CBC because they didn’t know where else to send them,” recalls Margaret.
But while Nellie’s did start to receive a lot of support from Torontonians, there were still also many struggles. “At the beginning, we used to be accused of breaking up families,” says Margaret. “We mostly took in homeless women who were leaving marriages. Sometimes we took in single women who were leaving their parents or their boyfriends.”
Reflecting on her time with Nellie’s, Margaret feels very fortunate to have helped develop one of Toronto’s first women’s shelters: “I’m very proud of Nellie’s. I’m proud of what we did in the beginning, and I’m proud of how they were able to develop over the years, to get more stable funding, and [eventually] a new place to live, where they are right now.”
