The Brenda Strafford Society

The Brenda Strafford Centre was established in January 1996 when it became apparent that there was a dire need in Calgary for longer accommodation for women leaving emergency shelters.
The Centre is named for Brenda Strafford, late wife of Dr. Barrie Strafford, founder of the organization.
We are a second-stage shelter and progressive housing facility which operates to service individuals experiencing domestic violence. We provide a safe environment where our clients can heal, grow and ultimately find long term success.

The Centre consists of a variety of programs where our trained professionals help clients work through their trauma, build self-confidence and self-awareness as well as providing childcare in a safe and secure environment. The Centre has 34 second-stage shelter apartments where clients can stay up to 6 months while receiving individualized counselling and parenting support.

What makes the Centre so unique in Canada is our ability to move our clients from our second-stage shelter apartments into our longer-term units or Progressive Housing, all in the same building. We have 51 Progressive Housing apartments where clients can stay up to an additional 2 years, accessing the services described before.

We believe that by providing our clients with safe, supportive and accessible programs and services that aim to build self-confidence and self-awareness, long-term stability can be achieved, and the cycle of violence can be broken.