Downtown Eastside Women's Centre

In Oct. 2019, I donated online and never received my donation receipt even though the online screen allows you to request a receipt. It has been over 3.5 months. I have also tried emailing, mailing, and calling. If you really want a donation receipt for income tax purposes, then you might want to consider some other charity in the Downtown eastside that helps people like Union Gospel Mission. Union Gospel Mission actually issues donation receipts automatically with all online donations. You get a donation receipt within a few seconds after you donated online. DEWC doesn't operate that way. I contacted CRA, Charities Directorate, and they advised me that charities are not obligated to provide a receipt, so if the charity does not provide you with one, you will not be able to claim a credit on your income tax return. You can decide if you still want to donate to them. Update: Jan.28.2020 I finally received a receipt. This was not without effort on my part as I had mailed two letters. One to the Acting Executive Director and their Engagment Dept. I also sent them the same correspondence by email. In my final ditch effort letter, I included copies of my credit card statement (with parts black out for privacy) and my past emails. The Acting Executive Director was very apologetc and responded in a proactive manner when she received my email and tried to send the receipt through their donation system but it failed again, and when I informed her of this, she responded quickly and sent it by mail and emailed me about that. Up to that point, I still had not received a proper response from the Engagement Dept. However, on the day that I received the email from the Exe Dir that receipt was being mailed, I received also received a generic email from the Engagement Dept. with the attached receipt..though no apologies , no explanation from that dept. There definitely should be improvements for accountability to donors, and obviously, hire proper staffing that will do their job and do it well. The organization is still are a vital part of Downtown Eastside providing assistance to women, so I won't say too much negatively about them, however, as a donor, it definitely affected my trust and opinion of them. Like it or not, I still have to work hard for my money, and if I choose to donate it to any organization, I should not have to pull teeth to get a receipt.

Usually the place always makes me feel welcome and happy however the last few tinsmdcfeel like a inconvenience.to be there or unwelcome ... it's like they have there favorite

The staff work very hard providing meals, clothing room and showers. Also you go on outings, access housing resources, and much more. I was treating very well I would recommend this DEWC to any women in need of supports and live skills.

Fantastic establishment that gives back to the community. Was able to donate much of my clothing to support women in need. Great friendly people who are truly caring for their community.

Do NOT recommend this organization AT ALL to any #ActuallyAutistic individuals who is homeless or at risk of being homeless - staff at this organization are there ONLY to #discriminate against #ActuallyAutistic #homeless individuals! #Discrimination #AutismRejection #BehaviourControl #ABA

Great organization which does very meaningful work.

My wife discovered this place to donate perfectly good condition clothes. They were very gracious and polite. Hopefully it will help , My wife will continue to help them in the future.

It is a great place. The women who work there are very friendly and warmly welcome any and all women. They also offer all kinds of help and if they can't they will direct you ti where you can get what help you need! If your a women in the DTES I highly recommend you stop by.