More Than a Shelter: 25 Years of Emergency Housing at Womankind in NYC
More Than a Shelter: 25 Years of Emergency Housing at Womankind in NYC
When someone searches online for a women's shelter in NYC, they're rarely looking for information. They're looking for safety.
For 25 years, Womankind has been that place of safety for survivors of gender-based violence, including domestic violence. Yet while many people searching for help use the word "shelter," Womankind has long chosen a different term: emergency housing. And the distinction is intentional.
A shelter can describe a building. Emergency housing reflects everything that happens after a survivor walks through the front door.
This year, as Womankind celebrates 25 years of providing 24-hour emergency housing at our Womankind Communities Rising Gala this October 21st, we're reflecting on what that difference has meant for thousands of survivors and families across New York City.
At Womankind, emergency housing isn't simply about providing a roof over someone's head, but about creating a place where safety becomes the first step toward healing.
With two emergency residences in New York City—Rose House and Peace House—Womankind provides culturally specific, trauma-informed care for survivors fleeing domestic violence, sexual violence, and other forms of gender-based violence. Together, these homes are the only New York state-licensed emergency housing programs designed specifically to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of pan-Asian individuals and families. For those searching for an Asian women's shelter in NYC, Womankind offers something uniquely rare: emergency housing rooted in language access, cultural understanding, and survivor choice. Collectively, our residential program staff speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Urdu, and Spanish.
Residents can stay for up to 180 days while rebuilding their lives. Most residents are women and children, though the program welcomes survivors of all gender identities. During their stay, they receive comprehensive services ranging from legal advocacy and counseling to youth programming, economic empowerment, family support, and wellness activities. Continuing care services are available for survivors after they move out.
The goal of Womankind’s Residential Programs has never been simply to provide women's emergency housing, but rather to help survivors reclaim their independence and build self-sufficiency.
For some residents, healing begins in a surprisingly ordinary place: the kitchen.
At Rose House and Peace House, meals are more than nourishment. Families and residents cook familiar recipes, celebrate birthdays, and gather for holidays or backyard cookouts. By accommodating cultural, religious, and dietary needs, Womankind helps residents maintain the traditions and routines that foster comfort and belonging.
These everyday moments matter because abuse often takes away a person's sense of choice.
When Tara, a former resident, asked whether almond milk could be provided for her children instead of dairy milk, staff honored the request. They didn’t see her ask as a preference—they saw it as an act of agency, a step toward restoring control in a life previously marked by violence. Small acts of choice and respect help build trust, creating a foundation for healing.
That philosophy extends throughout Womankind's Emergency Housing programs.
Residents can participate in activities that support healing and connection. Some attend wellness workshops that use familiar Eastern healing modalities. Others spend time meditating or working in the garden. Children take part in arts-based healing programs, while parents continue to receive support even after moving into permanent housing.
"My experience of working with residents—often mothers with children—has taught me that this is difficult work, a labor of love and strength," says Taykina Chowdhury Alam, Womankind’s Director of Emergency Intervention and Community Engagement. "Creating homes with safety, collective well-being, and restoration requires deep resolve."
That deep resolve has guided Womankind's work for decades.
Long before Rose House or Peace House existed, volunteers were opening their own homes to survivors of domestic violence who had nowhere else to go. In 2001, Womankind established our first 24-hour emergency housing program—a milestone that laid the foundation for Rose House, which officially opened in 2004, and Peace House in 2009. Together, these residences have provided culturally specific, around-the-clock care to countless survivors and their families, becoming a model for what emergency housing in New York can look like when it is centered on dignity, culture, and compassion.
As New York City's landscape of emergency housing continues to evolve, Womankind remains guided by the same belief that inspired those earliest volunteers: every survivor deserves more than safety alone. They deserve to be heard. To make choices again. To cook familiar meals for themselves and their children. To celebrate holidays. To find moments of peace after trauma. To begin imagining a future free from violence that once felt impossible.
Perhaps that's why Womankind has always preferred the term "emergency housing" over "shelter." Because while a shelter offers refuge, a home offers something more.
If you or someone you know is searching for a women's domestic violence shelter in New York, emergency housing, or simply a safe place to turn, Womankind is here to help. We also created this FAQ article to answer 10 common questions about emergency housing (shelter) in New York City. Whatever words bring you to us, you'll find compassionate support, culturally specific care, and a community committed to helping survivors rebuild their lives—one step, and one day, at a time.
