The Jean Tweed Centre was established in 1983 named after Jean Shannon Tweed - a woman who saw the need for a safe and supportive environment for women to address their substance use issues. Jean was a pioneer in advancing the cause of women-specific programming and it was to acknowledge and validate her beliefs that the Centre was named in her honour.

Since its founding, the Centre has evolved and grown to become a leading community-based substance abuse and problem gambling agency for women in Ontario. The Centre offers a wide range of services including residential and day programming; two day programs now exist – one 3 weeks and one 7 weeks for mothers with young children.  We also offer out-patient programs including family and trauma counseling, and outreach services in various locations across the city for pregnant and parenting women.  Most recently, we have added a second outreach service to women who have mental health and substance use problems as well as involvement in the criminal justice system.

After many years of identifying the absence of child care as a barrier for women and offering limited and temporary child care, The Jean Tweed Centre, with the support of its generous donors, now offers a fully licensed therapeutic child development centre on site.  In keeping with our focus on women parenting and children, our child care staff routinely conducts parenting and attachment workshops, parenting consults and child developmental assessments.


The Jean Tweed has a long and proud history of advocacy, collaboration and leadership.  Some additional examples of ground-breaking initiatives include:

• More than a decade ago, the Centre established a provincial network for agencies working with women where knowledge exchange and shared mandates contributed to the growth of sector wide expertise in women-centered care; prominent among these is the importance of trauma informed practice.  
• In 2004, the agency led a provincial review of Best Practices for Women and Substance Abuse culminating in a provincial conference in 2008.
• The Centre is committed to working in partnership with other related services as a means to reduce barriers, enhance capacity and provide seamless care. Working from this framework, the Centre has, more recently, expanded its reach to include mental health supports and permanent housing for women and women-led families.

• A weekly open Support and Stabilization group offers immediate support and information.
• Each 3 week intensive residential program accommodates 18 women in residence and up to 7 day clients.
• A second 7 week day program is available to 6 parenting women and up to 7-10 children under the age of 6.
• Outpatient services include individualized substance abuse and/or problem gambling programs
• Family support services are offered to family and friends on a weekly basis
• Trauma counseling services are available to all women attending programs
• Continuing Care groups are also available to all women who have completed programming.
• On-site child care is available to women accessing services at the Centre.
• In total, we deliver services to more than 1200 women and their families each year.