Women’s Advocates

On January 28, 2026, community members, survivors, advocates, and partners gathered to break ground on a new chapter for Women’s Advocates—a new domestic violence shelter in Saint Paul. The moment was both celebratory and grounded in truth: safety is not guaranteed for everyone, and building it requires intention, partnership, and sustained investment.

Founded in 1974, Women’s Advocates has walked with victim-survivors to break the cycle of domestic violence. Today, the organization provides secure emergency shelter for up to 50 individuals each night, along with prevention education, housing stability services, advocacy for LGBTQIA+ survivors, and innovative programs like pet fostering and alternative shelter options. Yet the need continues to outpace capacity. Partners came together to acknowledge both the long-standing need as well as the auspicious timing of the establishment of this new shelter for Minnesotans.

“Our community is experiencing real violence—interpersonal, systemic, and state-sanctioned. The presence of ICE in our neighborhoods has created fear and instability for families who deserve safety and dignity. Many of the people we serve and many who work here carry trauma layered on top of trauma. So today matters. This project, this shelter, this space, is not just a construction project. It is an act of resistance: resistance to violence, resistance to dehumanization, and resistance to the idea that safety is something only some people deserve.” – Holly Henning, Executive Director of Women’s Advocates

Designed for Dignity

The new emergency shelter will add 24 apartment-style units (72 additional beds) across two side-by-side facilities, more than doubling Women’s Advocates’ current capacity, and increasing domestic violence shelter beds in Ramsey County by 56 percent. This expansion responds directly to the growing intersection of domestic violence and housing instability, ensuring more families can access immediate safety without being turned away due to lack of space.

Guided by the organization’s Survivor Advisory Council, the design reflects what survivors say they need most: privacy, autonomy, and spaces that support healing. Each unit will include a private kitchen and bathroom, ADA-compliant features, and access to trauma-informed gathering areas and outdoor spaces. Families will be able to co-shelter with their pets, removing one of the most common barriers that keeps survivors from leaving unsafe situations. The project also includes Minnesota’s first transgender-specific shelter program, led by and for the transgender community, addressing a longstanding and urgent gap in services.

This expansion is part of Women’s Advocates’ broader capital campaign to reimagine shelter as dignified, apartment-style living that centers safety, accessibility, and belonging. The campaign represents a community-wide investment in infrastructure that will serve survivors for generations to come.

Breaking Ground, Building Hope

The groundbreaking ceremony itself reflected the values at the heart of the project. The space was blessed by Indigenous elder Janice Bad Moccasin, with songs from Dylan Daniels honoring two-spirit identities and lifting up the project’s intentional inclusion of queer and trans communities. A smudge bowl was passed, grounding the gathering in reflection and shared purpose, before Holly spoke to peace and resistance—naming the reality of interpersonal and systemic violence while thanking the many public and private partners who helped raise $12.4 million to date.

Associate Director Jake De Vera reminded attendees that “we cannot forget in the midst of our national chaos this fundamental truth—that positive change happens when governments and businesses and nonprofits and people with lived experience work together. That is who we are as Minnesotans.”

The groundbreaking ceremony closed with a poem by Ava McCausland centering trans voices and marking the significance of launching Minnesota’s first shelter program by and for the trans community—an affirmation that this building is both refuge and recognition:

Capital and Capacity

Propel Nonprofits is proud to support this expansion through a $1.2 million loan participation in partnership with Midwest Minnesota Community Development Corporation. Together, we are helping finance the final phase of renovations for a project that reflects what’s possible when public investment, private philanthropy, and lived experience align. This is more than a capital project—it is infrastructure for dignity, safety, and long-term stability.

“Access to flexible financing allowed us to move from vision to action at a critical moment for our community.” – Jake De Vera, Associate Director

Our partnership with Women’s Advocates extends beyond financing. Propel has supported board members and leaders through Nonprofit Board Governance training, strengthening shared leadership and oversight during a period of growth. Through Strategic Services, Propel was contracted to conduct capacity planning to design an infrastructure and staffing structure that is more sustainable for those in leadership roles and can sustainably support the organization now and in the future. This work included a financial planning component to better understand what Women’s Advocates can afford to invest in increased staff capacity. Together, these efforts help ensure that the organization’s internal systems are as strong as its community vision.

“When survivors shape the vision and community partners invest in both programs and infrastructure, transformative change becomes possible.” – Holly Henning, Executive Director

At Propel, we believe strong nonprofits build strong communities. Women’s Advocates’ expansion demonstrates how thoughtful capacity planning, governance support, and flexible financing can work together to help mission-driven organizations respond to urgent needs while planning for sustainable growth.

As shovels met the ground in late January, the message was clear: this is what collective care looks like—built to last.

Help Carry It Forward

“This project; this shelter, this space; is not just a construction project. It is an act of resistance. Resistance to violence. Resistance to dehumanization. Resistance to the idea that safety is something only some people deserve. None of this would have been possible without individuals and philanthropic leaders in our community coming together to provide radical care and strength to our communities… Groundbreaking is just the beginning, and we have a lot of construction ahead of us. We still have $4M left to raise to make this possible!” – Women’s Advocates, social media post following groundbreaking ceremony

To learn more and to support this work, visit https://wadvocates.org/capitalcampaign/

To talk with a lender about your next project, visit: https://propelnonprofits.org/services/lending/