Saint Monica House was officially opened and dedicated on May 26, 1967. It's inception was a centennial service project sponsored by the Anglican Diocese of Huron. The founding Board of Directors researched the need for services to unmarried mothers, selected the site in Waterloo and proceeded to raise funds for the actual building.
Saint Monica House began operations in June 1968 as a twenty-six bed expecting residence. At that time, the mandate was
to provide residential care and support exclusively to single, young, expectant women. Typically young women came from out-of-town,
gave birth, placed their child for adoption, then returned home.
In April of 1970 a school was established at Saint Monica House allowing young women to continue their education during their
stay. In 1974 services were expanded again to include a full day program for prenatal residents. At this time residents were
able to learn about important topics such as parenting options, communication, decision-making, and stress/anger management.
In response to communal needs the programs offered to the residents of Saint Monica House were offered to non-resident,
day clients in September 1979.
By the 1980's, the majority of clients were choosing to parent, rather than place their children for adoption. In response
to this shift, a community day program for young mothers and their children was established in January 1984. In May 1992, the
first residential postnatal program was implemented. Four rooms were converted to provide short term accomodations for young
mothers and their infants.
In September 1992 Saint Monica House opened Monica-Ainslie Place, a sixteen unit housing complex
and resource centre located in Cambridge. The construction of Monica-Ainslie Place and the Monica Resource Centre enabled
Saint Monica House to offer prevention-oriented support to "high risk, single mother families" in the Cambridge and Kitchener-Waterloo
areas. Monica-Ainslie Place made it possible for young moms to receive longer term (second stage) transitional housing while progressing
toward more independent living circumstances.
