Downtown Women's Center

DWC offers a wide array of services to women experiencing homelessness on a drop-in basis through our Day Center - including three nutritious meals daily, clean bathrooms and showers, laundry facilities, a secure mailing address, a fresh change of clothing, and other vital services. Through our Day Center, DWC also provides one-on-one case management services for women to connect them to housing, healthcare, legal aid, transportation, government benefits, education, job training opportunities, work placements, and other resources.

DWC’s Health and Wellness program provides primary healthcare for women experiencing homelessness or extreme poverty through our on-site Women’s Health Center, Los Angeles’ first and only health center exclusively for women. This includes women's health services, HIV screenings, physical assessments, and preventative care to reduce diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other chronic diseases prevalent in this population. DWC also offers robust mental health services and enrichment activities focused on overall health and social connectedness, including psychiatric sessions, mental health counseling, group therapy, self-care workshops, fitness classes, and cultural outings provided by volunteers and donors.

DWC’s Workforce Development and Social Enterprise programs provide a comprehensive and individualized approach to learn skills that lead to employment and income, as well as increased self-esteem. Internally and through our partners, DWC offers a range of education and workforce development resources including skills-training, vocational workshops, transitional employment, individualized support, and job placements. DWC’s social enterprise, MADE by DWC, is designed to help prepare participants for future bridge and/or traditional employment opportunities, while providing them with the income, support, and skills necessary to enhance their stability and well-being.

DWC’s Community-Based Housing program provides roughly 500 women with linkages to case management, employment training, and other supportive services. DWC is the only homeless service agency in Los Angeles that has three different rapid re-housing funding streams, thus demonstrating our ability to provide effective services to women from different backgrounds who are facing multiple co-occurring challenges to finding and sustaining their housing. Recognizing the majority of DWC’s served population has experienced domestic violence (DV), DWC leverages evidence-based practices in our housing programs that are proven to be impactful for DV survivors, including survivor-driven advocacy and trauma-informed care.

DWC provides a leading voice for systemic change on behalf of all women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. We believe the most effective way to advocate for systems change is to ensure the voices and lived experiences of DWC residents and participants are at the forefront of our work. With this in mind, we launched an Advocates Program in 2016 to bring the voice of women experiencing homelessness to the policy table, focusing on community-based solutions that meet their specific needs.

In 2022, DWC expanded our Housing & Supportive Services program, and we now maintain a 68-bed Interim Housing program for participants awaiting permanent housing placement.