德華女子公寓為天主教聖言會於1960年代在新店大坪林設立的女工宿舍，當時基於該地區工廠林立，且普遍雇用大量來自全臺各地之年輕女性，故如何解決女工們的住宿問題成為當務之急。該女子公寓名稱源自當時擔任大坪林聖三堂主任司鐸、負責規劃及籌建該宿舍的天主教聖言會會士萬德華神父（Fr. Edward J.Wojniak, SVD, 1909-1983）。屬波蘭裔美籍的萬德華神父曾服務於中國河南省，1940年代因中共政權建立驅逐教會勢力，萬德華神父被迫離華返美。1960年代其自願至臺灣，首先將新店大坪林之教堂聖三堂修建完成，接著投身該地區的其他工作，德華女子公寓即為其最受矚目的社會服務事業。該女子公寓之構思起於1965年，次年為籌措龐大建築經費，萬德華神父赴歐美等地募款數月，並邀請蔣夫人宋美齡女士為公寓籌建之名譽主任委員，以號召更多中外力量的投入與協助，1968年公寓第一期工程完成開始營運，甚獲各界好評，其後陸續完成各棟建築，持續嘉惠來自臺灣各地離家工作之年輕女子，惟後來因主客觀環境之變化，營運長達二十年的德華女子公寓終於1988年正式停業。本文即針對該女子公寓的創建與發展作一個案研究，以為當代天主教會投身社會服務事業之實例說明。

The Dehua Girls' Hostel was opened for female workers at Dapinglin, Xindian, by the Catholic Divine Word Missionaries in the 1960s, when the neighborhood had a large number of factories, where young girls coming from around Taiwan were widely hired and dormitories housing them became an immediate issue. The hostel was named after Father Edward J. Wojniak, SVD (1909-1983, also pronounced as Father Wan Dehua in Chinese), the Parish Priest of the Catholic Divine Word Missionaries in charge of the Holy Trinity Church in Dapinglin. Father Wojniak, a Polish-American, who was responsible for the planning and construction of the dormitory, had served in China's Henan Province, from where he was forced out in the 1940s by the Communist government and he had to return to the United States. In the 1960s, as a volunteer to Taiwan, Father Wojniak built the Holy Trinity Church in Dapinglin, and later on he was involved in other works in the area, where the Dehua Girls' Hostel became the most highlighted social service achievement. The idea of the girls' hostel originated in 1965 and, the following year, for the fund-raising campaign for the large-sum construction cost, Father Wojniak spent months in Europe and the U.S.; Madame Chiang, Soong May-ling, was invited to lead the campaign as honorary president of the committee calling for international engagement and assistance. The hostel began running in 1968 when its phase 1 works were completed with much appraisal. As more buildings were completed in different stages for young working girls from a over Taiwan, the program saw changes in both subjective and objective conditions, and eventually, the 20-year-old Dehua Girls' Hostel was forced to stop running officially in 1988. This is a case study on the establishment and development of the girls' hostel, an example of the Catholic Church dedicated to social services.