YWCA Toronto

📢Calling all volunteers! We are excited to announce a new and improved volunteer sign-up process at YWCA Toronto. If you are passionate about making a difference, we want to hear from you! 🔍 What's new? Our updated sign up form now collects details about your availability, region, skills and more. This will help us match you with volunteer roles that best suit your strengths and preferences, creating a more impactful experience for both you and the community we serve. Your commitment, dedication, and passion are invaluable to us, and we appreciate your help in enhancing our volunteer program! Join our incredible team of volunteers and together, we can create positive change! 👇 https://lnkd.in/eJ8U363u Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities to come! #Volunteer #MakeADifference #Toronto #GTA #YWCAToronto

💜Sami Pritchard, Manager of Advocacy, joined CBC/Radio-Canada's Manitoba with Marcy Markusa to discuss the importance and urgency of declaring Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) an epidemic in Ontario and other provinces. 📻Listen to the full interview: https://lnkd.in/eUYCHKAs #GBV #VAW #CallItFemicide #IPV #WomenServices #ONPoli #Femicide

Today is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, which we use to acknowledge and honour the people of African descent who lost their lives, and survivors of the transatlantic slave trade. Learn more about this International Day and how the Haitian Revolution was a catalyst: https://lnkd.in/e5fjPWct #RememberSlavery

Between 2019 and 2023, YWCAs across Canada reached over 720,000 women, girls and gender diverse individuals. Over 135,000 were under 30 years old. YWCA Canada is the oldest and largest gender equity organization in Canada. 📃 This is why they submitted 5 recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for the budget 2025 to reflect the reality of women, girls, gender diverse individuals and their families across Canada. 🔗 Visit <https://bit.ly/4dR7TkN> to learn more about their recommendations.  #genderequity

📣The Maytree 2023 Welfare in Canada report examines the total incomes available to those relying on social assistance (often called “welfare”), while considering tax credits and other benefits. The report shares four different example households receiving social assistance, highlighting key details of social assistance programs across Canada. Read the report: https://lnkd.in/grPNwHSW #Canada #Poverty #Welfare

The Monitor magazine’s recent article discusses how the provincial government, not the federal government, is primarily responsible for Ontario’s child care shortages. Despite the federal government providing funding and frameworks, Ontario’s policies and budget decisions have not prioritized child care, resulting in long waitlists and insufficient spaces for families. Read the article: https://lnkd.in/grtySrt9 #ChildCare #OnPoli 

We are pleased to share that YWCA Toronto is one of 25 organizations the provincial government is funding as part of the Women’s Economic Security Program. Over the next three years, this funding will help us train women and gender diverse people to obtain well-paying jobs in skilled fields. YWCA Toronto has offered gender-focused employment and training programs for 150 years. We will continue working with government to call for multi-year funding agreements that are gender-specific and support women’s labour market entry into high-paying, skilled fields. Yesterday, Heather McGregor, Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Toronto, attended the funding announcement at George Brown College with several other partners. Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/eYaxEUaa #Employment #SkilledTrades #GTA #WomenInTrades 

📣 Heather McGregor, YWCA Toronto’s Chief Executive Officer, along with YWCA Ontario Coalition Partners Medora Uppal, Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Hamilton, and Elisabeth Zimmermann, Executive Director of YWCA Niagara Region, brought the perspective of our 10 member associations to the Province's Subcommittee on Intimate Partner Violence today. Our recommendations are: 1. Pass Bill 173, Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act, 2024 2. End the Gendered Housing Crisis 3. Enable the conditions for Women's Economic Independence 4. Invest in Prevention 5. Use longstanding community roundtables to inform programs and funding allocations #OnPoli #GBV #IPV #GenderEquity #Bill173 #YWCAOntario

💜 In July, seven women and girls died by femicide in Ontario. Since, November 26th, 2023 the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH) (OAITH) has tracked and confirmed that there has been 42 confirmed femicides since, with 21% of cases involving a victim under the age of 18. Read OAITH’s July Femicide report: https://lnkd.in/gYbF4twb #WeCountFemicideBecause #Femicide #GBV #IPV #Ontario

🌟 Learn about YWCA Toronto’s advocacy work in July 🌟 🏳️🌈📢 We proudly supported the launch of LGBT YouthLine’s Write for Student Rights campaign in support of 2SLGBTQ+ students across Ontario! Share a letter with your local representatives and sign the pledge for inclusive schools to ensure every student feels safe, respected, and valued: https://lnkd.in/gEurDceD 🗞️Jasmine Ramze Rezaee, Director of Advocacy and Communication, and Sami Pritchard, Manager of Advocacy, wrote an op-ed in The Toronto Star discussing the importance and urgency of Ontario government declaring Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) an epidemic. Read the op-ed: https://lnkd.in/g8UTYJya 💜📻Sami Pritchard, Manager of Advocacy, joined CBC/Radio-Canada’s The Current with Matt Galloway to discuss the steady increase of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and IPV across the province and our ongoing advocacy and educations efforts to address femicide. Listen to the interview: https://lnkd.in/gBzgDBt 👩💻 Want to learn more about our advocacy work? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, The Feminist Edge! Read the July issue: https://lnkd.in/eM2zsUwk Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/gyEfNzp7 #Advocacy #Feminist #VAW #EndGBV #IPV #ONPoli #Femicide #YWCAToronto #2SLGBTQIA