"WHEN YOU'RE ACCUSTOMED TO PRIVILEGE,
EQUALITY FEELS LIKE OPPRESSION . "
~ UNKNOWN
YWCA TORONTO SOLIDARITY STATEMENT
Art | By @kaluyahawi.design
In a time of both reconciliation and climate crisis, YWCA Toronto expresses solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Peoples and their hereditary chiefs in exercising the right to self-determination and self-government. We condemn the deployment of militarized police officers to forcibly remove Indigenous Peoples and allies from unceded Wet’suwet’en lands. Meaningful consent should be sought from Indigenous nations about infrastructure projects that will have intergenerational human and environmental consequences.

Art | By Unknown
ADVOCACY CORNER
The provincial government is developing a new five-year poverty reduction strategy.
We are organizing advocacy consultations across our Association to capture the voices and perspectives of the women we serve and the communities we work with.
We hope to submit a comprehensive written brief to the government to ensure the perspectives of people with lived experience of poverty are documented and heard — loud and clear — by policy makers.
 
PROGRAM UPDATE
Building on  The Forgotten Victims of Gun Violence report  we released last year, we have led several community violence consultations with impacted mothers and grassroots organizations. From the findings of our report, as well as our community discussions, it is clear there is an urgent need for healing spaces for mothers and women impacted by gun violence. Through the Pilot Fund for Gender Equality, YWCA Toronto will be offering two healing circle pilots, in Rexdale and in Regent Park, in the month of March. We are also beginning the second phase of our gun violence research.   
PHILANTHROPY HIGHLIGHT
Save the Date

This year will be the 40th Anniversary of our Women of Distinction Awards gala! It will be an inspiring evening in support of our vital programs for women and girls in Toronto. Mark your calendar and stay tuned to learn about this year’s recipients and for ticket information.  Learn More .
 
Art | By Transparency International
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS)

Let the Government of Ontario know how poverty is impacting your life. Fill out the Poverty Reduction Strategy survey before March 22, 2020 or send an email. 

 
+ Email the PRS Office              

Edgy
Art | Courtesy of Social Planning Toronto
Ending Austerity in Toronto

Along with 79 other Toronto-based organizations, we have signed an open letter calling on Mayor John Tory and Councillors to invest in communities and reverse the harmful effects of a decade of austerity. #ToPoli


Photo | Courtesy of Rochelle Brockington / EyeEm
International Women’s Day (IWD) 

On Sunday, March 8, YWCA Toronto and fellow feminists will participate in a global march in support of women’s rights and substantive gender equality.
This year’s IWD theme is #EachforEqual — each one of us can help create a gender equal world.  Join us at the March!
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 YWCA Toronto operates in communities that stand on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to share peacefully and care for the resources around the Great Lakes.

Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this territory as we strive to build a more eq uitable and just city for all residents.