"One day, I will be an ancestor and I want to leave a legacy
for my great-grandchildren so they know I worked hard
to ensure they have a future."
~ Autumn Peltier
LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Dear YWCA Toronto Community,
 
September 30th marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a day that coincides with Orange Shirt Day. It recognizes the tragic legacy of residential schools, the missing children, the families left behind and the survivors of these institutions. There are many resources in this issue to help non-Indigenous people learn about, and reflect on, this day. Below are 13 resources compiled by YWCA Toronto that you might find helpful: 

  1. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: 231 Calls for Justice
  2. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
  3. Land Acknowledgement: uncovering an oral history of Tkaronto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voXySM-knRc
  4. Survivor: Article by Roberta Hill published in Toronto Life Magazine https://torontolife.com/life/how-i-survived-canadas-residential-school-system/
  5. Webinar: Cultural Self-Reflection – Indigenous Cultural Sensitivity Training Cultural Self-Reflection - Indigenous Cultural Sensitivity Training - ECO Canada Source: Environmental Careers Organization Canada
  6. Schedule for Truth and Reconciliation Week (General Public) Schedule for Truth and Reconciliation Week (General Public) - NCTR Source: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
  7. Paths to Reconciliation Paths to Reconciliation (canadiangeographic.ca) Source: Canadian Geographic
  8. Educational Playlist on Indigenous Voices and Reconciliation Educational Playlists NFB/education - National Film Board of Canada Source: National Film Board of Canada
  9. The Soul Wounds of the Anishinabek People (Booklet) Source: Circles for Reconciliation
  10. Wawahte (Documentary) Source: Wawahte – Stories of Residential School Survivors
  11. Aboriginal Worldviews and Education (Course) Aboriginal Worldviews and Education | Coursera Source: Coursera (offered by University of Toronto)
  12. YWCA Canada: Three steps to push for #NeverAgain
  13. Culture Days has set September 30, 2022 aside to create space exclusively for events organized to commemorate the NDTR, including those aimed at sharing First Nations, Métis, and/or Inuit experiences and perspectives celebrating the creative and cultural expressions of Indigenous people and communities.

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The resources above represent a starting point. I hope everyone takes this opportunity to engage in thoughtful reflection and commits to meaningful acts of reconciliation as we move forward. 

As ever,
Heather McGregor
Chief Executive Officer
YWCA Toronto 
ADVOCACY CORNER
A New Program! 

On September 12th we launched our first Speakers Bureau program, otherwise knowns as the Community Power Series. The program consists of a six-week virtual series that brings in different speakers to explore leadership, advocacy and fundraising – all through a trauma-informed, anti-oppressive lens. 

The goal of the program is to create a forum for program participants across our Association to share their lived experiences, build on public speaking and advocacy capacity, and create a meaningful opportunity for participants to engage in our gender equity work.

We are thrilled to have welcomed 10 participants to the inaugural program!
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PROGRAM UPDATE
The Ness Fund  

On average, every six days a woman loses her life to gender-based violence in Canada. Survivors frequently say that not having enough money was one of the primary reasons they stayed in abusive situations.

In August YWCA Canada, in partnership with YWCA Toronto, launched Canada’s first National Emergency Survivor Support Fund (the NESS Fund).

YWCA’s NESS Fund provides a one-time financial support of up to $2,000 to survivors of gender-based violence. The fund helps survivors leave abusive living conditions, emergency shelters or precarious living situations to begin their healing journeys.

Learn more here.
PHILANTHROPY HIGHLIGHT
Nominations are open for the 42nd YWCA Toronto Women of Distinction Awards 
 
Our community is full of amazing women who are opening doors and challenging the status quo. Do you know a woman who is making a difference in the lives of women, girls and gender diverse people? We want to celebrate her!

Every year, YWCA Toronto honours remarkable women who have advanced gender equality across a range of areas such as business, education, social justice, advocacy, arts, health, philanthropy and more. 
 
Nominate a woman who is driven to make the world a better place. Click here to learn more. 
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
#MarchAgainstGunViolenceTO

Together with community partners across the city, on behalf of YWCA Toronto, Dela Aziavor, Amanda Surujpaul and Sami Pritchard are organizing this year’s Community March Against Violence in honour of the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Homicide. 

All are welcome to join the march on Saturday, September 24th starting at 2:00 pm. Folks will gather at Yonge and Bloor before the march to City Hall. The march will pay particular homage to the forgotten victims of gun violence – women, mothers and girls. 

Please find us with our YWCA Toronto banner and signs. 
Photo | Courtesy of Ontario Nonprofit Network
2022 State of the Nonprofit Sector in Ontario

New data by the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) reveals that our sector is serving communities while facing deepening challenges. ONN’s new policy report outlines insights from the data and provides recommendations to government, as well as calls to action for the sector. 

Additional resources, including a technical report, are available for the sector to use in their advocacy efforts, and share with their networks.  
Edgy
Students Facing Homelessness
 
City data suggests that chronic homelessness is increasing for all ages. With the current housing inventory only serving approximately 15% of the post-secondary population, some Toronto shelters are seeing a rise in post-secondary student occupants. 

Our Director of Advocacy and Communications, Jasmine Ramze Rezaee, recently commented on the issue in STOREYS. The impact of Toronto’s housing crisis is being felt unequally by students, with many nontraditional students being priced out of Toronto’s volatile housing market.

Is Access to Abortion in Canada Equitable?

“A Canadian study from 2013 found that 18.1 per cent of women travelled more than 100 kilometres to access abortion, with Indigenous women being three times more likely than white women to have travelled this distance. This puts those without the financial and logistical means to travel at a disadvantage and further exacerbates issues of inequitable access.”

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
YWCA Toronto operates on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We are grateful to work on this territory as we strive to build a more equitable and just city for women, girls, and gender diverse people. For a full land acknowledgment, please visit our website.