"Happiness comes from being who you actually are
instead of who you think you are supposed to be."
~ Shonda Rhimes
MESSAGE FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Welcome, 2021. A new year always brings with it an opportunity to lean into hope for better days ahead – a particularly welcome activity after all we endured in 2020. And while it is welcome, it does not come easily: I am writing you as Ontario is in the midst of a second emergency stay-at-home order, requiring residents to make only essential trips outside of their home.

Virtual learning has extended into February, placing a disproportionate burden on working mothers. Our Director of Advocacy and Communications, Jasmine Ramze, Rezaee spoke with Angie Seth at CTV News about this issue. While child care is allowed to remain open, centres province-wide are closing due to a lack of funding. And while domestic violence is listed among 33 reasons people would be allowed to break the stay-at-home order, we worry about a repeated quiet period during the lockdown and a spike of severe violence once measures lift. This type of violence continues to be a shadow pandemic, as highlighted by Nina Gorka, our Director of Shelters,Girls’ and Family Programs, in a feature interview on CTV. This same interview talks about the generosity of our community, including organizations such as Shoppers Drugmart that has raised $2.4 million for 300 shelters across Canada.

Although this winter continues to be difficult for many, we at YWCA Toronto choose hope to help us through. We continue to rise to the challenge in the struggle for gender-equity alongside our community – an effort that requires both hope and hard work.

We will have a lot of good news to report in 2021, so stay tuned, stay healthy and stay the course. 
Photo | William Iven_Unsplash
ADVOCACY CORNER
“Missed opportunities cannot be the theme that dominates the budget."

Check out YWCA Toronto's statement on the 2021 City Budget launched on January 14, 2021.

We need transformational investments that will address the inequities intensified by COVID-19. If not during a pandemic, then when? The time is now.

Please consider deputing on January 25 or January 26 to share YOUR views on the budget with City Council. What are the issues facing the communities you are connected to and work in? What do you want to see? Register to depute by emailing: buc@toronto.ca.

Next month, YWCA Toronto will deliver its pre-budget submission to the Ontario government, highlighting all the ways the spring 2021 provincial budget must prioritize a just, equitable and feminist recovery. Deadline for submissions is February 12th – if you would like to make your own, you can find all the information here.

PROGRAM UPDATE
Illustration | By Donald Giannatti_Unsplash
PHILANTHROPY HIGHLIGHT
Our most heartfelt thanks to our amazing supporters who made contributions - financial and otherwise - in 2020. And a warm welcome to the many new donors who chose to donate to YWCA Toronto during this critical time. 

Your solid support and generosity last year kept the vulnerable populations we serve safe and able to access our vital programs and services, which are needed now more than ever. Your generosity got us off to a strong start in 2021, and we are looking forward to your continued support to make a feminist recovery a reality!

Photo | Courtesy of Toronto Neighbourhood Centres 
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Over-policing people who are homeless costs Toronto $100 million every year, according to a new report focused on re-allocating the police budget.

We are proud to support this report on "Rethinking Community Safety" from Toronto Neighbourhood Centres and many other community partners. Take a moment to learn more and join the conversation on alternatives to current policing approaches.

Illustration | By Pete Ryan
Have you ever wondered how to talk to young people in your life about gender?

“As conversations about gender improve and evolve, young people are more aware of the gender binary (and their relationship to it) than children were a decade ago.”

Earlier this month, Today’s Parent magazine published a helpful guide for talking to kids about gender that can give you the confidence to spark a rich conversation with that young person in your life that will have you learning from one another

Edgy
Photo | Courtesy of Fight for $15 and Fairness
Please take a moment read and sign this petition from Fight for $15 and Fairness asking the federal government to follow-through on their promise to raise the minimum wage to $15.

We know that essential workers are experiencing high rates of burnout after a very difficult yearWomen are concentrated in precarious and minimum wage work and stand to gain a great deal from such federal legislation that supports solid work conditions. Decent labour market conditions create healthier communities for everyone. Act now and sign today!
 
Illustration | By Fran Murphy
“Accepting change means letting go of plans I may have had. Accepting change means acknowledging the future is not fully in my control, despite my best efforts. Accepting change means letting go of the person I intended to be and embrace – with kindness – the person I am in this moment.” - Jasmine Ramze Rezaee, Director of Advocacy and Communications 

From practicing radical empathy to learning about ancestors to focusing on how to be a meaningful ally, read our 10 feminist resolutions for the year ahead. 

What are your resolutions for 2021?
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 equitable and just city for all residents.