"KNOWING WHAT MUST BE DONE DOES AWAY WITH FEAR . "
~ ROSA PARKS
LETTER FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
As 2019 draws to a close I invite you to take this opportunity to reflect, celebrate and share. Reflect on the 30 th  anniversary of December 6 th  and how we can give power to women impacted by gender-based violence. Celebrate the successes of our Skilled Trades apprenticeship programs and the difference they make in the lives of newcomer women. Share our call to  Champion Women   by adding a one-time or monthly gift to your holiday to-do list.

Thank you all for being a part of YWCA Toronto's community, and I look forward to sharing more with you in 2020!

Warmly, 
Heather McGregor
Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Toronto
ADVOCACY CORNER
Thirty years after the devastating events unfolded at Montreal’s École Polytechnique on December 6th 1989 we still honour this as a day of remembrance of the 14 women who lost their lives that day, and every life that has been lost to gender-based violence. We also come together to find ways to take action to change our world and make it safer for everyone. 


PROGRAM UPDATE
In 2019, our Girls' and Family Programs secured a grant from the Canadian Women’s Foundation to introduce The Healing Journey into our existing Here to Help program, a 12-week group intervention program for children 4-16 years old and their mothers who have experienced domestic violence. This will increase our capacity to help women and their children heal from the trauma of intimate partner violence by making the program more trauma informed and introducing a new Expressive Arts module in all the groups. Our goal is to provide our participants with more tools for self-expression, increase their capacity to better manage their emotions, strengthen their resilience and introduce new ways to cope with the impact of their exposure to domestic violence, while reducing the risk of re-traumatization. 


PHILANTHROPY HIGHLIGHTS
Champion the strong, resilient women in our city who are doing everything in their power to build a better future for themselves and their children. 

Champion women by giving them the tools they need to succeed. Champion safe, affordable housing. Champion access to decent work opportunities.

Champion women finding their voices, chasing their dreams and building brighter futures.

 
COMMUNITY RESOURCE
The eve of a new year is naturally a time of reflection and goal-setting. Take a look at some feminist resolutions for 2020! Do you have a few of your own to add? 


Edgy
Photo | Naomi Hiltz Photography
Did you get a chance to check out the  Toronto Star article  from last month that profiled our Skilled Trades programs? YWCA Toronto has three different Skilled Trades training programs and many of the women who participate are newcomers. Check out  the article  to learn more!
Last month our Manager of Advocacy spoke to Global News about social media and sexual violence. 

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.