We get asked these questions all the time: 

 

“What difference will my donation make?” 

and

“Why is my donation more important Today?” 

 

These are fair questions. The answers are, respectively: Your donation will have a long lasting impact for women, trans, non-binary folks, and their children who are leaving violent situations, 

and

Your donation is important today because the women, non-binary and trans individuals, and their children who are walking through the doors of North York Women’s Shelter to access support are doing so right now. 

 

And the rates by which this support is needed are increasing at alarming rates. 

 

Truthfully, the burdens of the pandemic – financial and otherwise – have disproportionately impacted women, trans, and non-binary individuals. This means recovery from the pandemic is also more difficult for these folks, and these are also the same communities who access NYWS. 

 

We also know that the pandemic has led to an exponential increase in violence throughout our communities. Gender-based violence is an ongoing crisis that has a devastating impact on our community every single day. 

 

This is an immediate crisis. 

 

That’s why more support is needed right now – this very minute. 

 

We know that this is not a simple and singular problem to solve but rather the result of multiple systemic issues overlapping to create a perfect storm of violence: white supremacy and racism, misogyny and sexism, police brutality, classism, queerphobia and transphobia…the list goes on. 

 

We know this means the solution must also not be simple and singular. As a supporter of NYWS, you know that if you are truly committed to justice and gender equality, you must take an intersectional and feminist approach to all of your work. And you know that doing things the right way is almost never the same as doing things the easy way. 

 

So at NYWS, we work hard to help build a space that facilitates safety and healing and justice and equity. A space where  women, non-binary, trans individuals, and their children are empowered and safe, so they can focus on defining whatever next steps make sense for themselves. 

 

Every single hour of every single day of the year, North York Women’s Shelter actively supports the rights of  women, non-binary and trans individuals, and their children to build lives free of violence by providing non-judgemental safe shelter, advocacy, and a range of programs and services including 24-hour crisis support. 

 

When you donate right now, you are helping fund services like trauma counsellors. 

Your gift will fund case management to help residents navigate systems; this might mean connecting them with lawyers and legal aid, supporting folks to access healthcare or education for their children, or advocating for them within the organization or other systems. In short, your donation helps make sure nobody needs to do this work alone. 

 

I ask you to join me in making a donation right now and help make this time a little bit easier for our residents.

With sincere gratitude,

Brigitte Barikage, 

Director, Programs and Services