Anne Marie D’Amico Community Collective before and after renovations

 

Leaving a dangerous situation and finding housing support is a challenging adjustment for families. To make the transition as smooth as possible, North York Women’s Shelter strives to make sure that our Anne Marie D’Amico Community Collective creates a warm and welcoming environment for those that made the difficult decision of leaving a violent home, and this includes having safe green spaces in which survivors can relax and feel connected to natural beauty. 

 

The Gathering Garden 

This summer, with thanks to the Environment, Climate and Forestry Division at the City of Toronto, we have been upgrading our garden space surrounding the Anne Marie D’Amico Community Collective, the anti-violence collective in which survivors of violence in the community can access services to support their onward journey to a safe future. Through a series of community-led planting workshops, we revitalized flowerbeds with native pollinator-friendly species that were thoughtfully selected to ensure continuous bloom of flowers throughout the spring, summer and fall each year. Pollinators are imperative to our natural ecosystem, so we hope that through the incorporation of these specific species, our community will not only enjoy beautiful flowers year-round, but the local area at large will benefit from increased pollinator activity.  

The space will now serve as an ongoing learning garden, with “What can you Spot?” activity books available for children and families to explore the gardens and look for different pollinator bees, butterflies and birds throughout the space.  

 

Anne Marie D’Amico Community Collective before and after renovations

 

Representing Hope 

Throughout the year, the efforts of our community will continue to bloom, making it a symbol of their resilience and own personal growth during a challenging chapter in their lives. This garden, planted by survivors of violence, will act as a living expression of their healing and the personal ‘bloom’ they are experiencing as they change trajectory from a violent home toward a more stable future. 

Our warmest thanks to the City of Toronto and the PollinateTO team for their crucial role in supporting this program, giving survivors of gender-based violence an opportunity to contribute to ecological stability while experiencing nature-based healing.

 

Anne Marie D’Amico Community Collective before and after renovations