February is the Month of Love… Self-Love

For many, Valentine’s Day marks February as the month of love. But for those who have experienced intimate partner violence, a day like this one often triggers feelings associated with trauma instead. That’s why at Victoria Women’s Transition House, we change the narrative of Valentine’s Day and shift the focus to one of self-love and self-care. We try to show our clients that a sense of self-worth is at the heart of all healing. The image below is from our shelter, where residents made some crafts to decorate the space.

The Youth Engagement Project 

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, making it a good reason to highlight the VIP (Violence is Prevention) program, and the VWTH Youth Engagement pilot project that launched at the end of January.

VIP provides age-appropriate public education workshops for school students and educators in grades K-12. The program is run in collaboration with area schools and provides interactive workshops and education to youth and educators about dating violence, healthy relationships, boundaries and more.

Thanks to funding from the Silver Gummy Foundation, the Youth Engagement project takes this program a step further. Once a month, self-motivated youth who are interested in social justice and gender equity issues will meet in a peer mentoring setting, with a goal of empowering youth to take a leadership role in ending gender-based violence in our community. We’ll give you an update as they make plans for the new school year.

If you would like to book a VIP presentation in your school, call us at 250-592-2927, and to watch our VIP video series click here. Our thanks to the Viveka Foundation Fund held at Victoria Foundation, the Westshore RCMP and support from individual donors for funding for VIP. 

We Had a “Soup”-er Holiday Season!

There are so many reasons why we are grateful to everyone who supported us this holiday season! Thank you to all of the community groups, businesses and individuals who spread some kindness to our clients – thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

This is just one “soup”-er example of a group that came together to warm hearts and bellies this past December. Led by Claremont Secondary School grade 12 students Yechan Kim and Quinn Mccoy (picture here), Souper Kids brought student volunteers together to cook, package and deliver 32-litres of different soups to shelter clients as well as residents at our second stage housing program for older women.

Our thanks also to Country Grocer who generously donated all the soup ingredients. 

Shoppers Drug Mart Supports Women's Health

Representing nine Victoria-area Shoppers Drug Mart stores and the Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health Giving Shelter fundraising campaign, store owner Omar Alasaly (second from right) and Front Store Manager from the Langford Town Centre store, Ammie Belleau (third from left), pose with regional Shoppers Drug Mart representatives to present a giant cheque to Victoria Women’s Transition House’s Susan Howard (centre). Over $15,000 from Shoppers Drug Mart customers, staff and owners was donated to VWTH as part of the campaign to promote women’s health and wellness. Thank you all! 

New Fridge at Emergency Shelter

Thank you for this recent donation of a new fridge at our Emergency Shelter! We are so grateful to our volunteer Sharon Stoose and friends Kim Colpman, Aspen Bridge Associates; Suzanne Bradbury, Fort Street Properties; Damon Gray, NZ Builders; and Peter Johannknecht, Cascadia Architects for coming together to purchase it from Coast Appliances especially for us. More than just a fridge, this will help nourish the bellies and hearts of our clients for years to come.  

Stolen Sisters Memorial March

Please join us to honour and remember murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

The Victoria Stolen Sisters March will be taking place on Saturday, February 10 at 12pm, meeting in front of Our Place (919 Pandora Ave) and marching to the BC Legislature where people will hear speakers, enjoy songs, and share food.

More details can be found here. 

Goddess Run

Join us on Sunday, March 3 for the 13th Annual Goddess Run at Elk Lake/Beaver Lake for this annual 5km and 10km community event. Victoria Women’s Transition House is grateful to be one of the charity beneficiaries at the Goddess Run - an inspiring event that empowers and celebrates women.

This year, our VWTH Goddess Run Charity Champion is Chanterelle, running with her team Beyond the Run. Chanterelle is a survivor. She first witnessed gender-based violence in her home as a young child. Since then, she has worked hard to heal herself and overcome some of the harm she suffered. Part of Chanterelle’s healing has been her commitment to break the silence around intimate partner violence. She believes that running brings people together and builds community. “If we can run together, we can also support each other.”

Thank you, Chanterelle and team Beyond the Run, for your support of Victoria Women’s Transition House and the women and children we serve.

Click here for more information and to donate to Chanterelle’s Beyond the Run team run to support the work of VWTH.

It was 1974 when the first Emergency Shelter was opened by Victoria Women’s Transition House, which means that 2024 is our 50^th Anniversary! This milestone will be marked in a number of ways over the coming year, with opportunities to remember our history, recognize and honour the people who have ensured our continued success, and spread the word about the work that still needs to be done to create communities free of intimate partner violence.

As we prepare our anniversary plans, we would love to hear from you! Do you have memories that you would like to share? Were you a past member of staff, volunteer, board member or client? Please add your contact information to our “Alumni” list through the form on our website – you can share a story with us there too!

You can also email communications@vwth.bc.ca to share a story, memory, or to let us know what VWTH means to you.

Territory Acknowledgment

It is with much respect to the Lekwungen and SENĆOŦEN speaking peoples of the WSÁNEĆ, Esquimalt, and Songhees Nations, on whose traditional territories the Victoria Women’s Transition House Society is located, that we make this acknowledgment with the expressed shared hope to live in communities free of intimate partner violence.