A Harvest Celebration

A wonderful dinner to celebrate the fall harvest was enjoyed by the women at our third stage transitional housing program. At the women’s request, lasagna casseroles and fresh bread were prepared and delicious salads shared in the festively decorated amenities room, on-site. Dessert included traditional pumpkin pies.

Special thanks to our friends at Refire Kitchen for the donation of casseroles, bread and Caesar salads. A wonderful way to welcome the harvest season. 

Each year, the VWTH Food Security Project supports hundreds of clients of Victoria Women’s Transition House - women and children impacted by intimate partner violence and abuse.

The Project’s Food Co-ordinator works with our food security partners including food rescue organizations and local food suppliers to secure food donations and seek low-cost local food options for our Emergency Shelter, third stage housing program, and for clients who access services in our counselling and support programs.

The Project also supports meal planning at the Shelter, coordinates special dietary requirements for our clients, and helps to reduces food waste between programs by allocating donations and resources based on clients’ needs.

In addition, the Food Coordinator offers monthly cooking classes and baking sessions for shelter residents, focusing on ingredients that are affordable and easy to use, so that clients and families can make meals and snacks at home when they leave the shelter. She also suggests creative ways to use items often included in food hampers from food banks or other community resources to ensure that the women have cooking and food preparation confidence when accessing these critical supports.

Over the next year we are hoping to add some additional partnerships to our Food Security Project including bakery partnerships, farmers market coupons, Backpack Buddies program, and more. And we’d love to add partnerships with local restaurants and cooks, to provide cooking classes and home cooked meals for special events and holidays at the shelter and through our support programs. 

We were very happy to join other invited non-profits in the Charity Expo at the launch of the 2024 Provincial Employees Community Services Fund (PECSF) campaign kick-off and barbeque in September. It was great to chat with provincial employees and to share information about VWTH, our shelter, programs and services.

The Provincial PECSF, also called the Community Fund, is the Province of British Columbia’s unique, employee-driven workplace giving program. Started by caring, community-minded public servants in 1965, it has raised over $50 million for charities throughout the province.

During the fall awareness campaign and pledge drive, which runs from September 26 to November 10, 1,000 public servant volunteers coordinate fun workplace events like these to encourage employees to donate to their favourite charity.

Victoria Women’s Transition House is very grateful to be a recipient of multi-year funding in support of our Food Security program through PECSF. We thank all the Provincial Employees who make contributions to local charities through payroll deductions.

And if you are a provincial employee, remember, you can support Victoria Women’s Transition House through PECSF payroll deductions in any amount. Thank you sincerely for your support! 

We need your help with our Holiday Hamper Program. The holidays can be a hard time of year for people, especially for those affected by trauma. A gift card hamper can make all the difference this holiday season for a woman who has left an abusive relationship, often having left with nothing to call her own. You can help her make the season a bit more special for her and her children by providing a way for her to buy gifts and meals.

Please visit Holiday Hamper Donor Registration to register as a Hamper donor on our website today. Thank you! 

Exciting news everyone! The 14^th annual Goddess Run will be taking place Sunday, March 2, 2025 at Beaver Lake, raising funds and awareness for two great charities, including Victoria Women's Transition House.

Goddess Run registration includes a souvenir headband and socks from Outway, a finisher's medal and a race bib. 

Early Bird registration is now open! Please sign up using the Registration Code GODDESSVWTH (valid until November 1), and save $5. Come join us in this wonderful Goddess community, raise money for VWTH, and have a great time taking part.

GODDESS RUN 2025 Registration  

A selection of VWTH donors and supporters gathered in the Harbour Room at the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort on Tuesday, October 1.

Guests were treated to a beautiful luncheon with project updates from Executive Director, Makenna Rielly and a program presentation by Cassidy Smith on PhotoVoice.

Our thanks to Smart Dolphins IT Solutions (Matthew and Haley from Smart Dolphins pictured here) for sponsoring the Luncheon, to the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort for hosting us, to Nicholas Miller from Encore for IT support and to Dominic Hall Photography. 

Thank you to the many wonderful donations received over the last few months. This includes gifts-in-kind, like a new baby monitor, handmade quilts and knitted blankets; handmade soaps and hygiene supplies; and totes, purses and a sewing machine.

As well, Victoria Women’s Transition House is grateful to the 167+ individuals and companies who have made donations of cash and securities to our organization through our fall fund drive.

Special thanks to donors Bobbi and Don Johannessen, Larry Garfinkle, Lorraine and David Kelly, Kathryn Porter, Liz Gobin, Arlene Anderson, Jan Galenza and Thomas Coward as well as to Lawrence and Patricia Murphy through the L.P. Murphy Charitable Fund. And Victoria Women’s Transition House is deeply grateful to the Eldon and Ann Foote Fund held at Edmonton Community Foundation for the first of another three-year pledge of support. Thank you all for your support.

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.