October News & Updates

October 14 was cold and it was rainy, but that didn't dampen the spirits of supporters who joined us for the 14th annual Walk A Mile in Their Shoes event. We're grateful to event partners 107.5 Dave Rocks, 91.5 The Beat, Sobeys, Meridian Credit Union and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada for their support of WAM this year, and to the walkers and donors who helped us almost crack $10,00 in donations.

It's not too late to donate to this campaign! All funds raised will support our free, community-based violence prevention programming with youth across Waterloo Region.

At the beginning of October, YWCA Cambridge joined YWCAs from across Canada in Ottawa to advocate for increased investments in solutions to women's homelessness. We met with a number of federal representatives including senators and Members of Parliament, to advocate for a reinvestment in the Women and Children Shelter and Transitional Housing Initiative in order to advance work on addressing the crisis of women's homelessness in Canada. Read more on our blog.

For the last six months, YWCA Cambridge has been on a journey to understand the issue of women's homelessness in Cambridge and to develop interventions that could address it.

Next week, we will release our new, 78-page research report which examines this topic and explores ways our community can work together to find tenable solutions. Stay tuned!

Join us for another Feminist Night Market!

October 28, 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Featuring vendors such as:

Fire and Fiber Makes

Dishevelled by Design

The Tiny Paint Company

Mama B’s Potions & Notions

Made With Love and Yarn

Western Sky Designs

Quill and Sage

Hanako Collective

Uprise Thrift

Adrianna’s Adventurous Creations

Earthen Art Studio

Small Mercy’s

and more!

Thank you for supporting this year's Take Back The Night March and Rally!

Thank you to all of our community partners and supporters who participated in this year's Take Back The Night march and rally. Once again, this was an event led by youth in our programming at The W and featured speeches and performances by participants and other community partners.

Our skilled staff continuously engage in professional development opportunities and are always seeking out ways to make our programming the best it can possibly be. That’s why we were thrilled when the Region of Waterloo provided us additional funding through the one-time funding allotment dedicated to building capacity within our teams.

Simona Radencich- our certified leadership coach and facilitator from Henslie Consulting, will be providing our entire child care department similar training topic essentials over the next 4-5 months.

Our focus will be to have teams apply new learnings to improve team cultures as well as their capacity within their respective roles.

We are excited to have this opportunity and look forward to building a stronger department to better the children and families that we serve!

Early Childhood Educator and Child Care Worker Appreciation Day 2023

October 17 was ECE and Child Care Worker Appreciation day! Our child care department leadership team spent the day delivering special treats to child care staff to celebrate, while parents and families showered them with messages of gratitude and support!

“I have so much confidence now and I don’t want it to stop.” 

Jodi’s journey with YWCA Cambridge began just a short few months ago when she was referred to our pre-employment and life skills program, Small Steps to Success. She hadn’t worked since 2010 and her level of self-confidence and awareness of her own skills and capabilities was as low as it gets. 

“It’s been a hard journey to get where I am today, to be honest,” said Jodi a single mother to two adult boys. “[I had a] rough upbringing, lack of education – I maybe have my grade 8.” Raising two children on her own and without higher education made it incredibly difficult for Jodi to find work.

In Canada, according to the Low Income Measure, 10% of women in Canada live on low incomes. Overall, 28% of women-led households in Canada are in core housing need. Some populations in Canada face higher rates of core housing need, such as Inuit women, First Nations women and recent immigrant women.

That is why, your support of YWCA Cambridge, continues to be essential. Our events and programs address the direct issues women and girls face every day. Our youth and employment programs are a direct response to the needs of women in our community. With you by our side, we can have an impact that makes a big difference.

1. Strategic investment in a better world: Many forward-thinking business leaders understand the cost of gender inequality and recognize that supporting initiatives like the Canadian Women's Foundation is a strategic investment in creating a more equitable and prosperous society. By investing in programs that uplift women in the workforce, corporations can contribute to the overall development and success of Cambridge.
2. Business benefits of gender diversity: Research has shown that diverse teams and leadership are associated with better business performance and innovation. By supporting the up-levelling of women in the workforce, corporate partners can tap into a broader talent pool, enhance decision-making processes, and drive innovation, ultimately leading to improved business outcomes.
3. Addressing the under-representation of women in the talent pipeline: Despite being a global leader in gender equality, Canada still faces challenges in achieving equal representation of women at all levels of the talent pipeline. Corporate partners can play a crucial role in addressing this issue by supporting programs that provide women with opportunities for advancement, leadership development, and skill-building. This, in turn, can help create a more inclusive and diverse workforce for the future.

To become a program sponsor or to learn more about our programming please email n.ballantyne@ywcacambridge.ca 

References: 

https://canadianwomen.org/the-facts/womens-poverty/ 

 https://www.mckinsey.com/ca/overview/gender-diversity-at-work-in-canada 

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1003294/ontario-helping-more-women-in-kingston-build-skills-and-get-jobs