100 Women Who Care Support Violence Against Women Services

100 Women Who Care is a “passionate group of women committed to supporting our community”. They meet for an hour every three months to raise funds for a charity dedicated to positive local action. Based across North America, there are 200 chapters in Canada and the US.

A member of the Toronto West chapter, Yorktown supporter, Debbie Hawkey, nominated Yorktown’s Violence Against Women Shelter and Services to be the beneficiary of the funds raised at the April 2022 Meeting and $9,800 was raised!

On June 7^th, 2022, Fatima Valentim, Director of Violence Against Women (VAW) Services, and Gabbey Dessye, Manager of Violence Against Women Client Services, were presented with the cheque and were provided the opportunity to thank the 100 Women Who Care Toronto West Chapter and to share with them why their support is important to Yorktown and the clients we serve:

“It is a pleasure to be here with you today, in person, to thank you for your kindness, generosity and support of Yorktown’s VAW Services.

It is an inspiration to be in the presence of a group of Women Who Care, because now, more than ever, we need people who care.

We are privileged to be of service to the many women and children we serve through our various VAW programs, including our shelter.  We are privileged to be a part of their journeys, their journeys to living lives free from violence and abuse.

Your generous donation will enable us to continue to deliver the services that are crucial to enabling women and their children to heal and move on from the violence – services such as individual trauma-informed counselling, workshops that focus on increased awareness and self-esteem, assistance in finding affordable housing, securing legal services, assistance in finding supports around mental wellness and substance use, help in going to school or looking for work, financial literacy programs and even arts-based and recreational programming that allow clients to connect and have fun.

In addition, as a result of your generosity, we can also provide women with basic necessities that many of us take for granted, like feminine hygiene products, diapers and even grocery vouchers that women can use to help make ends meet once they are out on their own.  Women and their families are being hugely impacted by the rising cost of living and the difficulty in making ends meet.

As I mentioned earlier, we have the opportunity to be a part of our client’s journey, sometimes we don’t know where the journey takes them and sometimes, we do hear that someone has become a paramedic, someone has finally obtained their status and is now in school studying to be a nurse, someone has graduated university and says the only reason she was able to do this was because of Yorktown getting her to go back to school.  These are the moments that reinforce the reasons why caring makes the impossible, possible. 

On behalf of Yorktown Family Services, we thank you so very much for your donation to and support of the work that we do.  We are grateful for your support and on behalf of the women and children we serve, we thank you.”

Yorktown would like to thank Debbie Hawkey for nominating Yorktown’s VAWS programs and 100 Women Who Care Toronto West for their investment in the important work that we do. We would also like to thank long-time Yorktown ambassador Judy Huyer for being the connector who made this all possible.

Yorktown Family Services’ VAW shelter, staffed 24 hours a day by a multilingual and multicultural team, provides a safe and secure haven for women and their children fleeing lives of violence and abuse. We offer numerous VAWS programs and services, both at the shelter and in the community such as housing and transitional support, individual counselling, group therapy, referrals to financial and legal assistance, child advocacy, and much more.

Learn more about our Violence Against Women shelter and services by visiting our webpage.

Support is always just a phone call away! For anyone seeking assistance related to intimate partner violence or abuse, Ronit Kasimov, our Transitional Support Worker, can be reached at 416-394-2950 Ext: 236.