News
Gingerbread House Benefits Shelter
Mosaic potash corporation held a gingerbread house competition plus a bake sale as a holiday season benefit for YWCA Isabel Johnson Shelter. A shelter staff member happily volunteered to help judge the competition—and when all was baked and built and judged, more than $500 was raised to benefit Regina women and children fleeing domestic violence!
Regina Children Receive New Shoes for Christmas
As a result of the Payless Gives Shoes 4 Kids program, about 75 children who were clients of various programs at YWCA Regina, including children at Isabel Johnson Shelter and My Aunt’s Place, were able to go shopping for new shoes this Christmas season. Payless Shoes provides $1.2 million in new shoes to children in need through non-profit organizations in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Latin America.
Go Girls! Program Partners with Open Door Society
YWCA Regina recently partnered with Regina Open Door Society (RODS) to offer programming to 11 - 19-year-old girls whose families are recent immigrants to the city. Utilizing the Go Girls! curriculum, which facilitates discussion around issues of healthy lifestyle, self-esteem, relationships, body image, media, and more, the program was held weekly at YWCA from October until December. Jamal-e-Fatima of RODS and program facilitators met with parents in advance of the program to explain the application process and to respond to questions and concerns. Twenty girls, primarily of Nepalese background, attended the sessions, each of which concluded with an hour of Bollywood dancing.
Umbrella and rain boot sales benefit Isabel Johnson Shelter
Part of the proceeds of the annual Shelter from the Storm campaign, implemented by the Canadian Women's Foundation, comes from the sale of rain gear, t-shirts, bags, decals and other items sold at Winners and HomeSense.
Each April, individual donors and local communities join campaign partners Winners, HomeSense and Rogers Media to raise funds for more than 450 Canadian shelters for abused women and their children—including YWCA Regina's Isabel Johnson Shelter.
The campaign raised a national total of $1.7 million. Half of the proceeds goes to shelters, and the other half supports violence prevention programs funded by the Canadian Women's Foundation.
For more information, visit www.shelterfromthestorm.ca.
YWCA conference empowers girls with education and awareness
YWCA Regina held their fourth annual Power of Being a Girl conference October 20 at the Ramada, with about eighty 12 to 17-year-old girls from 7 schools in attendance.
The day-long program kicked-off with a personal story from keynote speaker Candyce Bakke of Shear Escape Salon and Spa, and included staff- and volunteer-led workshops on healthy relationships, self-esteem, bullying, and media and body image. Elder Norma Jean Bird also participated, and Glenda Garcia led a participatory yoga session.
Power of Being a Girl is a national program of YWCA Canada, and is planned as part of annual Week Without Violence initiatives.
Shelter staff educate RCMP cadets about intimate partner violence
Since 1995, staff from the YWCA Isabel Johnson Shelter and other Regina shelters have conducted training sessions with RCMP cadets about intimate partner violence, and the role shelters play in reducing the impact of violence.
The sessions are typically about two hours in length, and involve 40-50 recruits. Topics covered include provincial and national statistics about domestic violence, relevant legislation and legal processes, the cycle of violence, types of abuse, and available resources. One of the recurring questions cadets ask is why women stay in abusive relationships.
“The goal is to have the cadets achieve an understanding of the patterns involved in abusive relationships,” says Kerri Hill, Children’s Resource Worker at Isabel Johnson Shelter. Kerri was impressed at how engaged the cadets were at a recent presentation. “They asked tons of questions—questions about abuse, and about how shelters do their work.”
YWCA residents benefit from REACH mobile grocery store
The Community ‘R’ Mobile Store program of Regina Education and Action on Child Hunger (REACH) now comes to YWCA Regina—and provides a convenient way for YWCA residents to access healthy food.
Every second Tuesday afternoon, with the volunteer assistance of clients of YWCA’s Kikinaw Residence, the mobile grocery store sells fruit, vegetables, meat, breads and dairy products at the McIntyre Street location. And while the store is open to anyone, YWCA residents and clients especially benefit.
“We’re very pleased to be part of the REACH program,” Executive Director Deanna Elias-Henry says. “Transportation to grocery stores is a barrier for many of our clients, so this definitely fills a need.”
Saskatchewan YWCAs collaborate on election initiative
YWCA Regina, along with its sister YWCAs in Prince Albert and Saskatoon, held a series of three candidates’ meetings in those communities to heighten awareness of housing issues in the provincial election. The meetings were held October 25-27, with a total of about 120 in attendance, including 7 candidates from three political parties.
Three written questions were distributed in advance of the meetings, and political parties were invited to send representative candidates to respond. After candidates’ prepared responses, the floor was opened to questions from the public.
“At events like these, candidates take the risk of being confronted by community members who have a personal stake in the issue of housing,” YWCA Regina Executive Director Deanna Elias-Henry says. “That certainly was the case at these meetings—and we appreciate the time they took to be involved.”
Village Networks serves single mother-led families
The YWCA’s Village Networks project offers a range of resources, programs, and services for single mothers and their children—including discount fitness memberships and Zumba classes. But even more important than programs and resources, Village Networks is about giving families an opportunity to build stronger social networks, with opportunities for support, friendship, fun, and information.
Funded by the Social Development Partnerships Program, the program welcomes new participants—just call Marie at 525-2141 ext 105.