October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and here at Nellie’s we ask you to join hands to end violence against women by participating in the annual Scotiabank run, donate to the shelter, volunteer your time or bid for items at the online auction. Nellie’s shelter has been operating for over 40 years to provide shelter, dignity and hope to over 15,000 women and children; yet sadly the shelter still has to turn many away on a daily basis because of the never ending cycle of family violence.
Click here to support Nellie’s Team in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Click here to donate online.
Contact helen@nellies.org to find out when the Online Holiday Auction starts or to donate new items, gift certificates, gift baskets to the auction. All funds raised go directly to support the women & children in our care
The shelter was named after Nellie McClung who was a very important figure in the women’s suffrage movement. She is especially recognized in October on Persons Day, which is an annual celebration in Canada on October 18 of every year. Although not a civic holiday, it is important nonetheless because on October 18, 2919, the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council decided that women were eligible to sit in the Canadian Senate.
Five determined women known as the “famous five” who were responsible for including women in the word ‘person’. One of these five women was Nellie McClung.
Nellie was born in 1873 in Ontario. She spent her childhood growing up in Manitoba, where the seeds of political activism were sown. At the age of 23 years old, she married Wesley McClung with whom she had five children. In 1911, the family moved to Winnipeg, where Nellie continued to fight for social change.
Nellie joined the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to help stop problems associated with alcohol abuse. She joined other groups whose aim was to advance women’s suffrage movement and Nellie became one of the founding members of the Political Equality League.
In 1916, Manitoba was the first province to grant women the right to vote and Saskatchewan soon followed. Nellie continued fighting for human rights her whole life by focusing attention on the rights of Aboriginal and Asian women, and for European immigrants during World War II.
Nellie remained a huge player for social justice until she died in 1953. Her name lives on in a small community in the east end of Toronto through Nellie’s Shelter, which is known for its major role in social justices issues affecting violence against women and homelessness.
