Archives for February 2014

Archive for February, 2014

WHY BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR?

Posted on: February 24th, 2014 by Nellie's No Comments

Image courtesy of Naypong/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you go to the Donation page of our website and click General Donation, you will see the option to become a Monthly Donor by joining Nellie’s Promise of Home. This option also appears on the back of donor slips from any of our Direct Mail Campaigns. But why would you want to become a Monthly Donor?

Well Nellie’s is like a household. We need to know how much money we can count on each month to make plans and pay expenses.

Our Monthly Donors allow us to have the luxury of being able to depend on a fixed amount of income each and every month that we can dedicate to supporting the vital work Nellie’s carries out at the Shelter and through our outreach programs!

And the amount you give each month adds up – not only in dollars, but in the continuing support to the women & children who need Nellie’s to survive.

If you would like to help in rebuilding a life today, please consider becoming a Nellie’s Monthly Donor!

February 20th – World Day of Social Justice

Posted on: February 19th, 2014 by Nellie's No Comments

This is just a snapshot of Elena’s day. It’s a day like any other, except that it is February 20^th. Known as the World Day of Social Justice, it aims to draw attention and change to injustices in area of human rights. As we follow Elena in her footsteps, perhaps we can ask ourselves how relevant February 20^th is to us all…

When waking up, Elena automatically reaches to turn on the radio. It’s her daily ritual. Within seconds, her eyes open wide and her heart speeds up. This usually happens only after a shot of espresso.

“Did this really happen?” she says to herself out loud after hearing the coverage of a story recently discovered by the media. According to the news, an unknown woman, who was sleeping in a doorway of a Toronto community agency was sexually assaulted by a young man in the early hours of the morning. A second man sexually assaulted this woman just one hour later. She never moved and did not leave. A security camera captured everything. The video of this event was so clear that both of the perpetrators’ faces were completely visible. Yet, this woman never contacted the police. No one seems to know who she is and there are no leads according to the police in charge of solving this crime. Elena lies in bed mortified as she imagines what this woman went through. She knows that homeless women are ten times more likely to be sexually assaulted compared to women who have a permanent address. As she goes on to brush her teeth, she is thinking about the lack of convictions in sexual assault cases overall and starts to understand why the attacked woman would never bother calling the police. Why is this still happening?

On her way to work, Elena catches her usual bus. She notices a headline of a newspaper being read by another fellow passenger. In bold letters the article is titled: “Have we learned nothing from Ashley Smith’s case?” Elena thinks back to the story of a Canadian teenage girl who faced an unnecessary death and how much this incidence stirred up discussion around criminalization of women with mental health issues. Minutes later, as Elena looks down at today’s free paper that the passenger left behind, she picks it up and reads about another teenage girl called Nichele. The article explains that a twenty something year old Nichele suffers from a life long brain disorder, yet lost count of the times she has been in front of a judge and faced jail time due to her behaviour. Her medical condition should make the justice system respond differently, yet she is treated in the same way as a person who has the mental capacity to make different decisions. Elena stops reading and wonders why in this day and age we still need Social Justice focused rallies pleading for fair treatment of people with mental health issues. Why is this still happening?

Elena steps off the bus and walks towards a coffee shop located minutes away from her work. While in line waiting to order, she overhears a conversation between two women standing ahead of her. They are discussing a documentary called Motherload that was on TV last week. As they share their thoughts of this Canadian made documentary about struggles faced by working mothers, Elena hears one of the women say: “Feminist fight for equality, left Motherhood out of the equation.” With intrigue to hear the meaning of this, she continues listening in… “With all that has changed among women and men in the last 50 years, why do we still follow the traditional gender roles?” Elena knows from seeing it all around that women often work the same amount of hours as men, yet still do most of the childcare and housework. She has previously read that 70 percent of Canadian moms are working moms. They are not just juggling, but struggling. Why is this still happening?

Elena takes a sip of her hot coffee and gets to work before 9am. It is only the morning, but Elena has heard enough to know that the World Day of Social Justice is sadly very relevant. We obviously need more than a reminder and globally address the real issues of poverty, violence and unequal treatment faced by women every day.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Posted on: February 13th, 2014 by Nellie's No Comments

We are worthwhile

We deserve the best

We are beautiful people

We are loveable

We are all miracles

(from a Nellie’s supporter)

October – December 2013 – Communication with Organization

Posted on: February 11th, 2014 by Nellie's No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE

The Social Justice Committee ended 2013 with a number of different activities, including three different blog series, a community forum and participation in social justice events. In addition, the Social Justice Committee reviewed the Terms of Reference for the committee, and the Accessibility Committee completed their Terms of Reference and Work Plan for review by the board. The Social Justice Committee also reviewed the calendar dates, which include cultural and social justice days, for the Nellie’s Calendar to be released in January 2014.

The blogs written this quarter covered Women’s History Month, Women Abuse Awareness Month and the December 6^th Vigil. In October, the Women’s History Month blog focused on bringing attention to the women who make a difference in the community who are not always recognized in today’s history books. In November, the Women Abuse Awareness Month blog addressed broadening the definition of violence and including systemic forms of violence that women experience, including poverty, homelessness, racism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism and ableism. The December blog focused on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against through the experience of a woman at the December 6^th vigil.

Nellie’s was also busy this quarter participating in and hosting social justice and community events. In October, two members from the Social Justice Committee attended the Right to Housing Community Forum, which brought together activists, advocates, community workers, policy experts and people with lived experience to discuss the fight for the right to housing. In November, Nellie’s Social Justice Committee hosted a community forum for Woman Abuse Awareness Month called “Women of Nellie’s Speak Out.” The evening was led by the women who participated in the WEAV Group and Women on the Move Group and included a demonstration by Wen Do. The women shared their own stories through poem, song and speeches to raise awareness of violence against women. Nellie’s also attended the December 6^th vigil.

The Social Justice Committee is also looking to conduct research on Best Practices for Social Justice Work. The research will help to identify key issues and trends in Social justice Activism, develop a list of Best Practices for Social Justice Work, inform how Nellie’s engages in Social Justice Work and increase Nellie’s impact on Social Justice Issues in diverse ways. During this quarter, an outline for the project was created, and the Committee is in the process of finding a placement student to conduct the research.

The final newsletter for the year was also completed this quarter. The newsletter looked at how Nellie’s has done Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism work over the past 40 years and how it continues to be embedded in the organization’s structure, policies and programs. Moving forward into the New Year, the committee brainstormed a list of Social justice themes for the upcoming position paper. Themes included: Criminalization of Women, Immigration, Indigenous Women, Harm Reduction and Gender Expression. We look forward to choosing a theme in the New Year and continuing the work in social justice!