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Mother’s Day Memories

Posted on: May 16th, 2012 by Nellie's No Comments

Here’s a re-cap of some of the wonderful events that took place at Nellie’s in honour of Mother’s Day.

On Thursday afternoon the women at Nellie’s enjoyed a Mother’s Day Celebration organized by Tony Roost of One Fire Movement, musician Rory O’Hearn, yoga instructor Marinella Nesso and photographer Jason Lutz. Marinella opened the event with an hour long yoga session that had everyone participating! The women went through deep-breathing, stretching, and relaxation exercises specifically created to celebrate and honour the hard work of motherhood. Following this, Rory serenaded the women with some Bob Marley songs as well as a couple original tunes about strength and perseverance in times of struggle. The entire afternoon was captured on film and video by photographer Jason. Thank you Tony for bringing together a such a wonderful group of artists to celebrate the Mother’s Day at Nellie’s!

“Today made me realize how important self-care really is. My spirit is soaring.”

On Saturday evening the women at the Shelter were treated to a Mother’s Day Photoshoot organized by Juanita Morris and her friends. Stylists Carol, Hayley, Maggie and Alice provided hair and make-up services to each of the women as they prepared to have their photos taken. Photographers David, Gavin and Louise captured many special Mother’s Day memories of women and their children. Blacks has generously offered to process and print the pictures free of charge and flowers for the photo-shoot were generously donated by our East-End neighbours Quince Flowers.

“It’s wonderful to be a Mother at Nellie’s.”

The Body Shop made Mother’s Day extra special for the women by donating gift baskets to everyone at the Shelter. Both The Body Shop Beaches and The Body Shop Eaton Centre chose Nellie’s as the recipient of their in-kind fundraising campaign “Another for a Mother.” During the month of May customers added a gift box to their purchase and donated it back to The Body Shop. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this campaign – the women loved their gifts!

Walmart Canada facilitated a surprise Mother’s Day gift –a lovely silver necklace for every woman at the shelter. Receiving this thoughtful gift moved many residents to tears. On Sunday the residents enjoyed a lovely Mother’s Day Brunch at the shelter. The day was amazing for the women and was certainly one to remember. At a time when motherhood is so widely discussed, it was wonderful for mothers at the shelter to celebrate their beautiful selves and to honour their choices.

“I love you mom.”

Thank you to all our financial donors who responded so generously in giving to our 2012 Mother’s Day Appeal. Your support enables us to provide all the mothers and children at Nellie’s the support and services they need to ensure a brighter future for themselves and their children. Thank you to our community for making all the women at Nellie’s feel special!

What we give makes us rich

Posted on: January 13th, 2012 by Nellie's No Comments

“In this world, it is not what we take up,
but what we give that makes us rich.”

-H.W. Beecher-

Thank You for our new boiler for the women and children at Nellie’s Shelter this holiday season!

Welcome 2012

Posted on: January 11th, 2012 by Nellie's No Comments

It’s 2012 and we are looking forward to another year of new beginnings for the women and children at Nellie’s.

First, thanks to all of our donors, supporters, and community members for your amazing support in 2011. With your help, the women and children at Nellie’s have been able to achieve many great things, as they begin new lives free from violence, poverty, and homelessness.

Last year, you helped us to provide shelter to 191 women and children; respond to 2,025 crisis calls for assistance; create 320 safety plans to help women and their children safely flee from violence; and serve over 40,000 meals for homeless and low-income women in the community! For more information, you can access our latest Annual Report.

A few of our Accomplishments in 2011 include:

~ Nellie’s Women & Accessibility Group welcomed our first participants

~ 30 women participated in 2 sessions of our Ending Violence Support Group

~ Our Children’s Summer Camp was a big hit with the kids!

~ We received great feedback and solidarity on our 16 Days to End Gender Violence Blog Series

All of this great work was achieved with YOUR support!

This holiday season was a great reminder for all of us of how generous and supportive our community truly is!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to Nellie’s through our “Home for the Holidays” fundraising campaign;

as part of our online giving community, raising over $16,000 in under 24 hours for a New Boiler for our shelter;

through our inaugral Online Holiday Auction which raised over $3000;

and as a participant in our Holiday Gift Giving Program which provided a new toy or gift to over 200 women and children this holiday season!

For a pictoral re-cap of the holidays, click here.

Not to forget, thanks to all our 2011 Team Nellie’s members and donors who helped raise $11,208 during the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Looking forward in 2012, our goals are to maintain the same level of high-quality programs and services as well as increase our capacity to support disAbled women to end violence in their lives, including the creation of space to accommodate private counselling. We will also continue to work on raising funds to build a new shelter for Nellie’s!

Welcome 2012. With you, we can make this our best year yet and continue to create new beginnings for the women and children in our care.

YOU DID IT! A new boiler for Nellie’s Shelter is on its way!

Posted on: December 22nd, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

Thank you for your incredible response to our urgent appeal
for a new boiler for Nellie’s Shelter!

In less than a day, our incredible community of donors have collectively raised over $12,000 we needed for a new boiler at Nellie’s Shelter!

Thank you to everyone who shared our appeal by twitter, facebook,
blogs, and e-mail.

We are very pleased to report that a new boiler is already
on its way to the shelter!

Thanks to you, the residents of Nellie’s will sleep safe, sound, and warm
tonight and through the winter.

On behalf of everyone at Nellie’s Shelter, thank you for opening up your hearts and truly giving a “Home for the Holidays” for the
women and children in our care.

~Margarita Mendez, Nellie’s Executive Director~

“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” – Janice Maeditere

The Basketeers help create new beginnings for the women at Nellie’s

Posted on: November 21st, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

This past Saturday the Basketeers hosted their annual Gift Basket Drive for women’s shelters across the GTA. Founded in 2000 by Cheryl Stoneburgh, the Basketeers work with over 3500 donors and volunteers to create gift baskets for women who are moving out of shelters and into new homes. This is our second year receiving support from the Basketeers and on Saturday they delivered 50 baskets to our shelter.

Nellie’s Development Manager, Wendy Sung-Aad (left) with Basketeers Founder Cheryl Stoneburgh.

Volunteers begin with a laundry basket and fill it up with items women will need in their new homes. A kitchen themed basket may include items like a kettle, frying pan, kitchen towels, dinnerware, washing detergent, etc. A bed/bathroom themed basket will include items like sheets, an alarm clock, a blanket, pillow, towels, etc. Volunteers are also encouraged to include items such as chocolate, scented soaps, body cream, and bath oils to make the baskets extra special for the women.

Special thanks to the volunteers who packed and loaded the baskets for Nellie’s.

Many of the women who arrive at Nellie’s come with little more than the clothes on their back. When they are ready to move out of the shelter and into a new home, it can be an intimidating experience. With few personal possessions and a limited income, buying items to furnish their new homes can be difficult – this is why the support from the Basketeers is so crucial. Thank you Basketeers for helping create new beginnings for the women and children at Nellie’s Shelter!

Thank-you for making our Back to School & Basics Campaign a success!

Posted on: November 7th, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

Before we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made this year’s Back to School & Basics Campaign a success! With your support, we were able to send 70 children back to the classroom with new backpacks and school supplies and were able to provide basic necessities like toiletries, towels, and linens to the women at our shelter.

Thank you to our major in-kind donors of back to school items: eHealth Ontario, the Region of Peel, Sparks Productions, APP Canada, and the Sexual Assault Survivors Support Line @ York University. You donations of brand new pencils, paper, binders, notebooks, crayons, markers, lunch bags and backpacks gave the children at Nellie’s the confidence and capacity to return to school with everything they need. Your support was also appreciated by the 5 women at our shelter who returned to school this fall to being or upgrade their post-secondary education.

Zainab [right] from SASSL at York delivers items donated by York Students.

Thank you as well to those donors who supported us financially. Your contributions ensure that the women at our shelter are provided with the basic necessities they need as soon as they arrive at our door. We can’t say this enough – none of this would be possible without your support. THANK YOU to every single individual who donated in-kind and financially to our Back to School & Basics Campaign. You have helped the children and women at Nellie’s begin the school year on the right track – the track to success!

Thank you x 3!

Posted on: October 26th, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

We had a great time at Take a Walk on the Riverside this weekend!

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Rummage Sale and helped us raise $344 for the The United Way Toronto!

Thank you to Nell Bradshaw and Natasha Varjacic from Real Estate Homeward Brokerage for hosting a Charity BBQ for Nellie’s and raising $356

On Sunday we had the pleasure of attending the 5th Annual Dirty Dishes Bakesale and Jamboree for Nellie’s! Thank you to everyone who came out to the Tranzac Club and helped the Dirty Dishes raise $739 for the women and children at Nellie’s!

COMING UP: This weekend Source Centre TO and the Ontario Network Chiropractors will be at the Zoomer Show and they’ll be offering spinal and posture checks, with proceeds going to Nellie’s. We will be giving away a free pass for 2 to the show on October 28th on twitter. Follow us here for your chance to win!

“Toronto Mom Now” supports Moms at Nellie’s

Posted on: September 28th, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

Toronto Mom Now, a website for moms in the city, is launching soon and they are supporting moms at Nellie’s by donating $1 for every person who signs up to their e-mail list.

Filled with yummy places to eat, unique places to shop, and cool neighbourhoods to walk – (with or without your kids), Toronto Mom Now is a local guide for urban moms who love where they live! If you love to discover the best neighbourhoods in the city and what they have to offer, Toronto Mom Now is the place for you.

Toronto Mom Now supports the important work Nellie’s does and is pleased to donate $1 to for every person who signs up to their e-mail list. Since 1973, Nellie’s Shelter has helped to rebuild the lives of over 15,000 women and children. As mothers themselves, the women at Toronto Mom Now know that every woman deserves a life free of violence and poverty for herself and her children.

Nellie’s is so pleased to be a part of such a wonderful initiative and we wish Toronto Mom Now much success as they launch their new website in October. Please visit http://www.torontomomnow.com and sign up today!

Our thanks to the United Way Toronto!

Posted on: September 15th, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

Earlier this month, the United Way Toronto launched their 2011 Campaign. This year their goal is to raise $116,000,000 to “provide stability in an uncertain time to UW agencies and support long-term efforts to strengthen neighbourhoods.” Speaking at the launch event, Campaign Chair, Janet Holder said “Together we have the energy to make a difference and can help strengthen neighbourhoods across the city while making a lasting difference in people’s lives.”

Nellie’s is a proud member agency of the United Way Toronto.

United Way Toronto supports over 200 member agencies and focuses their work on three main areas: helping people move from poverty to possibility, building healthy people and strong communities, and helping kids be all they can be.

Last year, the United Way provided over $220,000 in core funding to support Nellie’s work. These funds are raised by the United Way through individual donor support as well as workplace giving programs and special events like the Enbridge CN Tower Climb and the Toronto Waterfront Marathon .

The support we receive from The United Way Toronto enables us to better assist the women and children in our care. Thank you to the United Way for making our city great!

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Learning is a treasure

Posted on: September 9th, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” Chinese Proverb

Christine Demetriades (left) and her co-workers at the Region of Peel organized a back-to-school drive for the children at Nellie’s.

For more information on our Back to School Campaign, click here.