ESCAPE

A Decrease font size. A Reset font size. A Increase font size.

Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Visit our youtube channel Plus one us Subscribe to our RSS Feed

Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

Daily Bread Toronto launches Fall Food Drive at Nellie’s

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

On Wednesday afternoon Nellie’s welcomed the Daily Bread Food Bank to  launch their Fall Food Drive as well as their new report on hunger “Who’s Hungry 2011: Profile of Hunger in the GTA.”  This annual report is based on information collected from food bank clients across the greater Toronto area.

According to “Who’s Hungry 2011”, the average monthly income for food bank clients is $925, with 72% of this going to cover rent and housing costs. This leaves only $5.67/day for food, clothes and other expenses. Last year the Daily Bread had over 1 million client visits, which is an increase of 130,000 from 3 years ago.

(Executive Director Gail Nyberg, and Acting Director of Research Richard Matern at Nellie’s) 

“Sixty-seven per cent of food bank clients are receiving social assistance of some kind. That means the ‘social safety net’ we supposedly have in this province has serious holes in it, and needs a transformation”, says Richard Matern, Acting Director of Research at The Daily Bread.

The Daily Bread Food Bank has set a goal of $400,000 and 400,000 pounds of food for their Fall Drive, which runs until October 14th. Financial donations can be made online here.  Donations of non-perishable food items can be dropped off at any fire hall or Loblaws, Valu-Mart, No Frills, or Real Canadian Superstore.

Nellie’s has been a proud member agency of the Daily Bread Food Bank since 2001.  Every month they provide us with 1080 meals for the women and children at our shelter.  Their support is so important to us as well as over 170 member agencies across the city.

You can find the full press release on The Daily Bread Fall Launch and Who’s Hungry 2011 Report, here.

In memory of Jack Layton

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

The Hon. Dr. John (Jack) Layton
(1950-2011)

 Today, Canada lost one of its proudest sons. Jack Layton died peacefully at home with his family by his side. In his passing, Nellie’s grieves the loss of our beloved representative in Federal Parliament and one of our most ardent supporters and friend. 

It was less than a year ago, that we met with Jack at his office to discuss Nellie’s plans for a new shelter. He graciously provided us sage counsel as well as his support.

From the beginning of his career,  Jack championed the rights of those most marginalized in our communities, including women and their children fleeing violence, poverty and homelessness.

 After 14 women were killed at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal by an anti-feminist on December 6th, 1989,  Jack became an instrumental leader of the White Ribbon Campaign  –  a campaign to mobilize men to end violence against women.

 Jack’s book, Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis outlined his views on the impact of poverty and homelessness. In 2008, he stood in parliament and spoke eloquently on the issues of women and poverty.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH4JTv87MEs

Our thoughts are with Jack’s wife Olivia, and his children, Sarah and Michael during this difficult time. Jack will be missed.

Margarita Mendez, Executive Director                                                                       

Aug 22, 2011

More than half of women who experience violence never report

Posted on: July 13th, 2011 by Nellie's No Comments

According to a recent article in The Vancouver Sun , most women who are abused do not report to the police.  Citing the Statistics Canada report “Shelters for Abused Women, 2010”, the article highlighted that 60% of women who accessed shelters across Canada in 2010 chose not to contact police.  This means that more than half of violent incidents against women are never reported. 

Also mentioned was the fact that admission to women’s shelters is increasing.  In the same report, Statistics Canada noted that between 2009 and 2010 about 64,500 women were admitted to shelters across Canada, up 2% from 2008.  At Nellie’s, the number of women who sought refuge at our shelter in 2010 was up more than 30% from the previous year (2009).   

The report also found that on average, over 400 women across the country are turned away every day from shelters due to lack of space. 

A global shelter survey shows that in one day, 2,883 shelters from 24 countries helped 90,602 women and 63,315 children. On this same survey date, these shelters had to turn away 12,228 women and 8,176 children.