Women’s Habitat is fortunate to have a staff team comprised of tireless advocates whose wealth of knowledge and experiences enrich our service delivery. One of these advocates is our Director of Finance, Sushma Subedi. On March 8^th, 2010 Sushma immigrated to Canada from Nepal with her young daughter and husband.  She is open about the struggles she faced as a newcomer and the adversity she overcame. Sushma commits her time and energy to uplifting women and supporting her community and this Saturday she was honoured at the Nepalese Canadian Women’s Association International Women’s Day celebration and where she shared the importance of celebrating and acknowledging women’s contributions every day:

“Good Morning Everybody, Namaskar. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today to celebrate International Women’s Day. Today is a very special day for women all over the world.

I know that the women of the world are much more powerful and stronger than society thinks. There are so many things women make possible. I am proud to be a woman, because to be a woman is an honour and privilege, not the burden.

Unfortunately there are so many barriers to women’s growth. Women experience lack of access to education, careers and unequal pay because of society’s sexist beliefs and attitude towards them.

International Women’s Day holds a special significance for me. On March 8, 2010 my family and I immigrated to Canada. When I arrived I was struggling with almost everything, however I never lost my focus; I never gave up and now I have expertise managing finances for not for profits. One of my greatest rewards as a Finance Professional is being able to support both men and women start careers of their own.

For men, I would like to say: be better men everyday not only today. Acknowledge all the great work women do. If you think you are helping your partner doing household work or ‘babysitting’, then you are thinking the wrong way. Doing chores and raising children are shared responsibilities, so men and boys you must take your responsibility and do your part!

For women, I would like to say let’s live our life to the fullest! Let’s explore opportunities to grow to our full potential and empower each other. Let’s not compete, let’s collaborate! It’s very important that we know our self-value and our self-worth before society puts a tag on our abilities and dictates what we can and can’t do. We can do whatever we put our minds to!

Once again, thank you for having me here today. It is an honour and I wish you all a very Happy International Women’s Day.”

#IWD2018

#Womensempowerment

#womenleaders

#WHE40years

Our Mission is to provide a safe refuge, counselling, support and advocacy for women and their children who are fleeing violence; while also working towards a more equal society where the inherent value of all women is recognized and celebrated.

We believe:

• In working within a feminist framework

• In working within an Anti-Racist Anti-Oppressive framework

• In equity for all women and children

• In recognizing and respecting diversity

• Violence and abuse against women and children is systemic and a crime

• Violence is about power, control and oppression

• Every person has the right to live in a non-violent environment

• The community as a whole has a responsibility to contribute to ending violence against women

• All women have the right to make choices

• That abuse takes many forms

 

Women’s Habitat operates an emergency shelter for women identified individuals and children who are experiencing abuse. We also operate a Community Support and Outreach Centre for women in the community who have experienced violence.

Women’s Habitat’s Board of Directors is a 9-member community Board. We are seeking to fill Board vacancies and are looking for individuals with skills and experience in any of the following areas: program and community development, finance, fundraising, communications, marketing, law, social justice & advocacy, and human resources. We are especially interested in persons who are from the not for profit, charitable /voluntary sector. We are interested in women with lived experiences in poverty, violence and homelessness. Previous Board experience is a definite asset.

Key Responsibilities:

• Attend Board Meetings and the Annual General Meeting;
• Participate on at least one of the Board Committees;
• Participate in the on-going development and implementation of a long term vision and strategic plan for Women’s Habitat;
• Support and participate in the activities of the organization including fundraising activities, community education and social justice initiatives;
• Ensure the programs and services reflect the mission and vision of the agency.

Women’s Habitat is committed to the development of an organization that reflects the community and the women we serve. Applications from Women with Lived Experience, Indigenous Women, Women of Colour, Racialized Women, LGBTQ Women, Women with Disabilities and Young Women (18 to 35 years) are strongly encouraged. Please complete this Application and return it along with your resume to: habitat@womens-habitat.ca

Please note that applicants shortlisted for an interview and applicants not selected will all be contacted.

 

January 8, 2018

Deputation to Budget Committee 2018, Etobicoke Civic Centre

Good afternoon, my name is Leila Sarangi and I work at Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke. We have a 25 bed emergency shelter for women and their dependents who are fleeing violence as well as a community outreach centre where we provide a range of services to about 900 diverse women and their dependents each year.  The vast majority of these women are living in deep poverty and face significant barriers to achieving security and safety.

We are disappointed and frankly, very worried about the impacts of yet another austerity budget that will compound the marginalization people currently face based on their income, gender, indigenous identity, race, ability, age, sexual expression and orientation, citizenship and family status , among others.

Council has adopted a number of strategies and made promises that would make the city more inclusive. But these promises are empty when they are made without the commitment to fund and follow through on achieving their targets.  And, it has severe impacts on women we serve.

The current crisis in our shelter system is not a surprise, but rather an expected manifestation of not funding and following through on plans including the creation of 1,000 new affordable rental housing units annually, the Poverty Reduction Strategy, and also other plans that promote economic and social equity and income security including Transit affordability, creating new rec spaces, the funding of an Indigenous Affairs office, the Anti-Black Racism Strategy, and accessibility for people with disabilities to name a few.  According to City staff, these unfunded strategies would cost $42M out of an $11B dollar budget.

The Equity Budgeting process that the City undertook for the past two budgets begins to point in the right direction. I participated on the External Review Committee this year and want to commend all the work that staff in the Poverty Reduction Office, SDFA and EDHR have done so far.  But the process is still very far away from achieving the vision set out in the Intersectional Gender Equity Motions adopted first in June 2016 and then again in Feb 2017.  These motions require the development of a framework, a set of indicators, consultations with women and women serving organizations, and a disaggregated data strategy that will enable the equity budgeting process to be evidence-based, consistent, and applied to Capital Budgets and Revenue tools, in addition to operating budgets.   This kind of informed process and decision making would give guidance to staff and council as to where to allocate resources that would help to eliminate systemic barriers people in our communities are facing.

I want to stress that Intersectional Gender Budgeting is not about narrowing the scope or excluding people. It is about centring the experiences of those who are facing the greatest barriers and who are frequently left out.

At our Outreach Centre, we have seen an increase in women walking in believing that we are a shelter where they can stay. (Our shelter is at a separate, undisclosed location).  On Thursday, a woman and her 4 children were sent to us in a taxi by her church.  The oldest of her children was 12 and the youngest was 2 months.  They had been in the country for 2 nights and had nowhere to go.  Our staff spent 3 hours trying to find her shelter.  When our office was closing, we had to put them back in a cab to the church with a promise from Central Intake that they would call her when they find her beds.   This woman is new to the country, has no status, no income, no housing and very limited English and her story is not uncommon.  The recent investments into shelter spaces will not help her and respite centres are not appropriate.  In fact, South Etobicoke doesn’t even have a respite centre and the only Out of the Cold Program is for men, women are asked to leave.

This budget, which is dangerously balanced on draws from reserves, an inflated housing market, and an inflationary property tax increase, is not sustainable and does not address the root causes of systemic poverty and discrimination.

We want the City to choose a budget that leverages a range of revenue tools, invests significantly in areas of housing, transit, childcare, recreation, and poverty reduction and for these decisions to be made through a true intersectional gender budgeting process.

We look forward to our continued partnership with the city in this work.

Thank you.

Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke has received a generous $12,000 donation from the Modern Mystery School to fund their community drop-in programs for their 2017/2018 fiscal year. The drop-ins are hosted at Women’s Habitat’s outreach centre at 140 Islington Avenue in the heart of South Etobicoke and have been a source of vital support for women-identified individuals in the community since the centre opened in 2006.

The funds will provide meals, basic need items, and program supplies and cover transportation for the program participants, many of whom are experiencing low depths of poverty. “The drop-in model provides women the support they need when they are experiencing violence and poverty” says Silvia Samsa, Women’s Habitat’s Executive Director. “We are able to offer them a safe space that is free of judgement, connects them to other women and to our team of dedicated trauma counsellors. These programs are designed to break the social isolation survivors of violence often face and facilitate the opportunity to re-connect with community.”

Women’s Habitat offers a wide variety of drop-in programming with topics covering life skills development, parenting support, housing support and harm reduction, among others. Meals are provided and essential items are distributed, including canned food, diapers and toiletries. Last year the centre hosted 86 drop-in sessions with a total of 1,051 participants.

“Every year we struggle to secure the funding needed to run the drop-ins. Thanks to the Modern Mystery School we can provide every aspect of these vital programs; this year, we won’t have to choose between providing food and providing TTC tokens. We are thrilled and very thankful” say Samsa.

Women’s Habitat provides emergency shelter and outreach services to women and their dependents who are survivors of violence and poverty.

For more information, please contact:
Sojie Tate, Communications Manager, 416-576-4447 state@womens-habitat.ca

We are deeply saddened by the news of Deputy Mayor Pam McConnell’s passing. Pam was a passionate social justice advocate who dedicated much of her time in City Hall to bettering the lives of all residents of Toronto, including women and their children. We had the privilege of working with her on the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, where we witnessed her commitment to creating policy that was equitable and shaped by those with lived experience. On behalf of the Board and Staff at Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke we offer our deepest condolence’s to Pam’s family and thank her for her tireless  efforts to creating a more fair and prosperous city for all of  us.  She will be greatly missed.

 

Toronto City councillors launched the discussion of the 2018 budget this week and we are encouraged by the inclusion of the Intersectional Gender-based Framework and the early start to the process. On May 11th we submitted our recommendations and urged City Council to take action to address key areas of concern for women and gender-diverse people, including those fleeing domestic violence: stable housing, good jobs, affordable childcare, and adequate transit.

To learn more and get involved contact our Community Program Manager Leila Sarangi at lsarangi@womens-habitat.ca

May 11, 2017

To the Members of the Budget Committee:

On behalf of our staff, the community we serve, the women we support, and their dependents, we at Women’s Habitat want you to know that we are happy to see the Intersectional Gender-based Framework included in the recommended 2018 Budget Process and Schedule. We are glad the 2018 budget process is starting early, and hope to see the framework implemented early-on, as well.

We look forward to seeing a process unfold where women and gender-diverse members of equity-seeking groups are included in the development and implementation of the framework as advisors, consultants, and experts on the impacts City programs and services have on their experiences with gender-based poverty.

The development of a disaggregated data collection strategy will quantify our understanding of the gender-based poverty we witness everyday through our work. Collecting data about the impacts of, and barriers to accessing City programs and services on diverse gender groups, Council will have access to information that supports targeted approaches to improving those impacts and the livelihoods of people facing gender-based poverty.

We are encouraged by this important step the City is taking to address gender-based poverty, and look forward to the index, strategies and implementation plans that develop.

However, we urge City Council not to wait to take action to address what have already been identified as key areas of concern for women and gender-diverse people, including those fleeing domestic violence: stable housing, good jobs, affordable childcare, and adequate transit that connect resources with the people who so desperately need them. As an agency supporting diverse women fleeing gender-based violence, we witness how poverty prevents breaking the cycle of abuse. Women need access to affordable quality housing, food security, affordable transit, and childcare in order to realize independence and quality of life.

Addressing gender-based poverty at its foundation, in a way that would have long-term, fundamental impacts on the livelihoods of people experiencing it requires investment. Current research shows poverty costs the City around $5 billion a year.[1] Research also shows, for example, that investing in poverty reduction initiatives such as childcare directly leads to growth in GDP. These kinds of returns on poverty reduction investments not only have impacts on the livelihoods of people living in poverty by reducing inequities, they also have broad social and economic benefits for all Torontonians.

We remain hopeful that the City will show leadership towards reducing the poverty that threatens the safety and livelihoods of so many diverse women and especially those at risk of gender-based violence and abuse by making meaningful investments into poverty reduction initiatives using the Intersectional Gender Based Framework and Index tools. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the process of developing the framework, indicators, strategies, and implementation plans, and supporting the involvement of women in our communities.

Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke

 

 

[1] Briggs, A., Lee, C., Stapleton, J. (2016). The Cost of Poverty in Toronto.

 

On February 14, 2017 we sent a letter to Mayor Tory and City Council on behalf of 47 signatories representing a broad cross section of community organizations, activists and researchers to express our deep concern for the lack of gender equity in the City Budget, which is contrary to motions that were passed at the July 2016 Council meeting.

For inquiries please contact Leila Sarangi, Manager, Community Programs at 647-455-0857

 

February 14, 2017

 

His Worship John Tory

Mayor, City of Toronto

100 Queen St. W.

City Hall, Second floor, West

Toronto, ON M5H 2N2

 

Re: Gender Equity in the City Budget

 Dear Sir:

 

We are writing to you today to express our deep concern for the lack of gender equity in the proposed 2017 City Budget. At the July 2016 Council meeting, a motion was adopted that mandates all 2017 budgetary processes and decisions be made through a Gender Equity Lens and we are highly disappointed that this did not occur. As a result, women in Toronto will continue to face systemic discrimination through gender-blind decision-making.

 

At its very core, a Gender Equity Lens acknowledges and analyses the underlying root causes of disparities that different groups of people face based on their social, cultural and economic identities.

 

It recognizes that both revenues and expenditures of City budgets impact women in particular ways and that these effects are compounded when gender intersects with other identities that can include Aboriginal identity, race, culture, creed, language, citizenship, amount and source of income, family status, dis/ability, sexual identity and orientation, age, geographic location in the City, among others. The goal of a Gender Equity Lens is to redress and remedy these systemic disparities through fair taxation and fair allocations of public resources.

 

Governments that use a Gender Equity Lens in both budgetary decisions and policy development make a strong commitment to collecting, understanding and publishing disaggregated data through an investment of time and resources. To fully understand this data, there must be robust ongoing engagement processes in place with diverse women who are impacted by budget and policy decisions that include design, implementation and evaluation processes. There are approximately 150 regions worldwide that conduct gender budgeting and we strongly encourage the City to look to international best practices that would make sense for Toronto.

 

The need for a Gender Equity Lens is imperative. The persistent, substantial and unacceptable wage gap between women and men in Toronto is 32%. In other words, on average women are making 68 cents to the average male dollar, a gap that widens when gender intersects with other social, cultural and economic identities. Women are generally the poorest members of a household, the poorest people in a neighbourhood, and the poorest citizens of a City. The recent confirmation that Toronto has the highest child poverty rate in Canada is really an indicator of our City’s rate of poverty among mothers.

 

Custom research by the Neighbourhood Change Research Partnership (attached) indicates that in 311 census tracts, or 57% of our City, women’s incomes are below average. Women’s incomes are even less able to keep up with rising costs for housing, food, transportation and other basic needs for themselves and their children. As a result, women are disproportionately reliant on City services including housing, transit, childcare and community programs to make ends meet.

 

Women who are escaping gender-based violence cite the lack of affordable, quality housing as the number one reason why they cannot leave abusive relationships. With women’s shelters operating at 100% capacity, hundreds of women, their dependents and youth are left with no safe place to go. Proposed budget cuts to shelter staff and inadequate investments into affordable housing will exacerbate this.

 

Increased fees for services including transportation and lack of access to affordable childcare make it difficult, and in many cases, impossible, for women to access the job market. Women are twenty times more likely than men to cite childcare as a barrier to participating in the workforce, however, we know from other jurisdictions that when affordable childcare is in place and women can return to work, the economy grows and everyone benefits. Inadequate sustainable investments into childcare subsidies and cuts to transit services while increasing fares mean women will continue to struggle with these barriers to workforce participation.

 

This year’s budget does not go far enough towards remedying the disparities that women in Toronto face, which leave women in unsafe and precarious positions.   A true Gender Equity Lens, along with a City-wide Gender Equity Strategy to remedy policy decisions that compound budget disparities, will provide the City with the correct tools to understand and make decisions that will ultimately reduce, and potentially eliminate, systemic intersectional gender discrimination.

 

Therefore, we ask that the City:

1. Implement an Intersectional Gender Equity Lens in all City budget discussions, processes and decisions over the long term, including in the City’s Long-Term Fiscal Plan, and for the development of an Intersectional Gender Equity Strategy;
2. Adequately resource the Office of Equity, Diversity and Human Rights to finalize the development of the Gender Equity toolkit currently in process and train City staff in how to implement it;
3. Collect and publish data disaggregated by gender, race, immigrant status and other variables;
4. Seek gender equity-informed partnerships with diverse women and women-serving organizations to understand impacts of budget and policy decisions in their lives; and
5. Rely on this quantitative and qualitative data to inform budgetary and policy decisions in an ongoing structural way.

Sincerely,

 

1. Silvia Samsa, Executive Director and Leila Sarangi, Community Programs Manager, Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke
2. Abi Ajibolade, Executive Director, The Redwood | A safe haven for women and children fleeing abuse
3. Rupaleem Bhuyan, Associate Professor, University of Toronto and Lead Researcher, Migrant Mothers Project
4. Amanda Dale, Executive Director, Barbara Schlifer Clinic
5. Diane Dyson, Board Member, Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations
6. Rachel Epstein, Executive Director, Winchevsky Centre / United Jewish People’s Order (Toronto)
7. Maureen Fair, Executive Director, West Neighbourhood House
8. Fatima Filippi, Executive Director, Rexdale Women’s Centre
9. Russ Ford, Executive Director, LAMP Community Health Centre
10. Dr. Grace-Edward Galabuzi, Associate Professor, Ryerson University
11. Everton Gordon, Executive Director, Caribbean Africa Canadian Social Services (formerly the Jamaican Canadian Association)
12. Margaret Hancock, Executive Director, Family Services Toronto
13. Margaret C. Haynes, MSW, RSW , Executive Director, Homeward Family Shelter o/a Julliette’s Place
14. Lubna Khalid, Coordinator Women Speak Out
15. Farrah Khan, Co-Chair, Provincial Roundtable on Violence Against Women
16. Wendy Komiotis, Executive Director, METRAC: Action on Violence
17. Tim Maguire, President, CUPE Local 79
18. Akio Maroon, Founder, Toronto Childcare Collective
19. Ana Marques, Manager of Finance, Abrigo Centre
20. Arlene McCalla, Nadine Chan, Lesley Ackrill, Executive Co-Directors, Interval House
21. Jean McDonald, Executive Director, Maggie’s: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project
22. Heather McGregor, CEO, YWCA Toronto
23. E. Ann McRae, B.A., LL. B., Director of Legal Services, Rexdale Community Legal Clinic
24. Sean Meagher, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto
25. Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director, WomanACT
26. Janet Mercer, Toronto Coalition for Better Childcare
27. Julius Mlynarski, Lawyer-Director, South Etobicoke Community Legal Services
28. Jeanne Françoise Mouè, Directrice Générale, La Maison
29. Patricia O’Connell, Executive Director, Sistering
30. Maureen O’Reilly, President, CUPE Local 4948
31. Emily Paradis, Senior Research Associate, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
32. Huong Pham, Executive Director, Assaulted Women’s Helpline
33. Marcie Ponte, Executive Director, Working Women Community Centre
34. Alana Powell, Michelle Jones and Munizah Salman, Co-Chairs, Ryerson Student Childcare Advocacy Association (RSCAA)
35. Enrique Robert, Executive Director, Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre
36. Angela Robertson, Executive Director, Queen West-Central Toronto Community Health Centre
37. Maya Roy, Executive Director, Newcomer Women’s Services Toronto
38. Gita Schwartz, Interim Executive Director, Elizabeth Fry Society
39. Bill Sinclair, Executive Director, St. Stephen’s Community House
40. Lee Soda, Executive Director, Agincourt Community Services Association
41. Nadine Sookermany, Executive Director, Springtide Resources
42. John Stapleton, Open Policy Ontario
43. Sharlene Tygesen, Executive Director, Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter
44. Fatima Valentim, Director, Yorktown Shelter for Women
45. Francisco Vidal, Director of Services, Centre for Spanish Speaking People
46. Effie Vlachoyannacos, Lead, Engagement & Leadership, Maytree
47. Anna Victoria Wong, Executive Director, Chinese Family Services of Ontario

Cc:

Councillor Ainslie, Paul, Ward 43 Scarborough East

Councillor Augimeri, Maria, Ward 9 York Centre

Councillor Bailão, Ana, Ward 18 Davenport

Councillor Burnside, Jon, Ward 26 Don Valley West

Councillor Campbell, John, Ward 4 Etobicoke Centre

Councillor Carmichael Greb, Christin, Ward 16 Eglinton-Lawrence

Councillor Carroll, Shelley, Ward 33 Don Valley East

Councillor Colle, Josh, Ward 15 Eglinton-Lawrence

Councillor Crawford, Gary, Ward 36 Scarborough Southwest

Councillor Cressy, Joe, Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina

Councillor Crisanti, Vincent, Ward 1 Etobicoke North

Councillor Davis, Janet, Ward 31 Beaches-East York

Councillor De Baeremaeker, Glenn, Ward 38 Scarborough Centre

Councillor Di Ciano, Justin, Ward 5 Etobicoke-Lakeshore

Councillor Di Giorgio, Frank, Ward 12 York South-Weston

Councillor Doucette, Sarah, Ward 13 Parkdale-High Park

Councillor Filion, John, Ward 23 Willowdale

Councillor Fletcher, Paula, Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth

Councillor Ford, Michael, – Ward 2 Etobicoke North

Councillor Fragedakis, Mary, Ward 29 Toronto-Danforth

Councillor Grimes, Mark, Ward 6 Etobicoke-Lakeshore

Councillor Holland, Michelle, Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest

Councillor Holyday, Stephen, Ward 3 Etobicoke Centre

Councillor Karygiannis, Jim, Ward 39 Scarborough-Agincourt

Councillor Kelly, Norm, Ward 40 Scarborough-Agincourt

Councillor Layton, Mike, – Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina

Councillor Lee, Chin, Ward 41 Scarborough-Rouge River

Councillor Mammoliti, Giorgio, Ward 7 York West

Councillor Matlow, Josh, Ward 22 St. Paul’s

Councillor McConnell, Pam, Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale

Councillor McMahon, Mary-Margaret, Ward 32 Beaches-East York

Councillor Mihevc, Joe, Ward 21 St. Paul’s

Councillor Minnan-Wong, Denzil, Ward 34 Don Valley East

Councillor Moeser, Ron, Ward 44 Scarborough East

Councillor Nunziata, Frances, Ward 11 York South-Weston

Councillor Palacio, Cesar, Ward 17 Davenport

Councillor Pasternak, James, Ward 10 York Centre

Councillor Perks, Gord, Ward 14 Parkdale-High Park

Councillor Perruzza, Anthony, Ward 8 York West

Councillor Robinson, Jaye, Ward 25 Don Valley West

Councillor Shan, Neethan, Ward 42 Scarborough-Rouge River

Councillor Shiner, David, Ward 24 Willowdale

Councillor Thompson, Michael, Ward 37 Scarborough Centre

Councillor Wong-Tam, Kristyn, Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale

Chris Brillinger, Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration

Uzma Shakir, Director, Equity, Diversity and Human Rights

 

On January 10, 2017 our Community Programs Manager, Leila Sarangi submitted to the City of Toronto Budget Committee the following statement addressing our concerns with the 2017 budget plan and our urgent recommendations to ensure equity and prosperity for all.

For more information on how this budget will affect you and how you can share your concerns with your City Councillor go to www.togethertoronto.ca/budget2017.

 

Statistics show that one in four Torontonians are poor and to a great extent, when we talk about poverty in Toronto, we are talking about women’s poverty. There is a persistent wage and income gap between women and men, with women in Toronto earning, on average, .68 cents to the male dollar. This gap widens if she is Indigenous or Racialized.

Women are generally the poorest members of households, the poorest people in a neighborhood, and the poorest citizens of a city. The recent confirmation that Toronto has the highest child poverty rate in Canada is really an indicator of our city’s rate of poverty among mothers.

Women across the city have told us clearly that the issues that need to be resolved to alleviate poverty are housing, jobs and childcare, in addition to other services including transit and recreation.

We heard the City promise to implement the recommendations in these areas of their poverty reduction strategy when they unanimously adopted it in November 2015.

So we were shocked and concerned when the City put forward a 2017 budget plan that considers a 2.6% cut across all divisions, with no new investments in poverty reduction initiatives and that pushes the implementation of a suite of vetted progressive revenue tools further down the road.

This budget plan will not be putting women or Torontonians on the path to prosperity.

Housing is a critical issue that we deal with on a daily basis. The lack of affordable and safe housing is the number one reason why women cannot leave abusive relationships, it is why there are 175,000 people on the social housing waitlist, it is why our shelter system is backlogged. Without new investments, people will continue to struggle with precarious housing, homelessness, hunger. And this backlog will mean our women’s shelter will continue to turn away 650 women and their children each year who are in need of emergency shelter.

People living on low-incomes will continue to struggle with rising transit fares, women will struggle with long wait times that make it difficult to drop children off to childcare and get to work on time and we have seen women lose jobs because of this. Other women will still be unable go to work because they’re stuck on long waitlists for affordable, local childcare, their fees are rising, and because flexible childcare for those working outside of the traditional 9-5 hours just doesn’t exist.

We can look to examples outside of Toronto where investments into childcare directly led to broad economic returns in Quebec where their provincial strategy helped women get back to work, and have resulted in nearly equal workforce participation in Sweden’s proportional system.

Toronto’s 2017 budget plan will not make this kind of difference. Instead, it will put low-income women and Torontonians further behind. Higher user fees and service cuts means the poorest in our communities will pay more and access less, we still won’t be addressing the City’s revenue problem, and the fairness gap between those who can afford to live in this city and those who face barriers to prosperity will continue to widen and polarize.

The Budget Committee does have an opportunity to address these disparities – in July, City Council agreed that the 2017 budget decisions should be made through a Gender Equity Lens.

Gender equity acknowledges and analyses the underlying root causes of disparities that different groups of women face based on their social, cultural and economic identities and seeks to redress these through allocation of public resources. This is particularly important now, as inequality and segregation between individuals and neighbourhoods are increasing in our city.

In practice, a gender equity lens does the following:

• It recognizes that revenues and expenditures of City budgets (and by extension, the services and infrastructure they allow) affect women in particular ways, which are compounded when gender intersects with other identities that can include, Aboriginal status, race, culture, creed, language, citizenship, amount and source of income, dis/ability, sexual identity and age, as well as geographic location in the City;
• Seeks to redress and remedy these disparities through fair taxation and allocations of public resources;
• Makes a strong commitment to collecting and publishing gender-disaggregated data, relies on this data to inform policy and budgetary decisions, and further, works in partnership with diverse women to understand impacts of these decisions in their lives.

Women’s Habitat strongly recommends the following:

• That a Gender Equity Lens be embedded in both the 2017 budget as well as into the Long-Term Financial Direction of the City, since the goal of achieving equity and a truly prosperous city for all is an ongoing process that cannot be resolved in one budget;
• That new investments be made into affordable and social housing and that our sister shelters operate at the same capacity as their men’s shelter counterparts, that is at the recommended 90%, not the 99% forecasted in this budget that will have detrimental impacts on homeless women;
• That the City fund their 5 year plan to create 2000 new childcare spaces starting with this 2017 budget and that it is imperative that new subsidized spaces are attached to them; and
• Fully fund all areas of the outstanding 2016 Poverty Reduction Action Items as well as all 2017 Poverty Reduction Action Items according to the work plan adopted by Council.

Women’s Habitat looks forward to continually working with the City to achieve our mutual goals of equity and prosperity for all.

I would like to share some very exciting news with you. It is a sincere pleasure for me to announce that Women’s Habitat has reached the campaign goal for the Kitchen Renovation Project. Your contribution to the campaign has made this project a success. Through these last five months when everyone involved was working so hard, gifts like yours have given us the financial as well as moral support to continue the work that we do.

As you know, during this period of transition we continued to offer our programs and services in the community. Your commitment reminded us why we embarked on this campaign and your donation is proof of how deeply you care for our clients and our cause.

This renovation project gave us the opportunity to establish new relationships and to strengthen our bond with the community. Friends, donors, long-time supporters and community members have contributed to this campaign and that is why today we can announce this great achievement.

Every gift we received has special significance. Some donations were received at the beginning of the project, boosting our confidence to continue to reach out to others; some helped us during the process, proving that our campaign was worthwhile; some of them came almost at the end, delighting us that our efforts were working; and some of them were the result of a direct call and thrillingly took us over the finish line.

With your help we are able to offer our clients the support they need every time they come through our doors. Our new kitchen is not only in compliance with the requirements of Toronto Public Health, it’s a space for life skills learning and growing initiatives like our women in micro enterprise program. Women’s Habitat has always been committed to providing our clients high quality food that is nutritious and safely prepared. With your donation we can fulfill that promise.

It has been a privilege to lead this campaign and please be sure to know that your contribution is making a huge impact in the lives of the clients we proudly serve. Thank you very much for all your support during this renovation project. Your commitment to Women’s Habitat is more than the value of your donation – it is also what inspires us and motivates our clients.

 

With sincere thanks,

Gia DeJulio

Chair, Fundraising Committee

Vice-President, Women’s Habitat Board of Directors

 

Women’s Habitat was honoured to be one of six charities chosen as the recipients of the Gift the Code Hackathon a three day long event to provide Toronto non-profits with technology solutions sponsored by Capital One. In just 40 hours, over 100 participants passionate about problem solving brainstormed, built and submitted solutions to our digital challenges and we couldn’t be more grateful. These genius hackers developed some incredible ideas including a confidential, online interface designed to allow us to chat with women in need of support, new ways for women to remain anonymous when accessing our website and ways of ensuring all of our donate and sign up options are smart phone friendly.

In our sector, we often discuss the downfalls of technology. Cyber stalking, revenge porn and GPS tracking have turned tech into the tool of the abuser and have made it increasingly difficult to keep women and children safe. This weekend our eyes were opened to a new way of using technology to our advantage. It was an empowering experience. “The impact these solutions will have on our organization are huge” said our Resource Systems Manager, Lina Almanzan “it was incredible to work with these brilliant men and women and think outside the box and achieve a common goal.”

At Women’s Habitat we constantly struggle with being able to respond to the overwhelming need. Last year we receive 1,100 calls through our crisis line from women and children desperate for shelter. We were forced to turn away 650 families due to lack of space. At our Outreach Centre, we served 591 women, provided 1,967 hours of one-on-one counselling and secured safe affordable housing for 83 families. The need never ends and our ability to grow our capacity is often limited by our funding. Technology can provide innovative solutions to increase capacity without a huge increase in budget.

When a woman is struggling with the decision to leave abuse she needs information she can trust, she needs it quickly and she needs it safely. When we are able to use technology to meet those needs for her it could mean the difference between life and death.

On behalf of all of us at Women’s Habitat thank you hackers and everyone at Capital One! It was a weekend we won’t soon forget and we look forward to turning these amazing ideas into reality.