YWCA Cambridge
55 Dickson Street Cambridge N1R 7A5 Cambridge, ON, Canada

In a 2019 Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Report: The Best and Worst Places to be a Woman in Canada, the Waterloo Region was ranked dead last in all of Canada for women’s safety. For our ranking to change, it's going to require action on the part of everyone - on policymakers, yes, but also on every one of us. We have to do better. The lives of cis/trans women and girls and gender diverse individuals literally depend on it.

Did you know that local gaming partner Cambridge Bingo and Gaming has raised over $149,500 to support our work since 2013?! Over the years, we have used these funds to provide hungry bellies with snacks in our child care centres, topped up our craft supplies at @thewcentre and used them to keep costs as low as possible at summer camp so camp fees aren't a significant barrier to participation for families. Thank you Cambridge Bingo & Gaming and our community for all that you do!

Happy child care worker and ECE appreciation day! YWCA Cambridge operates four child care centres across Cambridge. Our child care workers and ECEs have been nothing short of heroes throughout this pandemic. When the province allowed child care centres to re-open, our staff worked tirelessly to make all the changes and upgrades necessary to ensure their classrooms were as safe as can be. Still, they work so hard to make sure every child feels safe and cared for, and that each one can just be a KID, even in these weird times. If you could be a fly on the wall, you would see just how special each of our child care staff members are. Thank you to each and every one of you for making YWCA Cambridge child care centres the nurturing and innovative spaces they are.

Today is Trans Day of Remembrance. This is the eleventh year this day has been recognized, and yet, trans and gender-diverse people face some of the highest rates of violence and discrimination, worst among Black, Indigenous and racialized trans people and those with disabilities. Violence ranges from microaggressions like "are you sure you're in the right bathroom?" to hateful comments and slurs on the street , to deadly anti-trans violence. For change to happen, we all ne...ed to look within ourselves and challenge any biases or harmful views we may be unconsciously holding. Are you someone who just NEEDS to know, "so are you a man or a woman?" Do you recognize that what you're asking is probably more a question of what someone's sexual organs are? Sexual organs do not indicate a person's gender. It's also completely inconsequential to you what someone "really is." No one has a duty to report what their gender is, and once we all make that conscious shift, maybe trans people would finally feel like trans lives do matter to all of us. Today, we mourn the more than 350 transgender and gender-diverse people were murdered between the beginning of October 2019 and the end of September 2020 (Transrespect Versus Transphobia Worldwide)

The Week Without Violence, marked worldwide in the third week of October is a global campaign to end violence in our communities. Organizations bring people together to raise awareness and promote change with the goal of eradicating violence against women and girls, including, intimate partner/domestic violence, bullying, racism, elder abuse, trafficking, child marriage, sexual assault, and harassment. For YWCAs across Canada, this year's theme is Take Time. Take Action. Stop... Violence Before It Starts. Read this great blog post by Andrea Logan to learn more: https://ywcacanada.ca/.../week-without-violence-during-a.../ #CdnPoli #WeekWithoutViolence2020 #WWV20

Did you miss The Feminist Shift's panel Oct 2, A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan: Waterloo Edition? You can view the recording! Our expert panel talked labour market, care work, just recovery and so much more. Link here: http://shorturl.at/abqrF #FeministRecovery #WaterlooRegion #JoinTheShift

[It] feels like you can't get your career before your child is old enough to go to school. (Program participant, Vancouver, BC) In 77% of our Born to be Bold ...focus groups and interviews, participants identified child care as a main barrier to accessing gainful employment. That's why implementing affordable, accessible, and safe child care for all is a key promising practice for increasing women's access to gainful employment. Find out how to implement child care in employment opportunities and services, and other promising practices by reading our research highlights: https://ywcacanada.ca//projects-initiativ/born-to-be-bold/ #canfem #Cdnecon #FeministRecovery #canlab #cdnpoli

The children at our St. Elizabeth child care centre were excited to meet baby Hezekiah virtually and see if their predictions of what he can do at this stage of development were correct. It was different to conduct the visit virtually but amazing when children could go up to the camera to share a toy with Hezekiah and see him respond with a smile! We continue to run Seeds and Roots of Empathy programs, but only virtually for now. We're grateful to the families and facilitators who continue to volunteer with us to deliver this amazing program! Learn more about these great programs, visit ywcacambridge.ca/roots-of-empathy/

It's the final day of Walk Week! Thank you so much to Chris and his family for participating in Walk A Mile In Her Shoes for the TENTH year! You can still sponsor him! Find the link below. #wamwr #EndGBV https://t.co/5wWCiaPoPO?amp=1

Today, we honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous cis and trans women and girls and gender diverse people. No one knows exactly how many have been murdered or gone missing, but official numbers say about 1,724 since the 1900s, with annual numbers increasing annually as records become more readily available. The violence against Indigenous women and girls and gender diverse people continues today and we must continue talking about it and we must take action. There will be an online #SistersInSpirit vigil today at 2:00 p.m. hosted by the Native Women's Association of Canada on their Facebook page. Learn more about this day here: https://www.nwac.ca/event/sisters-in-spirit-virtual-vigil/ #MMIWGActionNow

Cuteness overload! Ben and Cheeto "walk so the work can continue" and we are so grateful for it! Thank you so much, Ben, for helping us end gender-based violence. It's day FIVE of Walk Week and we're loving what you're all sending us. We're in the final push to raise funds for our prevention work. Donate now by visiting wamwr.com, OR donate directly to Ben's walk here: https://bit.ly/3isj6ei #wamwr #wamwr2020 #endgbv

Every year, we're blown away by the way our community shows up for our Festive Futures program. The annual holiday giving program brings together our community to help families who have participated in our Small Steps to Success Program enjoy the holidays. This year, though, we're doing things a little differently. Read more here: http://ow.ly/Akvl50C7v31

A huge thank you to all who donated rainy day supplies to our child care centres so that all of our littlest friends can stay dry and mud-free while playing in the rain!

Love seeing our signs in local shop windows Who doesn't love local love? Thank you to The Floral Factory in Galt for showing your support for Walk A Mile! #wamwr2020 #endgbv

This might be our littlest red shoe walker yet this year! Thank you, Jason and Declan Paul of Brantford, for your support of Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, the walk to end gender-based violence It's day FOUR of Walk Week and not too late to donate or walk your way! Visit wamwr.com for more info. A brighter, safer community for all cis and trans women and girls, non-binary and two spirit individuals IS possible and we will continue working to build it. Will you help us?... #wamwr2020 #endgbv See more

it's DAY THREE of walk week and one walker has already met her personal Walk A Mile fundraising goal! Go, Ann! Thank you so much for rallying your community around Walk A Mile in support of our prevention work in the community. #wamwr2020 #Repost @annwillowbank ... On Day Three of the Walk a Mile event week had another walker join us. #wamwr2020. And . . . I reached my goal of $1000 in support of the YWCA Cambridge! You sponsors are the best! See more

*Content Warning*: anti-Indigenous racism, violence against Indigenous women, systemic racism Orange shirt day is meant to give us all pause and encourage conversations about the history of residential schools and the enduring legacies those institutions have left behind. The continuing legacy of the system that produced Residential school institutions was horrifically infuriatingly, heartbreakingly - illustrated yesterday when Joyce Echaquan died at Joliette Hospital aft...er being admitted for stomach pains. She’d been hospitalized before for a heart condition and knew from past experiences with the health care system that she needed to be wary of how the hospital staff would treat her, according to the Montreal Gazette . Joyce Echaquan died yesterday because her pain wasn’t believed and her pleads for help were ignored. This Orange Shirt Day, we wear orange and we remember the 2,800 children murdered in the Residential School system, those murdered since by systemic racism, those living with intergenerational trauma while also constantly confronting stereotypes and persistent discrimination. We join the calls for justice for Joyce Echaquan’s family and for swift and real action taken in accordance with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission now nearly six years old. Read our full statement here: ywcacambridge.ca/orange-shirt-day-is-not-only-about-rememb/

Joe brings us such joy! Joe Lethrbidge has been participating in Walk A Mile In Her Shoes for EIGHT years now. In his words: Once again, I am pleased to lend my feet to the cause. Other than taking part in Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, I have always supported the YWCA in several ways. I am very familiar with the Dress For Success initiative. When I was an employee and later manager of the Goodwill store on Main Street, I vividly recall several clients of the program come in and ...pick out items of clothing from our new items or boutique rack. Seeing them in their new outfits, ready for that sometimes first job interview, they looked rightfully proud and confident. I know too well the impact Covid-19 has had on not for profits. This year, in addition to walking a mile in her shoes, I will be donating 50% of the sales of necklaces and bracelets I have made. If not for Covid, I would donate 100%, but like many other artists, I feel the pinch. Find the link to Joe’s jewellery page here: https://bit.ly/3kXZ5hl, or donate right to his WAM page here: https://bit.ly/30ltzC9 #wamwr wamwr2020

Walk Week is here! Wear the red shoes, or don't; walk, run roll, ride, whatever, just do it for YWCA Cambridge! Help us reach our $10k goal so we can continue our vital prevention programming in the community. Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, presented by Meridian Credit Union, is Waterloo Region's walk to end gender-based violence. Funds from Walk a Mile in Her Shoes directly support YWCA Cambridge’s prevention and advocacy work with the goal of ending gender-based violence and re...aching gender equity. YWCA Cambridge relies on funds raised by Walk a Mile in Her Shoes to provide free programming for women and children who are facing increased marginalization, isolation and are currently at an increased risk of violence in the home as a direct result of COVID-19. *How you can get involved:* 1. Register to walk and fundraise 2. Donate to a walker who's signed up 3. Donate directly to YWCA Cambridge 4. Buy a Walk A Mile lawn sign 5. Help us amplify our message by sharing pics and videos of you walking your way for YWCA Cambridge (don't forget to tag us and use the hashtag #wamwr2020 !) Find out more about how you can support by visiting wamwr.com

Look at all of those signs of support #Repost @annwillowbank Signs of support for YWCA of Cambridge and their Walk a Mile fundraiser. You too can get a sign to show your support for local programs and services. I challenge all my followers to make even a small donation or sign up to be a participant.... Visit wamwr.com for more info.

Hello, Guelph! Here's U OF G Prof Jeff Thomason and his Walk A Mile sign in Guelph. Thank you for your support, Jeff! Walk week starts September 28. Register now and start your fundraising for Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, the walk to end gender-based violence, presented by Meridian Credit Union . Learn more at wamwr.com... #wamwr2020 #wamwr #EndGBV

We LOVE this!! If you don't plan on registering, how about supporting a walker? How about this super creative one?! Let's make Kevin do some ridiculous things! Find his donation page here: http://bit.ly/KevinSinclairWAM