YWCA Toronto receives Resilient Communities Fund grant to support women’s pandemic recovery.
YWCA Toronto has received a boost towards urgent gender-focused pandemic recovery efforts with a $149,500 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Resilient Communities Fund was developed to help non-profit organizations recover and rebuild from the impacts of COVID-19 to continue meeting the needs of Ontario communities.
"I am thrilled YWCA Toronto has received this much-needed funding so it can continue its work improving the lives of women and girls during COVID-19 and beyond,” said Jessica Bell, MPP for University-Rosedale. “Thank you, YWCA Toronto, for fighting for the rights and opportunities of women and girls everywhere, and your work towards a feminist recovery from COVID-19."
Through the Resilient Communities Fund grant, YWCA Toronto purchased vital Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supplies for frontline staff in its four emergency shelters and four permanent, supportive housing programs, which have continued to provide safe spaces for women and gender diverse people throughout the pandemic.
“Protecting the health of our participants and staff has been our priority since the onset of COVID-19,” says Heather McGregor, Chief Executive Officer at YWCA Toronto. “This grant supports that work by alleviating some of the ongoing costs of PPE for our organization. We thank the Ontario Trillium Foundation for supporting the resilience of our programs, our staff and of women, girls and gender diverse people in our communities at this critical time.”
The grant also allowed YWCA Toronto to improve access to its employment support and skills development programs, currently running virtually due to the pandemic, by investing in electronic devices to be loaned out to participants.
“This pandemic has disproportionately impacted women’s employment,” explained Tsering Tsomo, YWCA Toronto’s Director of Employment and Training. “By removing barriers for participants without reliable access to technology, our life-changing training can support more women and gender diverse people to meet their employment and training goals and improve their economic resilience.”
If you are interested in learning more about YWCA Toronto’s programming, please contact Jasmine Ramze Rezaee, Director of Advocacy and Communications, at jrezaee@ywcatoronto.org.
YWCA Toronto transforms lives. As the city’s largest multi-service non-profit organization, we help women escape violence, move out of poverty and access safe, affordable housing. We work tenaciously to break down barriers that hold women, girls and gender diverse people back from achieving equality. Annually, our Association serves over 13,000 people including trans and non-binary community members. To learn more visit: https://www.ywcatoronto.org/
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded $115 million to 644 projects last year to build healthy and vibrant communities in Ontario.