YWCA MARKS 25 YEARS OF ‘POSITIVE CHANGE’ FOR GIRLS, WOMEN, BOYS
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
BRACEBRIDGE — In 1997 women’s lib was a surging urban Western world movement.
In small Canadian towns awareness and equality of female rights were but a dream for a small groups of women intent on changing that one girl, one day and one event at a time.
Today parity is within reach in many countries thanks to groups like the YWCA, which began in Muskoka in 1997 — 25 years ago this month.
Since then local women have been fighting to champion positive change for both girls and women through education, leadership and advocacy.
They also help young boys now with similar programs to grow up and take and be responsible.
Over the decades the YW has fundraised privately and publicly to improve lives young and old.
In April Muskoka YWCA received a one-year $85,400 Resilient Communities Fund grant in the spring from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) to provide mental health supports and buy new equipment to adapt to new ways of working; and to re-imagine the delivery of programs and service management to meet the needs of community, employees and volunteers.
Saturday MPP Graydon Smith dropped by their Bracebridge offices.
“I am very happy to see how the Ontario Trillium Foundation has supported YWCA Muskoka through the Resilient Communities Fund grant. “With this funding YWCA has increased their capacity to provide important services to the community.”
Since spring the YW says in a release that it has implemented internal communications technologies, such as a more sophisticated phone system that allows community members and program participants to more easily reach YW program facilitators when they are working offsite in the community. The grant will also help enhance the charity’s internal and external communications including social media, HR training, mental health supports, and researching a better IT/data system for program management.
“For a smaller local charitable organization such as YWCA Muskoka, this opportunity to improve several capacity issues are changes that will greatly enhance our ability to provide quality services in the region,” said Hannah Lin, executive director.
For more information about YWCA Muskoka and please visit the website at: www.ywcamuskoka.com
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