Resources
Crisis Line phone numbers:
Distress Centres of Greater Toronto: 416- 408- 4357 ( 24 hours)
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape 416 597 8808 ( 24-Hour Crisis Line)
Gerstein Centre : 416 929-5200 ( 24-Hour Crisis Line)
Mindbeacon is free to Ontario residents: Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program personalized by therapist to your needs. Digital mental health therapy at your own pace, anytime, anywhere. Free in Ontario. A Proven Approach. Time To Feel Better. Types: Depression Help, Cope Better With Anxiety. https://info.mindbeacon.com
CAMH Trauma Resources trauma-resources pdf
CAMH: The mental health movement has never been stronger than it is today. Attitudes are changing, knowledge is evolving, treatments are improving and potential cures are emerging. With your support, we can make breakthroughs, dismantle barriers and save lives. https://www.camh.ca
Grief Counselling through CAMH: https://bit.ly/3IOzPpW
Milestones to Employment is a federally funded program that assists racialized newcomer women with little or no previous work experience, who are open to entry-level careers as Dietary Aides in the high-demand Senior Care sector. Program Features: Training (in-person or online) to help you get a job and prepare you for a successful career; Paid placement with a Senior Care company as a Dietary Aid; One-on-one employment coaching and support up to 12 months. Eligibility: Racialized newcomer women; eligible to work in Canada (Permanent Resident or Convention Refugee); little to no Canadian work experience; low education credentials and skill level: unemployed or working in part-time survival jobs. For more information please visit us on our website at www.achev.ca
Brain Injury Society of Toronto
Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for people in the City of Toronto, living with the effects of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) through education, awareness, support, and advocacy. We provide free and accessible services to persons with brain injuries and their families through support groups, peer support programming, wellness initiatives, workshops and case coordination services. https://bist.ca/about/programs-and-services/
We are focused on providing a safe space for our community to connect, socialize and learn. We are also invested in supporting the most marginalized in our city through our homelessness, poverty and intimate partner violence initiatives. We are an agency committed to partnerships and being a voice for change and as such we are involved in projects and committees related to ABI and the justice system, hidden disability, vulnerable road users and bridging the digital divide. We are the creators of www.abijustice.org a first of its kind information hub dedicated to the intersection of brain injury and the Ontario Justice System.
Financial Toolkit from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Your Financial Toolkit from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Your Financial Toolkit is divided into 12 modules, each focusing on a different financial topic. In addition to the basic information, the modules contain tools to help you practice the financial skills and apply the information to your own life. The tools include videos, interactive worksheets, calculators, quizzes, questionnaires and case studies. Most worksheets are available as downloadable PDFs so you can save your templates on your computer and build your own financial toolkit.
At the end of each module, you’ll find an action plan. This is a tool that you can use to track your progress and take the next steps to apply the concepts you learned. All modules also provide additional resources for more information.
All of the information and tools are available free of charge in both French and English. Access the program here: https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/financial-toolkit/about.html
Up With Women
Courage in Action and Up With Women have created a referral arrangement to provide the women we serve access to one-on-one customized coaching for recently homeless or low income women and non binary folks to build a sustainable pathway out of poverty.
Their program is a year-long intensive program of career and entrepreneurship-based one-on-one customized coaching, in-depth personality and emotional assessment tools, group-support sessions, and soft-skills development. They partner clients with International Coach Federation certified professional coaches for twice monthly career coaching. All coaches are trained to understand the specific challenges women face in deep poverty and homelessness face and provide their services at pro-bono, thereby allowing Up With Women to deliver high quality service at no cost to the clients.
If you would like to find out more please use their contact form: https://upwithwomen.org/contact/
Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Centre
Seniors’ Mentorship Program:
RIWC is currently offering a free one-to-one technical skills training program for racialized, immigrant, newcomer, and refugee women as well as femme identifying or presenting individuals. Over the course of an 8-week period, participants are provided a personal tutor with whom they will develop a personalized schedule and learning curriculum. Sessions are offered both in-person at our Hub and online through Zoom and generally last from 1hr-1.5hrs.
In addition to the 1-to-1 lessons, we have prepared a total of 8 supplementary group workshops. These include:
- Learning Computer Basics– participants will be shown the importance of keeping up with technology as well as cover some of the more basic terms and functions surrounding their devices
- Learning Gmail– This session focuses on the basics of creating and using a Gmail account. Gmail is used as it provides various layers of security and functionality to its users
- Learning Google Drive– Participants will use the knowledge gained in the previous workshop to begin understanding how the “cloud” works.
- Online Scams & Internet Safety– Here, we look at the different types of threats that exist on the internet and the steps we can take to prevent them.
- How to Use Video Call Apps– This session provides a demo on how to use Google Meet & Zoom
- How to Use Messaging Apps – We build upon the previous session and learn how to use social media applications such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger for communication.
- Post-COVID Support & Online Resources– This session focuses on the current state of the pandemic. We look at what resources are available to us online for mental health, food, and financial security.
- Food Insecurity – Participants will be provided with information on how food insecurity is affecting our communities as well as how to access information around food banks and other financial and food supports
Islamophobia Support line
RIWC’s new Islamophobia Support Line provides referral and counselling support for victims of religious, racial and culture-based violence. It is not meant to be a replacement for the Police Service. In an emergency, please call 911. Our Support Line is a FREE, confidential and independent supportive counselling service for women and youth who self-identify as Muslim and have experienced hate crime incidents and need someone to talk to.
For more information visit: https://riwc.ca/
Scarborough Women’s Centre
Our mission: Scarborough Women’s Centre empowers women to become economically and emotionally independent for future success and to strengthen their local communities, free from violence. The Centre delivers programs and services to promote positive change for women in a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment.
Our vision: Empowering diverse women for brighter futures.
All of our services are free. While referrals are welcome, participation is voluntary.
You are not alone. We are here to help. Learn the tools and tips you need to move forward in your life!
For more information visit: https://www.scarboroughwomenscentre.ca/
Shelter Movers
Shelter Movers is a national, volunteer-powered charitable organization providing moving and storage services at no cost to individuals and families fleeing abuse. We collaborate with local businesses and community agencies to support people, primarily women and children, as they transition to a life free of violence.
Shelter Movers’ service is available by referral. Referring agencies typically include: shelter staff, social workers, healthcare providers, community-based organizations and police. Shelter Movers does not currently accept self referrals. To access this service, referred clients must be moving as a result of abuse / violence.
For more information visit: https://www.sheltermovers.com
Women at the CentrE
“WomenatthecentrE is a survivor-led organization that works to eradicate gender-based violence through community-based research, education, peer support, advocacy, and policy reform.” Below are the 4 areas they support:
Membership program: a free peer network that fosters community connection and collective healing, and also offers opportunities to engage in advocacy efforts.
To register, members can complete our sign up form online (https://www.womenatthecentre.com/forms/1) or call the following extensions
Michelle Rolfe: 416-964-0892 ext. 712
Nicole Fontyn-Taylor: 416-964-0892 ext. 707
Diamond Antwi-Mansah: 416-964-0892 ext. 710
Counselling Program (C6) – a brief overview of the style and framework is on our website: https://www.womenatthecentre.com/we-counsel/.
C6 Peer Counselling Program is a free 6-week peer-based counselling program for survivors of gender-based violence. This program focuses on six themes which include: Context, Consequence, Communication, Care, Control and Culture.
Transformative Justice & Accountability Initiative (TAJI):an alternative model of justice and support for sexual violence survivors.
WomenatthecentrE developed the Transformative Accountability & Justice Initiative using research conducted with survivors of sexual violence on their experiences in the legal system in Ontario. If you would like to learn more about our initiative please contact our Project Coordinator, Alison Morrison, at alison@womenatthecentre.com.
Human TraffickingProject: Embedding Resilience & Grounding Resistance
One project we did not discuss during our meeting yesterday was our Human Trafficking Project. We recently received funding for our Human Trafficking project titled “Embedding Resilience & Grounding Resistance: Centring Trafficking Survivors for Transformative Change”. If anyone has any questions regarding this project, we kindly ask that they connect with our Project Coordinator, Gracia Younes, at gracia@womenatthecentre.com
For more information visit: https://www.womenatthecentre.com/
Career Planning – Times Change Program
Times Change’s popular daytime Career Planning Workshop is now offered online. This workshop is designed for women who are unclear about their career direction or thinking about making a change. The workshop includes 9 online sessions (via Zoom) once a week (currently on Thursdays) from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. The dates for the upcoming workshop are:
During this online eight-week (one session per week) workshop, participants will:
• Identify skills, interests and values through self-assessment activities
• Explore and research possible occupations in a virtual group setting
• Research and understand the changing labour market
• Learn how to make a sound career decision
• Develop an action plan based on realizable goals
• Contribute a $30 materials fee (plus $2.84 admin fee) for the Career Planning Workbook (covered if needed)
This Career Planning Workshop is open to women who are unemployed or working less than an average of 20 hours per week. Clients must provide their Social Insurance Number at the time of registration.
If you are working more than 20 hours a week but you are interested in this workshop, you may consider: our evening Career Advancement and Mentorship or our individual counselling through the Career Exploration for Women (CEW) program.
Please have a look at the workshop description (below and on our web site https://www.timeschange.org/ ), and if you’re interested, apply here:
Career Planning Workshop