Gala celebrates 25 years of helping women

FANNIE SUNSHINE
May 5, 2009

Charlene Catchpole hopes to one day work herself out of a job.

As executive director of North York Women’s Shelter (NYWS), Catchpole yearns for the day her role is not needed and women live free of violence.

“There is still a need for our service, 25 years later after the doors opened,” she said.

Since 1984, NYWS has been a safe refuge for abused women and their children, helping some 10,000 survivors of domestic violence.

NYWS will celebrate its 25th anniversary with the fourth annual Mother’s Day Hope Gala Thursday, May 7 at Vaughan Estate, 2075 Bayview Ave.

The sold-out fundraiser will honour Hope Award winner Sheherazade Hirji, for her commitment to advancing women’s rights. The goal of the Mother’s Day Hope Gala is to raise $30,000 for NYWS services and support.

“The shelter was built on this ground 25 years ago and has been in the exact same spot since,” Catchpole said. “The amount of women who come through the doors has increased over the last 25 years. We still need these services.”

The non-profit shelter operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is able to accommodate 30 women and children at any given time.

Most women stay six to eight months at the shelter before finding subsidized housing, Catchpole said.

“With the economic downturn we are seeing an increase in violence,” she said. “With layoffs, job loss, loss of income always comes an upswing of violence.”

Physical abuse accounts for about 70 per cent of violence women experience, Catchpole said, adding other forms of abuse range from verbal to sexual.

“We deal with a high number of new Canadians who don’t have a lot of family support or access to services,” she said. “We offer her safety. Our address is completely confidential. Our counsellors work on goal plans with her, whether it’s going to school, learning English, finding a job. Housing is a big piece of what we do and we will accompany her to look at apartments.”

Other services include weekly support groups, connections to legal and immigration services and assistance in finding subsidized daycare.

If the 30 beds at NYWS are full, the woman will be referred to one of 12 designated violence against women shelters in Toronto, Catchpole said, adding NYWS also offers a crisis line for women seeking information but who aren’t ready to leave home.

“The women who come to the shelter are getting younger and younger and the wait time for housing is getting longer and longer,” she said.

Along with the Mother’s Day Hope Gala to mark 25 years of service, NYWS will celebrate its anniversary with a picnic with past clients and staff in September.

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