About YWCA Peterborough Haliburton
YWCA Peterborough Haliburton provides safe shelter, resources and support to help women safely escape gender-based violence, build upon their existing strength, and move forward in their lives. With the help of our community, we’re interrupting the cycle of gender-based violence and creating a safer, more equitable future for all.
As a member of YWCA Canada, we are part of a global movement dedicated to ending gender-based violence in all its forms.
We are committed to engaging with all women and children in a manner experienced as allyship. We see women and their children at their most vulnerable moments; thus, we are in position to offer an experience of trust, respect, and genuine care that has the potential to provide a key step towards healing. We take this responsibility seriously.
Our work is rooted in principles of intersectional feminism and anti-oppression/anti-racism, is trauma and violence-informed, person-centered and focused on harm reduction. Our intention is to be as low-barrier as possible and responsive to women and their families in whatever ways they need us to be. We aim to lift each other, and other women, up.
Our hope, grounded in our shared passion and intentional approaches, makes for a powerful force against gender-based violence.
Our Vision
YWCA cultivates a just, equitable, inclusive community where all women, children, and gender-diverse people can thrive.
Our Mission
YWCA Peterborough Haliburton exists to help women and children in our communities live safely, eat well and know satisfaction and joy in their daily lives. We offer shelter, educational programming, counselling, and advocacy, in collaboration with the community and women themselves. The YWCA knows that its fiscal management, community reputation and most importantly, valued staff are the basis for these trusting relationships.
Our Commitment to Reconciliation
We begin by acknowledging that YWCA Peterborough Haliburton is located on Nogojiwanong, meaning place at the end of the rapids. This is Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig territory and in the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations, collectively known as the Williams Treaties First Nations, which include: Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, Scugog Island, Rama, Beausoleil, and Georgina Island First Nations. We respectfully acknowledge the Williams Treaties First Nations as the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity, maintaining its health and integrity of generations to come.
Our organization’s historical underpinnings are undeniably settler, white and Christian. We recognize the brutal colonialization that Indigenous Peoples have endured as genocide. We are committed to engaging in this work in meaningful ways that challenge colonialism and its many associated harms.
Inclusivity and Anti-Oppression
YWCA Peterborough Haliburton recognizes that systems of oppression and discrimination mutually reinforce one another. It is at these points of intersection where people are most vulnerable, and oppression is strongest. We acknowledge that the barriers women can face, including racism, classism, ableism, misogyny, and colonialism, require a sophisticated understanding of anti-racism / anti-oppression principles. We are committed to operating with a solid awareness about our individual privilege and an intersectional focus on systemic oppression in the lives of women and children.