A Beautiful Day For A Walk For a change of pace (no pun intended), the 2014 Walk a Mile in Her Shoes© event was held a week later than previous years. In order to accommodate an event at the Cenotaph, we altered the walk route from once around Victoria Park to going north of the park, around the Richmond/Pall Mall/Wellington block and returning to Centennial Hall. This added a bit more wear and tear on the feet of London’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen but they still had fun and returned smiling. Even though the day started with some rain, by mid- morning the sun had appeared and it turned out to be a perfect day for a Walk. At least 100 walkers, and double that in well-wishers, took to the streets in the sunshine and warm temperatures to raise money for Women’s Community House and to show community solidarity to end violence against women. Upon return to Centennial Hall, everyone enjoyed complimentary refreshments and award presentations. This year’s Shoe-per-Hero award was presented to Al Murphy, the individual who raised the most money and the Shoe-be-do Trophy for the team that raised the most in pledges was awarded to Team Bluestone. At the time of writing this article, the total monies raised from the 2014 Walk a Mile in Her Shoes© was approximately $33,000 with further pledges expected to be received. Donations can still be made to the Walk by going to www.walkamilelondon.ca and clicking on the Donate Now button. A huge thanks to all the men who participated in the 2014 Walk, to those who pledged the Walkers, to family and friends who cheered the men on, to all the volunteers involved, to Tender Tootsies for sponsoring the event, to Tim Horton’s for providing the beverages and to Stax and Pete, the awesome MCs from 102.3JackFM, for keeping the event light and fun! Watch the Women’s Community House Facebook page, Twitter and Walk a Mile site (www.walkamilelondon.ca) for updates on this year’s Walk and for the date of next year’s Walk. Rock On…..Grand House Party12 Rock royalty Rik Emmett – Triumph band member and master of the guitar solo - returned to the Grand Theatre main stage for an encore performance at the Women’s Community House Grand House Party12 fundraiser entitled “The Great Canadian Riff-Off: ROCKS ON!” The show was held on June 20, 2014 and was performed for an almost capacity house. His four gold and platinum decades in the music business has garnered Emmett entry into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame, the Music Industry Hall of Fame and the Juno Hall of Fame - as well as being recognized as one of the world’s best guitarists. The two-hour show featured Emmett joined by touring partner, Toronto-based pro guitarist Dave Dunlop, with their special mini-show of duets and solos chock full of high octane riffs, lightning quick guitar vamps to breathtakingly sweet acoustic delicacies. Rounding out talent on the stage were local favorites Paul Langille, Doug Varty, Jeans & Classics veteran Jean Meilleur and the Grand House Party Band. This top-notch line-up provided a generous helping of music from Steely Dan, Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Allman Brothers, Toto…and more…the show ending with Led Zeppelin’s iconic Stairway to Heaven. For more photos of this year’s show, go to the Grand House Party website (www.grandhouseparty.ca) or check out the Women’s Community House Facebook page. The June 19, 2015 Grand House Party13 is already on the drawing board. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates. A Loving Tribute Hosted by Jane Beattie and her family, many neighbours, friends and patrons of “The Bag Lady” came out in support of the Jennifer Bannon Memorial Fundraiser on Saturday, July 19, 2014. The Bag Lady parking lot was transformed into a cheerful, market style venue. Delectable baked goods and treats, savory BBQ fair, refreshing lemonade, raffle opportunities and handmade bracelets were some of the items for purchase. If The Bag Lady brunch was more your style, you were ushered into the café to select from a plethora of enticing menu options. Supporters brought many “needed items” and cash donations all to benefit Women’s Community House and the Canadian Mental Health Association in recognition of the many services they provide to those in need. Our heartfelt thanks to Jane Beattie, her family and the many patrons and friends who supported this wonderful event. Women’s Community House was the recipient of a $5,000 financial gift and a multitude of donations-in-kind from this fundraiser, for which we are very grateful. The Jennifer Bannon Memorial Fundraiser was truly a wonderful event which celebrated and captured the fun-loving spirit and generous nature of its inspiration Jennifer Bannon. You can find The Bag Lady on-line at http://www.thebagladyvariety.ca. Shown in event photo is Jane Beattie, fundraiser organizer and Suzanne Fratschko-Elliott, Women’s Community House Major Gifts Officer. Shout Out from WCH to….. * Village Co-op Preschool in Lambeth who have, for the past two years, supported Women’s Community House with needed items such as non-perishable food (300 pounds in 2014), new hygiene items, diapers, diaper wipes and other products from their Community Helpers program, teaching children about being community participants. Thank you! * Royal LePage Shelter Foundation and local Royal LePage friends for supporting Women’s Community House through their 6th annual National Garage Sale held in London in May. Special thanks to Kelley McIntyre, Royal LePage Sales Representative, and her team for all your efforts in collecting donations and making the event the success that it is. * Coupons for Hunger (Colleen Lindemann and Tonia Richardson, Co-Founders) for supporting WCH residents and their children during the back-to-school season with fifteen ‘packed’ backpacks. Thanks! August – Great Month ‘Fore’ Women’s Community House’ On August 25th, the 8th annual Bob White Charity Classic was held by our wonderful friends at UNIFOR (formerly CAW) at the Craigowan Golf & Country Club in Woodstock. Despite numerous plant closures and deep gouges to organized labour, this annual fundraiser has donated a whopping $330,000 to Women’s Community House (WCH) over the past seven years. This year’s event was another success and it looks favourable that WCH will receive a $40,000 donation. Thanks for your awesome efforts, UNIFOR! Women’s Community House was also the beneficiary of a $45,000 donation from the 2nd annual Nazem Kadri Charity Golf Classic held August 10th at Fire Rock Golf Club thanks to staff member Zaheiya who championed our name and cause through her connection to the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario. Nazem Kadri is a forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the tournament is organized in conjunction with his family and the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario. To better serve the Muslim community, WCH will be inviting the Centre and other key stakeholders to a planning session this fall to start exploration of opportunities to build different kinds of bridges and collaborations. We appreciate the donation from this golf tournament and this evolving partnership. Cheque presentation on Saturday, August rd 23 (l to r) with Nazem’s dad, Shelley Yeo (WCH), Nazem Kadri, Pamela Coray (WCH), Hassan Mostafa of the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario. New Centre Opening Women’s Community House (WCH) is embarking on a one-year pilot project that will remove another barrier for women fleeing abuse. WCH counsellors, trained specifically to address the impact of violence on women and children, will be able to provide uninterrupted, dedicated and client-focused counselling on the phone and now in person, too, at a “drop in centre” appropriately named Women’s Community House Counselling & Support Centre. The Centre is located on the main floor at 101 Wellington Road, London. Woman abuse destroys families, impacts the health and vitality of the community and is one of the three contributing factors that lead to children coming into the care of Children’s Aid Society (CAS). Women not only need access to immediate support and quality counselling but focused individual support that addresses the complex needs of their situation at a time that is safe and when they are ready to take the first steps towards a life free of violence. The establishment of this Centre represents an innovative shift in service provision from the current methodology where a counsellor on shift manages a caseload of multiple shelter families, answers the crisis line and offers counselling to unannounced in-person contacts who come to the shelter to a client-centered counselling model, physically separate from the residential part of the shelter, where both residents and non-residents receive uninterrupted service. With no substantial change in funding over the past ten years, increased workload, complexity of caseloads and current service methodologies, the potential for service provision to suffer a decline in quality and quantity is high. More efficient service delivery models have been explored and we believe a drop in approach may address this gap and offer both residents and non-residents an opportunity to work with a counsellor who is focused on her needs rather than on multi-tasking. The Centre will provide focused, confidential, one-on-one counselling access to non-residents. From the Executive Director Women’s Community House (WCH) is known internationally as a progressive feminist organization, a leader in the violence against women world. The WCH Board and Staff focus a lot of their time and energy on developing innovative ways to help us do our jobs better in this ever changing world, constantly working on improving existing services while looking at new ways to meet the needs of abused women and their children.