United Way recognizes both the immediate and long-term effects of family violence on individuals, families and our community. As a result, we have had a longstanding role in our community's anti-violence sector. United Way mobilizes and allocates resources and actively collaborates to understand and address the ever-growing set of complex issues related to family violence.
United Way is uniquely positioned to bring together individuals, groups and dollars to address specific needs and opportunities. Two examples of this are:
Family Networks
Family Networks is a neighbourhood-based service that helps support families. Unique in Ontario, Family Networks provides access to professional and other community services necessary to keep families together safely and reduce the number of children in the care of the Children's Aid Society.
This innovative project, launched in February 2007, is a response to research commissioned by United Way and conducted by researchers at The University of Western Ontario in 2003. This research, Protecting Children is Everybody's Business, identified woman abuse as being one of the factors leading to the rise in the number of children in care of the Children's Aid Society in London and Middlesex.
United Way and our generous donors were instrumental in the development of Family Networks and we continue to support the coordination and strategic direction of the program.
New Beginnings loan fund
In 2008, United Way was successful in securing a Canadian Women's Foundation grant on behalf of four community organizations to establish a New Beginnings loan fund. United Way spearheaded this joint partnership approach among the Foundation and United Way and Women's Community House, Daya Counselling, LUSO Community Services and Women's Rural Resource Centre. The fund is intended to help women leave an abusive situation and improve their lives with interest free loans for travel costs, moving costs, education needs, etc. The loans will benefit women and their children in London and Middlesex County, as well as reaching out to immigrant and newcomer women.
United Way allocates funding to services for and related to family violence at a number of community organizations through annual community funding and, when able, Strategic initiatives funding.
Some of these organizations include Changing Ways, Daya Counselling Centre, Family Service Thames Valley, Sexual Assault Centre and Women's Rural Resource Centre.
Recent Strategic initiatives projects include Community Plan for Protecting Infants Living in High Risk Environments, Muslim Family Support Service and Helping & Help-Seeking Behaviours in Abusive Men.
United Way's role as advisor, facilitator and convener includes participation on a number of community committees and coalitions. Some of these include:
Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children
Representing the London Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse, United Way sits on the Advisory Committee of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children. The Centre promotes the development of community-centered, action research on violence against women and children. Its role is to facilitate the cooperation of individuals, groups and institutions representing the diversity of the community to pursue research questions and training opportunities to understand and prevent abuse. The Centre also produces useful information and tools to assist in the daily work against violence toward women and children.
London Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse (LCCEWA)
United Way has been a member of the London Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse since 1996. We currently sit on the Advocacy and Communications Committee and served on the advisory committee for the development of the supportive workplace culture training program for the City of London.
LCCEWA is a community committee made up of organizations and interested individuals with a common focus to end violence against women. The LCCEWA is also a network of organizations, groups and individuals in London dedicated to ending woman abuse, through leadership and actions that achieve social justice for women and an integrated response to abused women and children.
Mayor's Task Force to End Woman Abuse
United Way was invited to join the Mayor's Task Force in 2006 and has been an active part of it since. Under the leadership of Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, the purpose of the Task Force is to enhance the ability of the business, labour, government, education, health care and human service sectors to respond more effectively to issues of woman abuse. United Way sits on the Advisory Board and the communications sub-committee. The Task Force's latest initiative was a community awareness campaign called, I Step Forward, launched November 2007.
For more information, contact Jason Hastings at 519-438-1723 ext. 244.