Article by The Sudbury Star

In 2021, the Sudbury Women’s Centre received a $46,600 grant through the Resilient Communities Fund from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The money was used to help the SWC rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19.

The grant enabled the SWC to hire a staff person and to address the need for a donor management system.

The project has been completed and will allow the organization to continue to encourage long-term giving within the Sudbury community, helping to support women impacted by violence.

“Last August, Giulia (Carpenter) and her team at the Sudbury Women’s Centre invited me to visit their new location on Brady Street,” Sudbury MPP Jamie West said in a release. “During that visit, I learned more about the essential services and supports the SWC offers to women in our community and throughout the North.

“The Resilient Communities Fund grant has only furthered SWC’s capacity for growth, whether it be locating new funding opportunities for the organization itself or providing them with the ability to ramp-up current programs in order to assist a broader clientele. The SWC team is caring, compassionate and resourceful, I have no doubt the community will continue to watch this organization and the women they assist thrive.”

Hiring a donor relations coordinator allowed the SWC to develop new funding opportunities and campaigns, while increasing the number of monthly donors. The position will end upon completion of the project.

Monthly donors secured during this funded year have allowed the SWC to purchase more than 30 hygiene items monthly and could support five women with a full care package every month.

“We are so grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for this grant, and for their support of our continued growth,” said Giulia Carpenter, executive director. “By developing, promoting and maintaining positive donor relationships, organizations like ours can continue to provide essential services and basic needs items to women in need.”

The SWC is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to providing information, referrals and support services to women who have been impacted by violence and/or difficult life circumstances. The staff and volunteers at the SWC offer a safe space, inclusive and respecting of diversity, to support women along their journey.