Community Partners
Getting to know the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC)
Created in 1978 by a group of women who recognized the urgent need for a safe space for women in the Downtown Eastside, the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) is now a vital part of our community. We offer a safe, non-judgmental environment for women, including cis, trans, and Two-Spirit individuals who live and/or work in the neighbourhood.
Providing safety to 1,200 women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside every day
Across our five, low-barrier sites, we provide a wide range of supports and services, from basic needs like meals and safe washrooms, to counselling, housing outreach, sexual assault response, mental health advocacy, and culturally specific programming for Indigenous women and Chinese seniors. DEWC also operates two, 24-hour emergency shelters for women experiencing homelessness, offering a total of 100 beds, 365 days a year. Every day, more than 1,200 women access our services.
While the Downtown Eastside can be a place with a strong sense of community for many who live and work here, it is also, unfortunately, a place where especially women and fem-presenting individuals experience extreme violence, including sexual assaults, at alarming rates. A recent survey of 50 women experiencing homelessness found that 100% reported feeling unsafe, and 100% had experienced violence and/or sexual assault.
Although the challenges faced by women in the Downtown Eastside are immense, DEWC is committed to offering a sanctuary where women can feel safe, respected, and supported. We support women who struggle with mental wellness and/or problematic substance use, who are low income, may have disabilities, and do sex work. We support women who face multiple barriers to accessing “traditional public services” and who experience racism, ableism, marginalization, as well as other forms of oppression, every day. Our goal is to provide a space where women can rest, eat, shower, and access the support they need to move out of survival.
We believe all women have the knowledge, skills and experience they need to make the decisions that are right for them. Our role is to offer safety, support, encouragement, and the tools they need to make positive changes in their lives.
Learn about the impact of our services on the lives of the women we serve https://dewc.ca/stories/
Grateful for Crofton House School’s students, parents and staff
This work would not be possible without the support of our incredible community of supporters.
We would like to thank the parents and students at Crofton House School from the bottom of our hearts for their tireless work on the Winter Bazaar and throughout the year! We are so grateful for the efforts you have all been doing in the past years to provide clothing, yummy snacks and financial donations and in co-building an intergenerational connection program with the Chinese Seniors. We are so grateful for this partnership and all the support we receive from the Crofton School House community.
See you at the Winter Bazaar!
About Women Leaders of Tomorrow
We are grateful for Crofton House School’s students, parents and staff for including Women Leaders of Tomorrow in the 2024 Winter Bazaar!
Our work would not be possible without the support of CHS and their community. Thank you for your gracious support!
We would like to thank the parents and students at Crofton House School from the bottom of our hearts for their tireless work on the Winter Bazaar and throughout the Women Leaders of Tomorrow (WLOT) was incorporated in March of 2021 in Vancouver BC. Our mandate is to empower Afghan women and girls through education and sports. We are a registered nonprofit society.
WLOT is a group of Afghan women and supporters of women and girls’ education and empowerment. Established in 2021, we seek to close the gender gap in Afghanistan by facilitating the emergence of a new generation of female leaders in sports, business, government and non-traditional occupations. Our primary focus is on helping Afghan women to obtain a world-class education. We are guided in this work by our Mission, Vision and Values.
When the Afghan central republican government collapsed in August 2021, the Taliban returned to power. As soon as they took power again, the Taliban banned education for women and girls above third and sixth grade. The Taliban have also imposed strict punishment if the any female learners are seen or caught going to the any educational institutions, and or classrooms. Due to the Taliban’s regime, close closures, dire economic situation, no human rights, or women’s rights, and bad security for girls, Afghan families are marrying them off earlier than intended.
Therefore, our focus is on scholarship opportunities at the Canadian educational institutions where the young Afghan girls come, and study in Canada.
Update date, we have been able to secure 28 full-ride scholarships in Canada. 25 scholars are presently pursuing high qualify of education at Canadian secondary and post-secondary institutions. Two were granted awards at Crofton House and graduated in June 2024, and we welcomed two new young Afghan women from Afghanistan at CHS this year.
Here are some highlights of what we engaged in and achieved:
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8 young girls for high schools
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17 Afghan women/girls for undergraduate and Masters’ degree program
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20 young women are participating in weekly English-language program training through Afghanistan Learns Online program
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20 volunteer English-language teachers and mentors
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2 Judo coaches training the next generation of female athletes
Since the collapse WLOT has accelerated its efforts, and work to provide Afghan women & girls access to an
education again. Because we don’t want the knowledge, education and learning to collapse.
Afghanistan, like any other country in the world, has many talented people. But the talent and potential of such bright individuals are wasted due to the lack of opportunities, facilities, and gender discrimination. As such, most young women are not able to pursue education past high school. WLT not only helps gender equality, but it also helps provides basic educational resources to Afghan women.
Basic education of women and girls are a fundamental human right. The United Nations affirmed this in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 1948 as Resolution 217.
We envision an Afghanistan where women are treated equally as men in all aspects of life includes filling government seats, owning businesses, and enjoying free participation in society and exercising decision-making powers in government and private sectors.
Every woman and girl deserves equal rights, rights to education, freedom of thought, and a life with dignity and purpose.
For further information please visit our website at womenleaders.ca
Thank you!
Friba Rezayee
Executive Director
