Women at the Centre with Nneda MacGregor and Vivien Green is a one day workshop for women who have used services to deal with abuse, addictions and mental health issues, and for service providers and advocates.  The workshop is a follow up from the No Wrong Door project and will focus on building women's leadership and voice.  It is critical to develop collaboration and opportunities for participation for women with lived experience in the service system.  Contact Colleen Purdon at (519) 376-7145 or email cpurdon@bmts.com to register.  Financial assistance for travel and c

An art show and silent auction to raise funds for the Women's Centre.  The event will be held at St. Mary's Parish Hall, 554 15th St. East Owen Sound.  Tickets available at the Owen Sound Library, the Ginger Press and at the door.  Call 519 376-0755 for more information.

Plan to celebrate International Women's Day and support local agencies by attending:

Breakfast with the Mayor - 7:30 am at the Best Western Inn in Owen Sound,call 519 376-0755 for tickets

Luncheon: Celebrating the Women of Nawash - 12:00 at Chippewas of Nawash, call 519 534-3764 for information

International Women's Day Dinner - 5:00 pm Saugeen First Nations, call 519 797-2521 for tickets

A two day conference with international experts on high risk takes place at the CAW Family Education Centre in Port Elgin.  Information and a registration form is attached.  Sponsored by the Grey Bruce High Risk Teams.

Counting Women In:  A Toolkit for Rural Action on Poverty

This action toolkit includes five strategies to make poverty more visible in rural communities and to build hope for change.  Each strategy is accompanied by tools that were developed and piloted in Grey, Bruce, Huron and Perth with women and service providers.  The stratagies are:  Gather Women and Communities, Getting the Facts - Community Report Cards, Celebrating Women - Community Arts Project, Engaging Municipal Government, and Building Partnerships.

The Inclusive Communities Committee, a subcommittee of the Grey Bruce Violence Prevention Coordinating Committee is holding free workshops for agencies and workplaces in the Grey and Bruce to build more inclusive communities and workplaces. To date seven very successful workshops have taken place with community organizations in Grey and Bruce.

The Mental Health, Addictions and Abuse subcommittee of the GBVPCC has released the final report No Wrong Door - Creating a Collaborative Rural Response for Women with Abuse, Mental Health and Addictions Issues.

This report is the result of a one year research and community development project funded by the Ontario Victim Services Secretariat, Ministry of the Attorney General.

The objectives of the project were:
- to identify gaps in service for women with abuse, mental health and/or abuse issues;
- to hear from women how to better meet their service needs;

The outcomes, action items and next steps from the Weaving Our Communities conference that was held in September 2007 are presented in this report.

We will be evaluating community action and plans for action that are underway since the September conference that brought 165 people of all ages and backgrounds together to address racism, discrimination and violence in alls its forms.

For more information contact cpurdon@bmts.com

On November 3, 2006 30 community organizations from the justice, social service, child welfare, education, health and violence against women sectors agreed to a Community Response Protocol for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence It includes procedures in four key areas of work: safety planning, risk assessments, interventions and referrals, case management and community partner meetings based on a shared vision and principles to guide the work. Click to view or download the Community Response Protocol. A Train the Trainer Kit on the Protocol and is posted in the Working Together section of this website,