Our mission
Working together to build a better future for girls, women and their families.
The YWCA Montreal, supported by its Foundation, provides services to women, girls and their families so they can participate in and contribute to society to the best of their abilities. We also work with community stakeholders in order to focus attention on issues of exclusion, social inequality and gender as well as all forms of violence against women and girls, and thereby improve overall practice.
Our vision
The YWCA Montreal will be recognized as a key lever of social transformation:
- contributing to the advancement of an egalitarian, inclusive and non-violent society;
- having a positive and lasting impact on the lives of women and girls.
Our values
RESPECT requires recognition of the equality, the limits and the unique value of others, the validity of their lives and their life experiences as well as a willingness to listen, interact and accompany them in an equitable and non-judgmental manner.
EQUITY results when equality walks hand and hand with integrity and justice to ensure that our methods, actions and programs are conceived with the possibility of adaptation that will actually produce the desired impacts, improvements and changes.
INTEGRITY demands the honesty and transparency of people and methods as well as consistent actions in line with the values of the organization and the issues it defends.
NON-VIOLENCE and INCLUSION mean that words, actions, decisions and programs are used and conceived with respect, openness and acceptance and are introduced collaboratively, and not imposed.
SOLIDARITY is joining our voices and actions with other like-minded organizations and people who are committed to improving conditions of inequality, exclusion and gender violence; to stand with women and girls who are living or have lived through these situations.
Our convictions
- Equality through fairness, inclusion and non-violence.
- Even today, in almost all spheres of life, being a woman remains a risk factor.
- The social and economic influence of women must be recognized
- Safe housing is a fundamental right.
- A strong network of support is an essential element of social integration.
- Improving living conditions for families and children is also a way to improve women’s living conditions and promote their development.
- Prevention is a key component of social transformation.
- An understanding and knowledge of the social issues that impact women and girls will result in social transformation.
- Awareness of these issues has the power to influence leaders and funders.
- Now more than ever, growing social needs justify the relevance of an organization dedicated to women’s equality.
- Collaboration between social, political, private and community partners is essential for generating meaningful change.
- The YWCA Montreal is a member of a great Canada-wide association and thanks to the strength of this network, it remains the best agent to defend the rights and interests of women and girls.
- We gratefully acknowledge and pay respect to the Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) and Anishinaabe Nations, traditional custodians of the unceded indigenous territory where we are located.
Our areas of action
Our extended family
The Women’s Y Foundation and Fringues thrift-shop provide financial support to this mission and to the development of programs offered to women and girls of the Greater Montreal. We also benefit from the support of the many volunteers who are essential to our work.
History
The YWCA Montreal was founded on February 23, 1875, and is one of the oldest community organizations in the city. Its original mission was to «receive young women who come as strangers to the city, obtain for them board and employment, attend generally to their temporal and moral welfare».1
This mission has always been relevant. Throughout the years, the YWCA Montreal has continually evolved, adapting itself to the changing needs of women and girls and accompanying more than 300,000 of them on new paths to a better future.
See also : the complete historic timeline of YWCA Montreal
Respect for the Environment
The values that inspire all YWCA Montreal activities are equally evident in its relationship with the environment that surrounds it. That is why in 2009, the YWCA established a charter of eco-responsibility which all employees respect in the course of their work.
Similarly, in 2010, the YWCA Montreal acquired the funding needed to install a green roof on its main premises, which contributes to reduce the effects of urban heat islands. Installed in 2012, the YWCA’s green roof was one of the very few in downtown Montreal.