WOMEN IN NEED SOCIETY OF CALGARY
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Mission Statement
Connecting women and their families with resources to thrive.
About This Cause
“Thanks to WINS's House to Home Program, I was able to build a home for my children. The support was amazing.” – Chantel, House to Home Program Participant WOMEN IN NEED SOCIETY Women In Need Society (WINS), an award-winning charitable organization in Calgary, helps women like Chantel every day. By helping women, we are helping their families create bright and vibrant futures right here in Calgary. WINS is a unique homegrown social enterprise that helps women with basic needs, emotional support, and career building programs. WINS uses a three-pillared approach of basic needs, emotional support, and career building to address the situations that low-income women and families face. Our House to Home program, five Community Resource Hubs, Retail Ready and Warehouse Ready programs provide barrier-free access to an integrated system of support services in Calgary. Through referrals, advocacy, and supportive programming, we help Calgarians transition out of poverty and obtain the skills and self-confidence needed to become self-sufficient. WINS believes in meeting women where they are at in their journey, and working with them so they can move towards thriving and living fulfilling lives. When women have high self-esteem and morale, they are more likely to cope with parenting stress, better manage daily challenges, have the confidence to enroll in school, find meaningful employment, and create a positive healthy supportive social network. When women are empowered, they believe in their own ability to create change and become self-sufficient. We also believe in being sustainable throughout our operations and contributing to a circular economy, because we want to help create a healthier community where everyone wins. You can find out more about WINS’ impact through our 30 Voices initiative here, which shares stories from those who have been impacted by WINS to commemorate 30 years of WINS serving the community. Read Chantel’s story below: “I moved to Calgary from Ontario in February 2022, leaving a domestic violence situation. With two luggage bags and my children in tow, I was anticipating it would be difficult for us to do the move. But thanks to WINS's House to Home Program, I was able to build a home for my children. The support was amazing. The House to Home Program made living in a different city more comfortable. They provided me with the basic furniture I needed. Everyone in the House to Home Program was great. I was not only able to equip myself with the necessary skills to start a new life, but I was also able to make new friends, which to me, was equally important. Everyone was so supportive, so comforting and non-judgmental. I felt accepted.” - Chantel, House to Home Program Participant Thrift Enterprise: WINS' thrift enterprise model fuels our mission of helping women and their families help themselves; and offers innovative opportunities for funders and investors to contribute directly to local sustainability. WINS’ Thrift Stores have locations across Calgary in: Dover, Beltline, Bowness, Richmond, Macleod Plaza, and Fisher Park. We also have a bin-style bulk thrift store, the WINS More Store, located in Foothills and an online thrift box service Twice New. Inventory for the thrift stores is donated by the larger Calgary community, and through shopping and our basic needs programs, goes back into the community, contributing to a circular economy. The thrift stores support WINS’ basic needs programs and provide valuable hands-on learning for students of our career building programs. House to Home (H2H) Program: Supports economically disadvantaged women and their families in Calgary and surrounding communities, who are coming out of crisis situations, transitioning to housing, new immigrants and those who are experiencing difficult financial times. WINS provides a voucher that entitles the program participant to obtain free goods from any one of the WINS Thrift Stores at no cost. With the support of our retail operations, WINS runs the House to Home program to give families access to quality everyday items at no charge. In 2022, we gave out $567,294 in furniture, housewares, and clothing to women in need and their families. The H2H program plays a crucial role in helping to transform houses into safe and stable home environments where women and their families have the necessities to sit, eat, sleep, and function together as a family. Our program is one of the only local programs offering a furniture delivery service to those without access to transportation. Community Hubs: The Community Hubs are geared towards building a woman’s self-esteem and self-empowerment through compassionate support and appropriate programs. provide services from four different locations. Out of the four, two are situated in Calgary Housing complexes to serve the needs of women and their families that live in the complex and surrounding areas. These centers provide a variety of programs that range from parenting classes to youth groups, craft classes as well as providing access to a computer/printer and training to find employment. The Hubs also provide families in need with a space to come together, share, and learn information and skills to move them towards self-empowerment and self-sufficiency. Retail Ready: Retail Ready is an employment services program that provides training and work experience to enable Albertan women to find and maintain employment within the Retail industry. It is a client-centered program that seeks to address and support the holistic needs of the individual. The intent is to provide experiential learning that fosters personal empowerment and values based professional development through classroom and on the job training that will lead to life and work success. Warehouse Ready: Warehouse Ready is another employment services program that provides training and work experience to low-income participants who demonstrate a willingness to find stable employment and who are suited for careers in the Warehouse industry. It is a client-centered program that seeks to address and support the holistic needs of the individual. The service includes WHMIS and First Aid Certification as well as training/certification for common warehouse equipment such as pallet jacks, forklifts, and other machinery. Environmental Impact: Supplementary to our thrift store enterprise is our recycling program wherein WINS diverts thousands of pounds of goods from the landfill, turning them either into cash from resale or by liaising with other recycling vendors such as metal and electronics recyclers. In 2022, volunteers gave 16,984 hours of their time and skills to support the WINS vision. WINS diverted over 22,000 furniture items and 93,800 electronic items from the landfill last year, contributing to a staggering total of 4.9 million pounds of items diverted from Calgary landfills in 2022.