As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve now been leading Nellie’s as our Executive Director for six months — and wow, has it flown by. While in some ways I’m still getting my footing in this new role, this position has also been a natural progression for me following the nine years I served as our Director of Development.
One of my primary priorities over the past six months has been finding ways to move Nellie’s voice forward and take on more of an advocacy role in our community. In November, our Toronto Women in Action – Housing team hosted an incredible symposium on the housing crisis in Toronto, a one-day event centering the voices of women and gender-diverse people in advancing equitable access to affordable housing. I’m immensely proud of our team for how well-executed, engaging, and informative this event was and am looking forward to seeing how we can continue to push the conversation forward on critical housing issues.
For my part, I have been working with our board of directors to connect Nellie’s with more collaborative groups and tables that are working to move things forward in the fight against gender-based violence. To that end, I have recently become a member of the Ontario Women’s Coalition (a group of women’s organizations across Ontario who are collectively working on housing issues) and I am also joining WomanACT (a Toronto organization working collaboratively to end gender-based violence and advance gender equity). It’s encouraging and exciting to have the opportunity to work together with organizations to push harder for real, critical change.
On the shelter side, our focus in this latter part of the year has been on ensuring our staff’s safety and well-being. Working in a shelter is extremely tough, both mentally and physically, and unfortunately there have been some challenging situations in the shelter that have forced us to redesign our space to ensure staff safety. In addition to making sure our staff always feels safe, we’ve worked to bring some more levity to a difficult job by creating more fun activities to do together as a team, such as participating in fundraisers for the United Way like Halloween door decorating contests and pyjama days. All of these efforts, from keeping our staff safe and bringing more joy to their day, help us serve our clients better. If our staff feel supported by their employers and their team members, they’re more easily able to have positive interactions with the women and their children who we serve.
As we look ahead to the coming year, we know the financial landscape around us will continue to shift. Donations remain lower than in past years, and several of our traditional funding streams are changing or being reduced. With rising costs affecting our whole community, we’re exploring new and sustainable funding avenues so we can continue to provide the programs and services that women and their children need to heal, grow, and build a brighter future.
In closing out the year, we want to thank you all for your continued support — it’s because of you that everything we do is possible. From all of us here at Nellie’s, and from all of the women and their children we support, we wish you a happy and safe 2026.