Immigrant and Refugee Women Connecting for Change Program

The Immigrant and Refugee Women Connecting for Change Program (IRWP) is responsible for developing educational materials, training opportunities, and community partnerships, especially in ethno-specific communities. IRWP typically contributes to this work by assisting in the design and delivery of workshops and training programs to immigrant women and agencies working with immigrant women.

Workshops and training opportunities cover a range of issues including violence against women and children, responding to the needs of abused immigrant and refugee women, and gender violence and its relationship to other forms of oppression.

Recent Projects:

Building Bridges Across Barriers

Funded by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Building Bridges Across Barriers is an innovative project that brings together women with Disabilities, Deaf women, and Immigrant/Refugee/Newcomer women for an integrated, community-based, participant-led leadership training series, building on the skills, experience, and knowledge of all the participants involved.

Community Leadership and Action Project (CLAP)

This three-year project, funded by Status of Women Canada, focused on building community capacity to implement a range of culturally and linguistically appropriate responses to violence against women.

Creating Connections for Change

This project, funded by the City of Toronto, trained six Community Builders in the areas of community development, workshop facilitation, and training.  Springtide partnered with three non-profit organizations in Toronto (Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, Rexdale Women's Centre, Canadian Arab Federation) who serve mainly immigrant and refugee communities to develop comprehensive community engagement strategies in order to address and prevent violence against women.