{"id":21242,"date":"2018-08-01T16:54:50","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T20:54:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=21242"},"modified":"2018-08-01T16:54:50","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T20:54:50","slug":"help-send-kids-back-to-school-in-style-with-womens-centre-of-york-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/help-send-kids-back-to-school-in-style-with-womens-centre-of-york-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Help send kids Back to School in style with Women\u2019s Centre of York Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back to School has always been a special time for Payton Chapley.
\nThe start of a fresh grade is like a fresh slate, almost like \u201cNew Year\u2019s\u201d, she says.
\nOkay, while some kids might not feel the same excitement as she does, the summer student at the Women\u2019s Centre of York Region (WCYR), is looking to spread that excitement as far as possible with fresh backpacks and school supplies for over 80 local students from low income families.
\nBut they need your help to achieve this goal.
\nThe WCYR, after their Backpack program lost Regional funding this year, has set a $2,000 crowd funding goal to ensure that these kids are not left behind when they hit the books this September.
\n\u201cA lot of Back to School stress isn\u2019t put on the child, it is put on the parent,\u201d Ms. Chapley explains. \u201cWith everything being, \u2018Look at all the new things I have this year,\u2019 some kids are going to school with a torn up backpack, two pencils and that\u2019s it. That can be really tough for the kids showing up and not feeling as prepared as everybody else, feeling less than. That is also a great stress for the parents to watch their kids go through that and know that they couldn\u2019t do more.
\n\u201cTo me, it is really important, especially now, to take that financial stress off parents and know their kids are going to go to school, they are going to get their education, and they are going to be excited and proud to go to school on that first day.\u201d
\nFrom WCYR\u2019s perspective, it gives students and parents the tools they need to be ready to learn.
\n\u201cFor us, it is about creating dignity for families and really empowering women to be able to provide their children with a level of dignity and be able to move forward on that equality plane to keep up in school,\u201d adds WCYR Executive Director Catherine Curtis. \u201cOur clients are primarily low and moderate-income women, so we\u2019re trying to remove some of the barriers that create that stress. Back to School time is expensive between clothes, school registration fees, and all those other things that ramp back up. If we can alleviate some of that stress for mom, that makes a huge difference and has a ripple effect.\u201d
\nIn addition to the financial donations, which can be made online at gofundme.com\/WCYRBackpacks, material donations are also being accepted in the form of erasers, pencil sharpeners, highlighters, packs of paper, binders, and glue sticks.
\n\u201cWe try to do things somewhat by age range, so the older kids might need a scientific calculator to be able to participate in their math class,\u201d says Ms. Curtis. \u201cThe goal in past years would be to provide a water bottle as well so the kids have something to take with them, a lunch kit potentially. In some cases, we\u2019ve been able to include a gift card to places like Walmart so mom could go out and get supplies on that list that comes home from school or get healthy snacks so kids are equipped to learn.\u201d
\nAs much as Ms. Chapley sees Back to School as a \u201cwhole new start\u201d for students, the WCYR is in the midst of a fresh new start as well.
\nThey are moving this week from their long-time location on Harry Walker Parkway in Newmarket to new digs at Yonge Street and Mulock Drive.
\nAs their lease expired, they realised they now have more space than they currently need.
\nThe WCYR took on more space a few years ago for a social enterprise program that ultimately did not get off the ground \u201cfor a multitude of reasons,\u201d says Ms. Curtis, and a lot of their current space was being underutilized.
\n\u201cIt just seemed like it was time for a fresh start and, from a budget perspective, we really needed to tighten things up and reduce our administrative expenses from an overhead cost with the building itself,\u201d says Ms. Curtis. \u201cWe have been able to reduce our rent and related expenses by about half, which is significant considering the competitive market we\u2019re in with non-profits in the Region. And it is a fresh start for the Centre.\u201d
\nIt will also, in the end, be convenient for women who come to the WCYR for whatever reason as the new location is easily accessible by both YRT and VIVA, and is in the same building as similar organizations like the York Region Centre for Community Safety, and is just across the street from Belinda\u2019s Place women\u2019s shelter.
\n\u201cFrom a client perspective, it is easier to access and they can access multiple services in one visit,\u201d says Ms. Curtis. \u201cWe\u2019re all about change, so it is time for a change.\u201d
\nHelping with the transition is being one of the 20 community partners in this year\u2019s Magna Hoedown.
\nBeing part of this event, says Ms. Curtis, helps the organization \u201cfrom many perspective\u201d not just in raising \u201csignificant funding\u201d for their programs, but also raising the profile of the work they do.
\nThe WCYR\u2019s share of the Hoedown proceeds will go to individual and transitional counselling programs.
\n\u201cThis is helping women in two different ways: individual counselling is exactly what it sounds like, with self-esteem, depression, stress and cultural adjustment, and all those services are provided free,\u201d says Ms. Curtis. \u201cOur transitional counselling program is helping women leave abuse, dealing with things like a safety plan, housing applications to make sure they\u2019ve got safe housing.
\n\u201cWe are a very diverse Region and we are really reaching all points.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the Women\u2019s Centre of York Region, including programs and how to help them directly through the sale of Hoedown event and raffle tickets, visit www.wcyr.ca. <\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back to School has always been a special time for Payton Chapley.
\nThe start of a fresh grade is like a fresh slate, almost like \u201cNew Year\u2019s\u201d, she says.
\nOkay, while some kids might not feel the same excitement as she does, the summer student …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2018-08-02-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5wC","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-20 19:53:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}