Reflecting on this past year at YWCA Metro Vancouver, several themes emerged: resilience, passion, dedication and an unwavering belief that pursuing gender equity is critical. This work matters and your contributions make it possible.
This year, we formalized our organizational values to unite us and inform our decision-making. They are intention, courage, community and empowerment.
With intention, we offer 86 integrated programs and services, each meeting diverse needs of people in our community. We continue to use our hub model approach, which enables us to support multiple aspects of people’s lives, delivering housing, early learning and child care, mentorship programs, violence prevention, legal services and opportunities for skills development and employment.
With courage, we have advocated for systemic change. We launched our campaign to have gender-based violence declared an epidemic in BC, recognizing the deep, far-reaching impact it has on women, children and gender-diverse people in our communities.
Through community, we honour participants’ lived experience and celebrate their dreams and accomplishments. Our annual Rhythms of Resilience event, honouring the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, drew hundreds of community members to recognize survivors and commemorate the children who never made it home.
Focusing on empowerment gave us the opportunity to invest in 7,256 job seekers, 1,747 youth and 797 women and children living in our deeply affordable housing communities. This past year, we opened our 16th housing community, YWCA Sandy So Vista at 388 Slocan Street, which provides 14 deeply affordable homes to women and single mothers and their children. We also created the YW Housing Society, which allows us to provide an increased spectrum of affordable housing and reinvest revenue to provide more deeply affordable homes. Under YW Housing, 56 below-market rental units are available to the broader community at 388 Slocan.
While we are excited about the way our values guide our work every day, we know none of this would be possible without our generous community of partners, volunteers and donors. Every day, your support shows us what is possible when we work together and strive for a more equitable world. Together, we are seeing positive change in our communities, and we can’t wait for what is ahead.
In solidarity,
Thanks to you, we ran 86 programs and services in 2024, reaching tens of thousands of people in 53 locations in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Hundreds more across BC were supported virtually through online programs.
The YWCA Hotel and YWCA Health + Fitness Centre continued to deliver exceptional service to guests and members while contributing to the local economy and strengthening our community. Together, these social enterprises generate 20% of the YWCA’s revenues, fuelling our ability to respond quickly to emerging needs and invest in programs that make a lasting difference.
797 mothers and children made their homes in one of 16 YWCA housing communities.
There are 6 more under construction.
"Having safe and affordable housing has given me and my daughter a sense of security that I can’t begin to describe. I want you to know that YWCA’s support is not just help with housing, it’s a lifeline."
- Nadia, YWCA Program Participant
546 mothers and children took part in 18 YWCA Single Mothers’ Support Groups.
18 solo moms received scholarships for post-secondary education to pursue their career and financial goals.
"As a single mother navigating a new country, YWCA’s support has been a cornerstone. They provided me with the practical resources, emotional encouragement and community I needed to rebuild my life. ... I gained confidence to pursue my dreams, including attending one of the world’s best visual effects schools and exploring ways to turn my passion for art into a business. The support from the YWCA also helped me provide stability for my children and focus on becoming a stronger, independent woman."
- Haruna, YWCA Program Participant
42,033 free meals were served through Crabtree Corner food programs.
145 children participated in our free drop-in child care.
"The staff at Crabtree Corner go above and beyond to support families like mine. I’m able to take part in programs while my boys are in daycare. We can’t afford healthy food, so the meals they provide make sure my kids and I are nourished and cared for."
- Dinah, YWCA program participant
1,555 job seekers received employment support through 23 specialized YWCA employment programs.
5,701 people accessed job search assistance through the WorkBC Employment Services Centres operated by the YWCA.
"I’m beyond grateful for YWCA’s unwavering support. I cannot thank everyone enough for believing in me and empowering me to achieve my goals."
- Zebo, YWCA Program Participant
283 children received quality care at YWCA early learning and child care centres.
"Being in a $10-a-day centre has been so good for me. It’s affordable, and I can work knowing my child is in a safe place. Since starting daycare, she’s become more social, learned how to share and knows how to ask for what she needs. She even took her first steps there, which was amazing."
- Maria, YWCA program participant
427 Grade 7 students participated in YWCA Guide to High School and 1,289 Grade 8-10 students took part in YWCA Dating Safe, gaining knowledge and skills to develop healthy relationships.
31 self-identified Indigenous teen girls, Two-Spirit and non-binary youth were connected to Indigenous community and cultures with support from volunteer Indigenous mentors in the YWCA Indigenous Mentorship program.
637 individuals logged 18,195 volunteer hours in support of YWCA programs.
33 corporate groups volunteered at 67 events, contributing a total of 1,683 hours tending our gardens, making and serving meals at YWCA Crabtree Corner, sprucing up our child care centres and much more.
"Volunteering for the YWCA has given me the opportunity to meet so many different people, to make meaningful connections, and to understand the lush diversity of people living in the city I grew up in, which I may not have known otherwise. I am grateful to be able to share the sense of community at YWCA and contribute to a cause I support."
- Christina Kim, YWCA volunteer
Nearly half of women in BC have experienced some form of intimate partner violence, prompting YWCA Metro Vancouver to establish a coalition of over 40 organizations, experts and community leaders calling on the provincial government to declare gender-based violence an epidemic. Through coordinated advocacy—including letters to Premier David Eby, public awareness campaigns during the 16 Days of Activism, and direct meetings with government leaders—the coalition has helped push the issue onto the provincial agenda, with Premier Eby acknowledging gender-based violence as an epidemic in his mandate letter to the Minister of Finance. While encouraged by this progress, the coalition continues to press for stronger action, including a formal declaration, expanded prevention measures, survivor supports and the establishment of a gender-based violence death review committee.
To honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, YWCA Metro Vancouver hosted its second annual Rhythms of Resilience community gathering, which drew more than 350 attendees. Centered on the theme "Stories of Hope and Healing", the 2024 event showcased powerful performances from Indigenous artists, including St’at’imc dancer Laura Grizzlypaws, Anishinaabe-Nehîyaw artist Pîsim, Vancouver-based hip-hop artist Dakota Bear, and the Dancers of Damelahamid from BC’s northwest coast.
