YWCA Practice Framework Series: We Believe

The YWCA Calgary Practice Framework is a comprehensive document developed to focus and guide staff at YW in a unified philosophy and was developed with expert consultation with frontline staff, leadership and external stakeholders. The document also serves to clarify for the general public YW’s clear focus on women, particularly those who are vulnerable.

This blog series will break out sections and excerpts from YW’s Practice Framework to share with our audiences and contribute to the social narratives about women’s issues.

For the last few weeks, we’ve explored violence and abuse against women and girls, how we define poverty and homelessness and why language matters when talking about these issues. We understand these issues are part of a gendered experience for women and this blog series explored how these issues affect women uniquely. In our final blog post of the series, we explore and discuss what we believe at YW and how those beliefs shape our practices, our culture and the work we do.

We recognize that beliefs shape practice. Our goal at YW is to ensure that all women who are experiencing abuse, poverty, social isolation and/ or homelessness have access to our services. To that end, we strive to offer anti-oppressive, low barrier, inclusive service that is reflective of what women share in common as well as their differences. Our approach is woman-centered, takes a feminist, intersectional and anti-oppressive approach.

As violence against women, poverty and homelessness affect women so profoundly, the way that we interact with women matters more than the models we use, the assessments we formulate, or the referrals we make. If women feel safe, then our services will have a positive effect for them.

We know that some communities of women, in addition to gender experience oppressions related to class, race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, disability, and/or because they’re indigenous women or have other status. While woman abuse and poverty impact all women, we embrace the diversity of women’s lives: our services strive to be inclusive of women’s languages, cultural, spirituality, sexuality, faith and experiential differences.

At YW, we believe:

  • Women are the experts in their own lives and we need to listen carefully to women as they tell us about their experiences in their own voices and in their own time, language and ways.
  • Equity and inclusion are meaningful words and we are committed to providing all women who need our services with safe and respectful support.
  • Women and their children have the right to safe, appropriate and affordable housing, education, child care and economic security
  • Women and their children have the right to live free of violence and abuse, and the threat of violence and abuse.
  • In order to make informed decisions, women need access to information, resources and options. Women will have access to all YWCA fi les related to her and her children if requested.
  • Women should have the greatest opportunities for empowerment, self-determination and control over decisions that impact their lives, and therefore YWCA programs and services will be voluntary.
  • Low barrier services which do not impose unnecessary rules or conditions on service access truly meet women when and where they are at.
  • Our practice is based on guiding principles that can counter the impacts of dominance and oppression, in order to reduce the harms of interventions. We focus on a woman’s strengths and what has happened to her rather than what is ‘wrong’ with her.

As the largest and longest serving women’s organization in Calgary, we have focused on enhancing women’s safety and well-being while advocating for equity for more than 105 years. Our Practice Framework has been critical in getting our team “on the same page.” It aligns with modern and progressive values and a deeply rooted understanding of women’s experiences. Our focus is on empowering women to move from a place of vulnerability to one of resilience; YW continues to be there when and where she needs us most.

Read our full Practice Framework here.