#ImpactYEG - YWCA Edmonton’s Rose Campaign

Global Shapers Edmonton values collaboration and partnerships with incredible local non-profit organizations doing important work in our city. YWCA Edmonton is one such organization that has been a valuable partner to Global Shapers Edmonton, offering their shared community space, Cushing House, as a venue for us to host our ReLove clothing swap events over the last two years. We were honoured to be able to donate 50% of our proceeds from tickets sold at our November 5, 2023 ReLove event to YWCA Edmonton in support of their exceptional work.

As part of our mandate to magnify the work done by organizations like YWCA Edmonton, Global Shapers Edmonton wanted to spotlight the organization as part of our #ImpactYEG blog series and felt such a feature was timely considering YWCA Edmonton’s annual fundraising campaign, The Rose Campaign, is in full swing.

Our Vice Curator, Aliya, asked some questions of YWCA Edmonton’s CEO, Katherine O’Neill, to learn more about The Rose Campaign, the mission behind it, and how Edmontonians can support it.

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Aliya: Can you explain to us what the Rose Campaign is and how it came to be?

Katherine: The Rose Campaign is an annual campaign and call to action to end violence against women, girls and gender-diverse people in our community. It originally was organized as a national response to the 1989 l’École Polytechnique massacre where 14 women were gunned down in their Montreal university classroom simply because of their gender.

Aliya: How does the Rose Campaign contribute to the fight against gender-based violence?

Katherine: The campaign not only raises awareness about the prevalence of gender-based violence in our community, particularly against Indigenous, disabled, racialized, trans and rural women and girls, but also critical funds for YWCA Edmonton’s violence prevention and recovery programs. Violence against women and girls is 100 percent preventable, but we’ll only stop it when the entire community comes together to end this abuse.

Aliya: What are some significant achievements of the campaign that you're particularly proud of?

Katherine: We have a fundraising goal of $250,000 this year. If we achieve it, the Rose Campaign will have raised more than $1-million for YWCA Edmonton’s lifesaving programs and services, free mental health supports for domestic violence survivors, youth programs that teach teens about healthy relationships and financial literacy and local and national advocacy work that aims to end gender-based violence, including reforming the legal system and increasing affordable housing.

Aliya: Can you share some stories or experiences that highlight the impact of the campaign or YWCA's efforts to end gender-based violence on the community?

Katherine: At this year’s sold-out Rose Campaign Breakfast on December 5th, we are featuring the ground-breaking work of Standing Together, an Indigenous-led organization in Edmonton that supports the survivors and loved ones of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit crisis. They are also working to reform Canada’s legal system to better serve Indigenous women and girls. YWCA Edmonton has been working with this organization since 2021, including helping organize healing retreats for participants at our camp west of Edmonton. As allies, it’s been an honour to work with Standing Together and other Indigenous leaders on this important act of Truth and Reconciliation in our community. Indigenous women and girls disproportionately face higher rates of sexual and domestic violence than non-Indigenous women. 

Aliya: How can individuals or businesses in Edmonton support the Rose Campaign and YWCA's mission?

Katherine: First step: head to our YWCA Edmonton website and either donate or buy a Rose Raffle ticket before the end of the Rose Campaign (December 10th). All funds support YWCA Edmonton’s violence prevention and recovery programs. Also, please follow us on social media (@ywca_edmonton) and share the content about gender-based violence in our community. Together, we can build a stronger, safer, more equitable community for all.