Every year United Way East Ontario presents its Community Builder of the Year Award, and for 2023, the recognition came in Ottawa on Thursday November 9th.
Agata Michalska is Director of Regional Affairs for United Way East Ontario and she tells us this year the agency’s highest award is shared amongst four partners in the same sector:
End Violence Against Women Renfrew County; Lanark County Interval House and Community Support; the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, and La Coalition de Prescott-Russell pour Éliminer la Violence faite aux Femmes.
The recognition was presented at The Enclave Monument at Minto Park in downtown Ottawa.
Michalska says gender-based violence has been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic, and shows no signs of abating.
There were intense efforts over the past year to have intimate partner violence declared to be an epidemic in Ontario.
While Queen’s Park has yet to come onside, the 77 municipalities that have so far done so are the vast majority of the Province’s population.
The Director of Regional Affairs for United Way East Ontario says so much work remains to be done, and an intense period of activism to raise awareness begins Saturday November 25th.
Follow what’s planned and how you can participate by visiting unitedwayeo.ca
By Rick Stow