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In July, things were relatively quiet at the Salt Spring Island Transition House. Then, on a single day in August, we received 11 crisis calls. Within three days, every room was full again with women and their children. You can read the full story, including some words from our clients
You are invited to join us for IWAV’s 8th Annual Fundraising Dinner at beautiful Stowel Lake Farm—an elegant evening of exceptional food, community and connection in support of The Cedars, IWAV’s Second-Stage housing. The Cedars provides women and their children with stable housing and program support for up to 18
Last weekend, IWAV was proud to participate in the Salt Spring Island Pride Parade, standing alongside our 2SLGBTQIA+ community in celebration of authenticity, belonging, and inclusion. Pride is a celebration of love, identity, and resilience. It is also a reminder that many members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community continue to experience
Check out our Spring 2026 External Newsletter Inside our latest newsletter, we’re sharing updates on IWAV services, next steps in the Norton Road affordable housing project, and the importance of building sustainable, monthly support for the work happening every day across the Southern Gulf Islands. At IWAV, we provide counselling,
Today, May 5, is Red Dress Day, the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. Across Canada, Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQ+ community members continue to experience disproportionate levels of violence. Red Dress Day is a time to honour those who are missing
Over the past few months, our community has come together in an extraordinary way to support the Norton Road Acquisition Fund. The generosity shown by islanders has been inspiring, and we are deeply grateful for the commitment people have shown toward creating more affordable housing on Salt Spring Island. At
On March 5, Islanders Working Against Violence and the Salt Spring Island Foundation welcomed community supporters to ArtSpring for a special evening celebrating an extraordinary milestone: the successful purchase of the Norton Road property, which will become the future site of affordable housing on Salt Spring Island. The evening offered
We are proud to share that the Norton Road property has officially been purchased — a milestone made possible by an extraordinary outpouring of community support. What began as a bold vision became a shared commitment. In just a few short months, Islanders came together to help raise the funds
Norton Road is for Islanders who need safe, affordable homes — and we’re nearly there! Because of the support we’ve already received, we’re 85% of the way to securing Norton Road. That means we are closer than ever to providing stable, affordable housing for people in our community who need
As we head into the holidays, we want to pause and say thank you to our incredible community. The tree you see here represents the growing circle of supporters behind the Norton Road Property Acquisition Fund. Every name — on the branches, in the trunk, and in the roots —
Every December 6th, communities across Canada gather to honour the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. We remember the 14 women murdered at Montréal’s École Polytechnique in 1989 on this day.
IWAV Launches Online Auction With Treasures For Everyone! You can have a sneak peek at items as they are added to the auction here.
Join IWAV for this 7-part workshop series on exploring community care as a path toward prevention & collective safety. Each workshops focuses on a common “gap” we experience in ourselves and our communities, and then offers tools, reflections, and skills to move toward greater compassion and connection.
We are pleased to announce that in partnership with the Salt Spring Island Foundation, efforts have begun to raise the funds needed to complete the purchase of 210 Norton Road by January 12, 2026.
We are proud to invite you to our 7th annual $10,000 for Change Farm-to-Table Supper on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 5:30 PM at the beautiful Stowel Lake Farm. We need your support now more than ever. This isn’t just another dinner, it’s an evening that sustains life-saving programs in
IWAV is inviting community members from across the Southern Gulf Islands to join our growing team of volunteers. Whether you have a few hours a month or more time to give, there’s a place for you at IWAV. From tending gardens and caring for children to supporting events and standing
Feature image: A Safe Place: Golden Hour by Aio Panwar* After nearly a year of powerful youth collaboration, community events, and courageous conversations, the Safety, Survival, and Solidarity Project has officially wrapped — and all six short films created by youth participants are now available to watch on our website.
We’re excited to be selling our Grow For It Seeds at the annual Salt Spring Seedy Saturday on February 22nd from 10am-3pm. Grow For It Seeds help support our on-site gardening program at our second stage housing for women impacted by abuse. Please come check out this amazing community event
YOU’RE INVITED! Join us for an important Video Screening & Discussion Panel Event on Sexualized Violence hosted by the SSS Youth Project Series team. This is the 2nd phase of the project, and it’s all about Survival: what to do if you or someone you know has been assaulted, how
Every December 6th, Canadians recognize the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. We will gather in community to light candles and remember the women who were killed in the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre and all other women and girls whose lives were taken by femicide in
We are thrilled to share some exciting updates on IWAV’s Safety, Survival & Solidarity (SSS) Youth Series Project! Since kicking off our Safety project over the summer, we’ve been working with a passionate group of seven Salt Spring Island youths. Together, we’re exploring important conversations around safety and creativity, all
Youths have until August 15th to join the first cycle of video projects. This project aims to engage youths in producing educational videos for their peers on the topics of sexual assault and sexualized violence, how to recognize it, how to respond appropriately, what resources are available and how to
IWAV’s Sexual Assault Support Services (SAS) program has been running for nearly three years! With funding from the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, we have been able to provide support for sexual assault survivors in the form of crisis management, counselling, and navigating the health and legal systems.
We invite you to read our latest newsletter for updates about IWAV’s: PEACE Program for Children and Youths Stopping the Violence Outreach Sexual Assault Services The newsletter includes the exciting news about the “Grow For It” Seed packets for Mothers Day.
Looking for a thoughtful gift for Mother’s Day that also supports your community? Grow For It Seeds is offering Mother’s Day Seed Packs! The seed packages includes 5 seed varieties (tomato, lettuce, celery, peas and radish) — all grown locally using organic practices in IWAV’s garden program. Add a personalized message to be included in
IWAV will be vending at the annual Salt Spring Seedy Saturday at the Farmers’ Institute on 351 Rainbow Rd on February 17th from 10am-3pm. We’ll be selling our Grow For It Seeds, which help support our on-site gardening program at our second stage housing for women impacted by abuse. Please
We invite you to read our latest newsletter for updates about the Cedars Garden program and the September fundraiser for the Cedars Garden fundraiser on Tuesday, September 12. For this fundraiser, we’ll be hosting a Farm to Table supper featuring produce from The Cedars Garden Project. Click here to
Gardeners, did you know that IWAV now sells seeds? Our “Grow For It” program produces seeds for sale to provide funding for food security projects for our residents in our second-stage housing. If you’re dreaming about a gardening project this year, be sure to check out our seeds at the
IWAV is excited to announce the launch of our new social enterprise: Grow For It Seeds! Grow For It is a food gardening project that brings the resident community of our second-stage housing together to participate and learn all aspects of growing food and seed saving. The proceeds from the
To help us better serve our community, we would like to hear your questions! For the next two weeks, Islanders Working Against Violence is inviting community members to ask questions about navigating IWAV’s services for sexual assault (SA), intimate partner violence (IPV), and gender-based violence (GBV). We want to hear
For the second year in a row, IWAV and The Circle co-hosted the Memorial Ceremony for National Day of Remembrance and Action on Women against Violence via a Facebook Livestream. We were not able to gather in community this year to light candles and remember the women who were killed
Sexual assault affects a person in many ways. It can be disorienting, confusing, and frightening trying to get the assistance the survivor most needs. Even trying to get the most basic help can make someone feel vulnerable and afraid. And for some survivors, they stop seeking support then and there.
IWAV is grateful to everyone who participated in the Charcuterie Picnic Fundraiser on September 10 this year. Haidee Hart of Woodshed Provisions and Francis Bread created beautiful and delicious boxes for IWAV. We were able to share these with over 45 households, and these were lovingly delivered by IWAV board
We are pleased with our new location at #20 – 132 Corbett Road at Croftonbrook. Our program office is a welcome and safe space for our anti-violence programs – outreach, counselling and sexual assault services. Our management team is also working in this office. The main phone number is 250-537-1867,
This year, by popular demand, we’re offering our successful charcuterie picnic again. Amazing charcuterie boxes for two, created by Chef Haidee Hart with bread by Francis Bread, can be shared together in small groups to create the feeling of togetherness of a farm to table meal. Our board members and
IWAV is pleased to announce that we have begun construction of the new housing at Croftonbrook. This will be a 34-unit apartment building that will provide housing for people who have a low to moderate income. The mix of suites (studio to 3 bedrooms) will allow for different options for
This year, IWAV and The Circle hosted our annual vigil on a Facebook Livestream. We were not able to gather in community this year to light candles and remember the women who were killed in the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre. In addition, IWAV and the Circle members read the names of the women
It is with great celebration that we announce that our new building at Croftonbrook is ready!! We have tenants moving in to our new 22-unit apartment building for seniors and people with disabilities. This is a project that we began planning for in the spring of 2016. Our team of
Islanders Working Against Violence (IWAV) created a unique fundraiser this year that was both fun and respectful of current social restrictions. In the past 4 years, we have hosted our successful farm to table dinner fundraiser, 10,000 for Change. This year, our fundraising team considered options that could bring people