Following the closure of the Elizabeth Fry Society Southern Ontario Region site, formerly the Hamilton Branch, on March 31st, 2023, YWCA Hamilton initiated work to address this gap in service to support women-identified and non-binary people who have histories of criminalization and/or who are in conflict with the justice system.  

Undergraduate students, Latasia Anderson Blackford, Thifani Rajhkumar, and  Elizabeth Puersten are part of the Experience Ventre placement working on the project led by Violetta Nikolskaya, Director of Inclusion and Engagement, YWCA Hamilton. They aim to complete an environmental scan on existing justice services for women and gender-diverse folks and women-led households in the Greater Hamilton and Toronto Area (GTHA). Through the environmental scan, they aim to identify promising support models for women, women-led households, and gender-diverse folks who conflict with the law.