Rebuilding Lives in York Region

Mission Statement

Yellow Brick House is mandated to provide services in York Region to women and children who have experienced violence and abuse.

Mandate

Yellow Brick House will:

• provide emergency, crisis and short term supportive counselling in individual and group format, information, referral services, advocacy, and practical assistance to women and children;
• provide secure emergency shelter and transitional housing to women and children;
• promote the establishment and maintenance of a respectful, welcoming, nonviolent environment at all its facilities it owns or leases;
• organize, participate in, and support community events and public education initiatives designed to increase individual and community awareness of issues relating to violence against women and children;
• promote and contribute to social change initiatives designed to achieve equality for all persons and contribute to the eradication of violence against women and children.

Philosophy

For generations, women have experienced personal, social, and institutional abuse, discrimination, and oppression. Women often receive less education, have less access to information, earn less money and have less input into government and governance structures. Women are disadvantaged as a group and disempowered individually. This is a result of a male dominant world view, a system of beliefs or practices that explicitly or implicitly asserts that men are superior to women. This world view promotes a pattern of male aggression and female submission. The personal and social context of each woman’s life will influence, if not determine, the particular barriers and disadvantages she faces throughout her life.

Violence and abuse against women and children reflects and reinforces the power imbalance between men and women. It is an expression of women’s disadvantaged status, and a coercive tool used to maintain a circumstance of male dominance and control.

Violence and abuse serves to control women and protect male power, as evidenced by the fact that the overwhelming majority of victims are women while offenders and perpetrators are most often, though not exclusively, men.

Yellow Brick House is committed to challenging and eradicating the beliefs, values, systems and structures which support and perpetuate sexism and violence against women. To this end, the organization, its Board of Directors, employees, and service volunteers shall:

• promote and respect diversity, equity, and inclusivity
• demonstrate respect for the abilities, opinions, and needs of women and children
• demonstrate an overarching commitment to confidentiality and safety in relation to the women and children we serve
• bring integrity and compassion to all that we do