Funding Awarded for 14 Community Violence Prevention Initiatives

January 15, 2025

The Honourable Pam Parsons, Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality, today announced $523,165 in funding for 14 projects through the Provincial Government’s new Community Violence Prevention Program.

Funding for the program is made possible through a $13.6 million, four-year bilateral agreement with Women and Gender Equality Canada under the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence.

The program’s objectives support targeted and community-driven efforts, led by community partners within Newfoundland and Labrador, to address the complex root causes of gender-based violence, violence against women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, particularly those living in rural areas, and to help reduce underlying risk factors that lead to harm and victimization.

Proposals for funding were considered based on the following criteria:

• Supporting survivors, their families, and their communities.
• Engaging men and boys in gender-based violence prevention.
• Ending the normalization of violence within communities.
• Addressing stigma against gender-based violence.
• Promoting healing and mental well-being of those impacted by gender-based violence.
• Building community support networks, particularly at the regional and municipal levels.

Details on the 14 projects can be found in the backgrounder below.

Quotes

“By supporting community-led initiatives that address the root causes of violence, we are effecting lasting change. We are committed to working with community leaders and organizations to ensure that the grants under this new program make a meaningful impact in the lives of individuals and families affected by gender-based violence.”
Honourable Pam Parsons

Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality

“Women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQI+ individuals in rural and remote areas face greater risks of gender-based violence. That’s why the funding announced today is so important – it’s going directly to community organizations at the heart of real, systemic change. These organizations are lifelines, making an incredible difference for those who need it most. Through the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence, the Government of Canada is investing in life-saving projects that will help build safer, stronger communities across Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable Marci Ien
Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

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Financement accordé à 14 initiatives communautaires de prévention de la violence 

Learn more
Community Violence Prevention Grants Program

Office of Women and Gender Equality

National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence

BACKGROUNDER

Canadian Mental Health Association NL
In partnership with the Lonely Man Project and the Nunatsiavut Government, this funding will help address the link between men’s mental health and gender-based violence, through an inclusive and culturally sensitive approach. Targeting community leaders, activists, elders, influencers, as well as individuals at high-risk for domestic violence, this initiative will foster conversations around the role of men in violence prevention, while participating in winter activities like dogsledding, ice fishing, and snowshoeing. Events will be held in each of the province’s four regions – Eastern, Western, Central and Labrador.
Grant Awarded: $48,530

YWCA St. John’s
In partnership with the Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador and End Sexual Violence NL, this funding will be used to enhance community programming for intersectional gender-equality services in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Corner Brook, and Central Newfoundland, through the organization’s Financial Empowerment Program. Financial empowerment helps address the healing and well-being of those impacted by gender-based violence.
Grant Awarded: $50,000

Stella’s Circle
Funding will be used to increase capacity for the Just Us Women’s Centre in St. John’s, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Correction Centre for Women in Clarenville (NLCCW), to meet the unique needs of highly marginalized individuals involved with the criminal justice system. This includes clinical support to women and gender diverse victims and survivors with histories of gender-based violence for individual and group counselling and system navigation at the NLCCW. Of the 200 women accessing services through the Just Us Women’s Centre, 90 per cent have a history of gender-based violence and 70 per cent are mothers.
Grant Awarded: $50,000

Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador
In partnership with Conseil scolaire francophone de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador, the funding will see the implementation of interactive workshops for students in grades five to 12, that will challenge pre-conceived ideas about gender, and create discussion about building and maintaining healthy, stable relationships with family and friends. These workshops will be held in each of the province’s French language schools that are in St. John’s, on the West Coast and in Labrador. The interactive workshops will be adapted to the cultural and linguistic context of the young people, as well as to their age and needs. They are intended to empower participants and prevent and encourage reflection on gender-based violence.
Grant Awarded: $22,409

Empower NL
Designed in partnership with the Women’s Economic Council and the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN), this funding will see a series of five community-driven pop-up events within the Avalon and Eastern regions of the province, that are designed to empower women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals with disabilities, by addressing the root causes of gender-based violence. The events will be guided by Independent Living Canada’s four core pillars of information and networking; peer support; independent living skills development and research and community development.
Grant Awarded: $48,328

Newfoundland Indigenous Peoples Alliance
In partnership with the NorPen Status of Women Council and the Town of Port Saunders, this funding will be used to hire a facilitator to help women requiring transportation, shelter, housing, emergency services and justice services when faced with gender-based violence. Indigenous women experience higher rates of violence especially in rural and remote communities.
Grant Awarded: $50,000

Daybreak Parent Child Centre
Funding to this organization will be used to develop a parent group to be titled Growing Up … as Parents: Dads Helping Dads which focuses on engaging men and boys in gender-based violence prevention, will also include a mentoring component, and help build community support networks with other community-based agencies. Planned activities include program planning and implementation, material development and mentoring.
Grant Awarded: $50,000

Sandwich Bay 50-Plus Club
This Indigenous-led organization of seniors will use the funding to facilitate healing and well-being workshops, as well as training, including suicide intervention training for people who work with seniors and youth, to address the stigma associated with bullying, harassment, and gender-based violence. They are supported by Labrador Grenfell Health (NL Health Services), the Nunatukavut Community Council, Community Youth Network and Violence Prevention Labrador.
Grant Awarded: $3,853

First Light
This funding will benefit cultural, and justice supports programs in urban settings, connecting Indigenous People with elders and cultural skills and experiences, enhancing violence prevention through an indigenous-led approach. Supports are provided weekly at the His Majesty’s Penitentiary in St. John’s, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Correctional Centre for Women in Clarenville.
Grant Awarded: $49,775

Seniors NL
In partnership with the Public Legal Information Association of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Journey Project, this funding will strengthen the NL Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and encourage involvement from municipalities, businesses, government agencies and community groups. Rural and remote communities will receive training on how to recognize and report violence, and how to best support victims and their families in promoting healing and well-being.
Grant Awarded: $50,000

THRIVE / Blue Door Peer Support
Blue Door supports approximately 30 individuals who have experienced sexual exploitation and or human trafficking, including gender-based violence. In partnership with Lifewise, funding will be used to increase support hours and access to the Blue Door program.
Grant Awarded: $8,470

Violence Prevention East
In partnership with NL Schools, NL Health Services and the Department of Justice and Public Safety, funding will be used to develop school agenda books for students in the Eastern region (Clarenville and area) in grades seven to 12. These books will include critical information gender-based violence, including sexual violence laws, consent, the sharing of intimate images, healthy relationships, gender identity, bystander intervention, bullying and mental health.
Grant Awarded: $16,250

Violence Prevention Avalon East

Bystander awareness and intervention is a growing subject area in the violence prevention sector. Funding will be used in rural areas of the province to implement educational tools and resources to address the stigma surrounding intimate partner violence. Funding will also be used to continue the Bystander Awareness Initiative, a program which positively promotes community connections for individuals experiencing intimate partner violence.
Grant Awarded: $25,550

Multicultural Women’s Organization of Newfoundland and Labrador
In partnership with the City of St. John’s, the City of Corner Brook, the Town of Gander, women’s centres, and the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, funding will be used to offer programs to raise awareness for newcomer men and boys regarding violence prevention, addressing the positive roles they can play as fathers, role models, and influencers within their families and communities.
Grant Awarded: $50,000
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