Visit the South Asian Women’s Centre and try not to fall in love with it and all the work that goes on within the walls. From sewing groups to tax workshops, they’re doing it all, and they’re doing it on a shoestring budget. The amount of service for dollars invested ratio is one of the best in the not-for-profit world. You’ll get no more bang for your buck than with the SAWC.
The world needs more organizations like the South Asian Women’s Centre (SAWC). Local, grassroots, focused on the front lines of service provision. If they have a fault, it’s that they’re too worried about their clients and reaching out to women in need to focus on things like fundraising and self-promotion. That’s why the SAWC needs all of us to pitch in. Since becoming a part of their team, I’ve been overwhelmed with appreciation. Nobody loves its volunteers and supporters like the SAWC.
The South Asian Women’s Centre (SAWC) is about more than helping women in need isolated by linguistic challenges. It’s about more than helping women escape domestic violence and relationships with power dynamics due to immigration status. It’s about community. It’s about saying to South Asian women across the GTA: you’re welcome in Canada and we’ve got your back.
My first step in Toronto’s community was through volunteering at SAWC. They are very welcoming people. They embraced me with love and made me join their team. They treated me as a professional, colleague and a friend. Volunteering at SAWC was a great experience for me to get involved in the social work and helping people from diverse backgrounds. I gained many new skills in this position like how to facilitate groups, how to organize meetings. Volunteering at SAWC helped me to overcome language and cultural differences barriers. This experience encouraged me to continue working in the social field to help others, as I was helped by SAWC to establish my life in Toronto and to merge with the community.