NICAFV Needs Assessment on new and existing shelters & transition houses across Canada
Hi there!
My name is Katrin Sawatzky and I am a settler woman, residing on Treaty 3 territory. As a Capacity Building and Indigenous Social Housing specialist, I partner with Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada to support their visions in areas of community planning, housing, capacity building / training, funding procurement, research and policy development. This is something I have had the great honour of doing for over 10 years now! Relationships are at the heart of my practice – my approach honors Indigenous methodologies built on ceremony and meaningful consultation.
Having recently returned to work from maternity leave, it is my great pleasure to be working with the National Indigenous Circle Against Family Violence to complete an in-depth and comprehensive Needs Assessment on new and existing shelters/transition houses across Canada. By spring 2025, a detailed assessment report will be produced to allow NICAFV to identify and address the needs of new and existing Shelter/Transition House across Canada in order to meet your needs more precisely and effectively. Recommendations and an action plan to address the needs will be produced and disseminated.
I am working in partnership with NICAFV and the Students Commission of Canada to prepare this study, and we would love to hear from you! From August – October of this year, we will be collecting data via interviews, focus groups and surveys. Your contribution to this important study means so much – it will allow us to better understand the opportunities, strengths, challenges and gaps that you may be experiencing in your Shelter/Transitional Home. We will ultimately put data and statistics to your lived experiences, allowing for a powerful lobbying tool to be used by NICAFV to receive more robust funding support from our government.
Wishing you a heartfelt thanks in advance for your time and input, and I look forward to connecting with you later this summer/fall!
Katrin
