Our Goal

Women Moving Forward is a poverty reduction initiative that began in 2005, led by the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre, in collaboration with Delta Family Resource Centre, Black Creek Community Health Centre and seven other community partners.  It set out the goal to design a replicable program model that would reduce the poverty rate among one of Canada’s fastest growing, impoverished populations: female-led sole support families.

Our Vision

To create a world where all single mothers have the financial means to follow their dreams.

Our Mission

To increase opportunities for single mothers to attain socio-economic independence and to pursue their goals through education and/or training.

Our Symbol

Change and the beauty of transformation inform the philosophy of WMF. To capture the spirit of change, WMF uses the butterfly.   Mirroring the butterfly's life cycle, the women in the program go through dramatic life changes as they enter their own chrysalis stage, and emerge as soaring butterflies. 

Embracing the image of the butterfly, each group that begins WMF participates in a group naming ceremony.  After researching different species of butterflies, the group chooses one that best represents both characteristics they possess and the journey they are about to embark on.   As each group moves through the program, their butterfly name gives them a collective identity that celebrates each woman's unique contributions.

On a much larger scale, the butterfly effect symbolizes the community and societal benefits of the program.  Just as a butterfly can affect great change across the globe with a single flap of her wing, so too can each graduate of WMF affect great change.  Not only do women change their lives, but they change the lives of their children, breaking the generational cycle of poverty.  Through their work in the community, at school and in the work place, women are contributing their skills, talents and experiences to the world, working to strengthen and improve the lives of those around them.  As more and more women graduate from the program, poverty among sole-support families and children will be reduced.

Our Principles

WMF is an initiative of the Jane/Finch Community & Family Centre. As such, we share the same values, which include:

Strengthening Capacity
We are committed to the development of our community, staff, volunteers and students through the use and creation of programs, services and supports that build on existing skills and strengths.

Participant Centered
We will continue to provide high quality programs and services that respond to the priorities and needs identified by the participants that we serve.

Collaboration
We recognize the strengths and knowledge of our community members and agencies and we encourage broad stakeholder involvement in identifying opportunities to enhance the way we respond to our community.

Diversity
We appreciate and value differences in all aspects of program and service delivery and organizational practices. By continually demonstrating our commitment to diversity, we enrich ourselves and the lives of those we are committed to serving.

Respect
We are a caring organization that reflects and appreciates the dignity, abilities, beliefs, values, opinions and expressed needs of our community and each other, in all that we do.

Advocacy
We strive for the fair and equitable treatment of the people in our community, our staff and our volunteers.