Ongoing  Projects

It’s NOT your fault Cards

It’s Not Your Fault-Sexual Assault is a Crime is a service project that was designed by our club to relieve the shame and guilt felt by sexual assault victims and encourage them to get immediate help.

It is a double-sided business card giving clear concise instructions where and how victims can find help in our community. The cards are physically distributed by our partners in their places of business. We seek new partners monthly.

Our club provides the cards (and plastic card holders) free of charge to our partners. Club members deliver the cards and holder to our partners and we resupply the cards as needed.

The victim assistance phone number on the card is specific to our community.  The Emergency Room hospitals listed are local and trained to handle sexual assault patients. The card suggests that victims request a Certified Sexual Assault Nurse (SANE) to conduct the examination to preserve evidence for prosecution purposes. The card also suggests that victims call a friend or counseling service for support. 

Birthing Kits

What is in a birthing kit?

  • Plastic – 1 m x 1 m or 36″ x 36″ 
  • Soap
  • Gloves, 2 per kit
  • 3 pieces of umbilical cord tie, or 2 clamps
  • Razor blades
  • Gauze – 5 small squares

The contents are intended to promote hygiene in childbirth and thus prevent the most common causes of related infections. They contain items for the birth itself (e.g. plastic sheeting, soap & disposable gloves), for the baby (clamps and a blade to attend to the umbilical cord) and to prevent common post-natal infections (e.g. gauze to clean the baby’s eyes)

Did you know these facts?

  • 120 million women give birth every year.
  • 86% deliver in developing countries.
  • 60 million of these are women don’t have the assistance of a traditional birth attendant or no assistance at all.
  • Half a million women die annually in childbirth, many from infection, tetanus and other complications.
  • For every woman who dies in childbirth, around another 30 women (15 million) incur injuries and infections, many of which are disabling, embarrassing and lifelong.

 Our club has assembled more than 2000 kits to date.

Passage House Shelter

Passage House Shelter is a fifteen-bed domestic violence shelter, serving Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda and Western Niagara County, It provides free emergency shelter in a confidential location to individuals who are victims of domestic violence and their children. The shelter is staffed 24/7 and someone is available to respond to the needs of victims of domestic violence and their children any time of the day or night.

The Passage Program provides crisis intervention and counseling services to victims of domestic violence and their children in a safe, secure, comfortable, home-like setting, so that the healing process can begin.

Our club supports Passage House Shelter in numerous ways. We collect items at our monthly meetings such as personal care items, household items and gift cards to name a few.  We also provide a monetary donation of $500.00 per year to help with the cost of this important service to women escaping domestic violence in our community.  We have provided support to the shelter since it was first implemented (we have members that assisted with the painting of the shelter when it first opened!)

In 2015 our club was recognized by Family and Children’s Service of Niagara and awarded the “Passage House Donor Award”.

Lighthouse Women and Children Center

Lighthouse Women & Children Center is  ministry in the City of Niagara Falls. They  reach out to our community by providing food, clothing, toiletries.  Each month they host The Rose Cafe for women,  Kidz Club for children, and  The Lighthouse Cafe (a coffeehouse for the general community). Lighthouse Women & Children Center holds outreaches throughout the year according to holidays.

Our club has provided donations in the form of food items for their pantry, volunteered to serve meals, provided hygiene bags, particiapted in many of their service projects and have provide monetary donations based on their needs.

Carolyn’s House

Carolyn’s House is designed to empower residents to transition from homelessness to a dignified, safe future. Most women and children entering Carolyn’s House have experienced trauma including domestic violence and/or sexual assault, financial challenges, substance abuse or incarceration. Supportive housing services at Carolyn’s House (including employment and training, case management, counseling, financial literacy etc.) give women in crisis the time to develop skills and increase their confidence and allow for a safe and successful integration back into the community. Over 500 women and children have found refuge and a path to dignity over the last 15 years at Carolyn’s House. Carolyn’s House was named in memory of Niagara Falls Community Advocate Carolyn Van Schaik who assisted the YWCA in applying for funding for the adaptive reuse of the historic building now housing Carolyn’s House.

Our club continues to make monetary donations and participates regularly in their various service projects.