This Mother's Day, consider making a donation to Second Story Women's Centre in your Mother's name. For example, a donation of $50 to SSWC pays for one counselling session for a woman / gender-oppressed person on the South Shore.

If you would like to donate less than $50, that's cool too - others will do the same and every bit helps! We'd like to raise enough money to pay for 20 counselling sessions for women and gender-oppressed people by Mother's Day, May 9. Go to secondstory.ca/mom to donate and download a printable card to send or email your mother to let her know that someone will be receiving a counselling session from SSWC in her name!

We were thrilled to nominate Linda Wentzell, one of our many wonderful volunteers to receive recognition from the Town of Lunenburg during National Volunteer Week! We want to say a big thank you to everyone who supports Second Story by volunteering their time and expertise. It takes a village!

Second Story Women's Centre staff are working from home as of April 26, 2021 until further notice due to the current spike in Covid cases. Previously scheduled one-on-one counselling appointments will be held over the phone or Zoom. The weekly Stepping Out walking group will not be held while staff work from home. Staff have access to email and their voicemail during this time, but if you have any questions or are having difficulty reaching a staff member, please let us know at [email protected].

SSWC staff hope to be back in the Centre as soon as possible. Stay safe everyone!

We have come to the end of our six-month series of weekly raffle draws! We want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us by buying tickets and to those who donated prizes, including:

• A&K Scallops
• Lexicon Books and Block Shop Books
• Anne Weeks
• Marla Benton
• Foodland Lunenburg
• Ironworks Distillery
• Kinley Drug
• Melissa Morrison Jewellery
• Sand Dollar Silver
• Seaweed Soap
• Dolly Hancock
• Sue Newhook
• Rope Loft
• SENSEA Nordic Spa
• Yoga with Vineet
• Golden Nugget
• Jo-Ann's Deli Market
• Annika Junger
• Kiwi Café
• Mecklenburg Inn
• Tea Brewery
• Helping Nature Heal
• Fern Jordan
• Pleasant Paddling Sea Kayak Tours
• Lincoln Street Food
• Merrill Heubach
• Frans Aeyelts
• Mom's Buy and Sell
• Susan Hudson
• Sally Hutchinson
• Nourished Magnesium
• Superstore Bridgewater
• Kent Bridgewater

And thank you to The Barn, Fancy Pants Cafe, Circle K Lunenburg and Chester Pharmasave for helping us sell tickets!

Second Story Women's Centre believes survivors and is a safe space for women and gender-oppressed people who have experienced sexual assault. We want survivors to know: what happened to you was not your fault and we stand with you.

The goal of Sexual Assault Awareness month is to create awareness around the prevalence of sexual assault and what we can do to end it. Throughout the month of April, we will be sharing resources and statistics here on our blog and on our social media accounts, as well as attempting to give survivors their voices back where we can, in order to allow their experiences to be heard and better understood. 

A great resource is the We Believe You: A Colouring Book for Survivors and Supporters from BreaktheSilence NS. There is also a colouring book for Mi'kmaq SA Survivors and their supporters called 'Healing with the Seven Sacred Teachings.' Download and print them at the links, or come into the Centre and grab a free printed copy for yourself or the Sexual Assault Survivor in your life. We would LOVE to see some of your finished colouring masterpieces, please feel free to bring them into the Centre in April to be added to our display at the Centre!

While you're here, be sure to grab a free Sexual Assault Awareness Month pin to show your support for survivors! Thanks to the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women for providing them.

Did you know that 2021 is the 20th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness month? For a quick look back at the history of #SAAM, click here!