About Westview Centre 4 Women
A Place We Call Our Own
Our Story
Westview Centre 4 Women (WC4W), is a place that we call our own. The Centre fosters a non-judgmental environment that accepts women exactly the way they are, it is a space to meet friends from the past and new friends for the future.
WC4W creates an environment of understanding, friendship and compassion. Women who walk through our doors are invited to be who they are, no expectations attached. Within a community of sisters, women are celebrated and supported in their time of joy, sorrow, or loneliness.
At Westview Centre 4 Women, everyone is treated with dignity and respect and is appreciated as an equal. Run largely by women from the community, the Centre demonstrates that every individual has something to offer. Whether it is helping in the kitchen, sorting clothes, being a resource of knowledge or a shoulder to cry on, each woman enriches the community. Without the input and help of its members, WC4W would not be the family that it is today.
Vision
Westview Centre 4 Women is a weekly Resource Centre, where women of all walks of life are welcomed into a safe, open, and affirming environment. We accept each other just the way we are and are encouraged to be ourselves.
Mission
Westview Centre 4 Women core belief is that everyone who identifies themselves as a woman deserves a safe, welcoming and dignified environment where they feel accepted and encouraged in who they are. Every woman has been given all that it takes to create a life of value and meaning.
History
Westview Centre 4 Women was established in 2007 under the name, Women4Women. Fulfilling the vision of Erika Klassen, the group was formed out of a desire to meet the needs of the community.
Right from the start a clear mandate was set: every woman was equal and every woman was encouraged to be herself, no strings attached. The goal was to love and to build community, and as such, there was no pressure to become something you were not. New programs were established and by 2011, the group had grown beyond Thursday mornings and a second program was started: Survival4Women. Jane LaVacca, who first came to Women4Women as a volunteer, began to take leadership of Survival4Women and began running a weekly Sharing Circle, as a way to further develop the relationships they had begun. Workshops, guest speakers, and activities became more frequent and the demand from the community grew stronger: one day a week, became three days a week. By 2013 Women4Women and Survival4Women had grown beyond expectations and the need to merge the two groups became evident.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Westview Centre 4 Women found that the pandemic tripled the amount of women in need within the community. Due to the dramatic rise of women in need, in the beginning of 2024 a decision was made to look for a larger facility to be able to accommodate to growing need, and in March 2024 Westview Centre 4 Women moved to 17 Gale Crescent. This location is able to provide double the space of our last location, while still keeping us within the Queenston Neibourhood, right across from the new Niagara Region Mobile Shelter.
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