Meet the Team
Our
Story
Jane LaVacca
Jane LaVacca is the Executive Director of Westview Centre 4 Women with 30 plus years helping the marginalized with issues of homelessness, low income, addiction, mental health, and those struggling in the sex trade. Specializing in fundraising, and providing support where services have gaps, or are not available. For the last 22 years Jane has focused on Women and Children in the Niagara Region area.
By having this focus, Jane has been able to expand the Westview Centre 4 Women program to offer a community of services, supporting those struggling in the Queenston Street and surrounding neighborhood. Over the years, Jane’s strengths at Westview Centre 4 Women has garnered some recognition for her dedicated work raising community funds. Jane may spend her days at Westview Centre 4 Women often in her office, but it’s the heart she has for Women that gets her up in the morning.
A strong aspect of Jane’s life is her work as a minister in the community. Jane does hospital and jail visitation, weddings, funerals, baptisms and supports other various pastoral needs wherever possible. She strongly believes that your source of income should not be a barrier in these areas.
Grazia Sheppard
Grazia Sheppard is the Program Director at Westview Centre 4 Women working closely with women individually and as a group to bring solutions to legitimate and perceived barriers that hinder women from progressing in a positive direction.
Grazia believes that every woman has what it takes to succeed and she sees herself as a channel to which women can access to become successful.
She works at supporting women through various situations that seem insurmountable to the client through providing her expertise or by advocating for the client to receive the best possible outcome. A strong part of Grazia’s personality is her ability to make everyone in the room feel important while still maintaining a group atmosphere.