Inspirations Studio Will Move to St Stephen's Community House

Sistering and Friends of Inspirations Studio are pleased to announce that Inspirations Studio has moved to St. Stephen’s Community House (SSCH). SSCH will mentor and trustee the studio as it continues working towards the goal of finding a new partner agency. This move will ensure that the studio remains open and continues supporting vulnerable women in the community.

Supported by Sistering since 2001, Inspirations Studio is a ceramics-based program for women who have been impacted by poverty, trauma, homelessness, mental and physical health and/or addiction issues. The studio’s core mission is to facilitate improvements in members’ lives through the making and selling of pottery. Through learning skills and creative practice, women gain a sense of self-confidence and stability, a connection with community, supplemental income, and a new way to engage with the world, as makers. The studio and storefront will continue to be located at 2480 Dundas Street West in Toronto’s Junction area.

This transition will also allow Sistering to focus on its core mandate of providing 24-hour drop-in services, including shelter, hot meals and crisis intervention year-round to thousands of women each year. Sistering serves more than 155,000 meals at both the 24/7 Bloor drop-in and Parkdale Outreach. They’ve made more than 650 housing referrals on behalf of drop-in participants and roughly 6,000 referrals to navigate health, social services and legal and immigration systems.

St. Stephen’s Community House is a multi-service charity and United Way Greater Toronto agency in Toronto providing services to 25,000 people a year, including homeless prevention services as well. As part of its mission, St. Stephen’s has also been trusteeing and mentoring many unincorporated grass-roots initiatives to increase leadership and impact in the community, outside of its own services.

Contacts

Sistering: Patricia O’Connell: 416-926 9762 x 226 / poconnell@sistering.org

St. Stephen's’ Community House: Linda Ho: 416-925-2103 x 2241 / hlinda@sschto.ca

Inspirations Studio: Gudrun Olafsdottir: 416-526-5324 / friendsofinspirations@gmail.com