GEMS

Gems was founded under the name 'Gems for Gems' because this incredible journey began with a very simple initiative, our Jewelry Drive...

Women from all walks of life have donated gently used jewelry for the past 10 years. Our team cleans them, packages them in bags of 3-5 items, and then gives these beautiful gifts to women in shelters across Canada!

To date, we have gifted over 26,000 packages thanks to the support from women in the public!

Please click on the Jewelry Drive link at the top of the page to learn more about this beautiful founding initiative!

Too many women remain in abusive relationships because the obstacles they must overcome seem impossible.

Our THRIVE series was created to be able to help women who are either planning on leaving an abusive relationship or those who are already out, the knowledge to make that next step more achievable.

Through our four pillar approach, we teach self defense, financial literacy, psychological coping skills and resilience!

All categories are taught by registered and incredibly dynamic experts in their field which creates such an empowering and uplifting experience for all in the room!

THRIVE can come to you and your group too!

Please click on the THRIVE link at the top of the page to learn more!

So many survivors of abuse do everything in there power

The Gems Scholarship Program provides survivors of domestic abuse with the life altering opportunity of education that no one will ever be able to take away from them.

These scholarships are to trade schools and are achievable in roughly a year

Anonymous safe infant surrender site.

Our Ambassadors are the heartbeat of our organization. They are involved at all levels of GEMS including having a representative at the governance level on our Board of Directors.

They help host events, help develop programs, help generate speakers when needs, help promote events, package/ deliver and collect jewelry etc.

Our organization is growing as are the opportunities for our ambassadors!

There is no fixed job description other than helping when you can, how you can and where you can.

Behind the hope that Hope’s Cradle brings, the uplifting presentations in THRIVE, the excitement of issuing new scholarships, and the bright light the community feels through our ambassadors, there are community members reaching out in desperation who have fallen through the cracks of a very robust, support sector.

Our team is frequently approached because there are no beds available for women and children who are all domestic abuse victims.

Pictures of broken faces, and bodies, are sent in through social media, as a desperate plea for help. In most cases, shelters have already been approached and they have been turned away.

The most frequent reason for a woman being turned away is suspicion of drug/ alcohol usage. We have however been successful 100% of the time in finding them a bed.

How? Because the victims attempt to call all the shelters continuously until someone has space. They often can’t or they face being discovered by their abuser. So we do. Sometimes it takes days, and sometimes only hours, but we have been successful every time.

We are approached by others who have left the shelters, whose children needed help, and we find psychologists and social workers who can help.

Our male ambassadors have all written letters of hope and courage to a little boy who attempted suicide as a result of the courts continually forcing him to stay with his abusive father. That little boy keeps those letters and told his Mom he reads them every time he's sad.

Our team has spent days transcribing a woman’s abuse testimony because she was so traumatized all she was able to do was speak the words.

We have also looked after women’s children as they spent the day preparing to leave their abuser.

Most recently, we have expanded our services to supporting victims in court, holding their hands while they face their abuser in the foreign and intimidating environment of the court house.