Our method for assisting recovery post domestic abuse, is through high impact action. The goal of ending the cycle of abuse for the women and their children is at the heart of each of these signature GEMS initiatives.

THRIVE:

This program is highly customizable and ranges from one or all four of these categories being covered by registered, skilled professionals in each discipline.

1. Self Defence

2. Financial Literacy

3. Psychological Coping Skills

4. Resilience

The reviews are phenomenal with over 90% of participants reporting an increase in:

1. Belief in themselves

2. Hope for the future

3. Confidence that they will make it.

4. Confidence in their ability to work with professionals to create a safe future free of abuse.

Please click here to learn more.

Hope’s Cradle

Traditionally looked upon as a last resort, Hope’s Cradle is a new take on a resource that has been around since before the war.

Simply put, Hope’s Cradle is a legal infant safe surrender site for mothers to anonymously surrender their baby.

Who typically uses this type of resource:

• Trafficked women and girls

• Women and girls from extremely religious homes where homelessness is likely should the pregnancy be discovered.

• Your average woman or girl who is terrified and doesn’t feel there is any other feasible option for her.

As mentioned above, this has typically been advertised as a last resort, however, with news stories about children being abused by new partners multiplying by the day, Hope’s Cradle is also a place where women may be reunited with their child when safety returns.

Mothers may place their baby anonymously, get the baby away from danger AND within 30 days, contact any of the community partners around Hope’s Cradle and start creating a plan to figure out what is best for themselves, and their baby.

We all need help sometimes. Hope’s Cradle is there to support you and your baby whether that help means new and separate lives for you both, or, reuniting with help one day.

No judgements. We are here for you.

To learn more about our current locations, how to bring a Hope’s Cradle to your community and more, please click here.

The GEMS Tuition Assistance Program

The two predominant reasons women remain with abusers are:

1. The are financially dependant on them/ are needed for survival.

2. They have come to believe the emotional abuse they have endured for so long.

Our Scholarships do more than assist in getting an education. When survivors achieve, they gain confidence and prove the abusive words wrong every step of the way.

Our graduates cross that stage with education that can transform their lives, and, belief in themselves no one can every remove again.

GEMS is willing to consider all educational opportunities provided the likelihood of financial recovery and employment are highly plausable.

To learn more about this opportunity please click here.

The Gems for Gems Ambassador Program:

This team is comprised of 180 men, women and youth primarily located in Alberta but also represented throughout Canada.

(Check out our team here)

Their role is to be our presence in the community, at our events and to learn the ‘Gems Way’ of conducting ourselves with survivors of abuse.

‘The GEMS Way’

Focusing on the positive future, and on hope. We seek to encourage survivors to focus on what life can be, rather that what it has been.

We convey our belief that they deserve a safe life, free of abuse.

We encourage the survivors to speak to us about goals… dreams and guide them to the help they require by knowing the resources in our community:

• A shelter to help plan a safe exit.

• A psychologist to assist in healing.

• Shelters if they are in need of safely planning their exit from an unsafe location, or if they are in need of a shelter.

• The police should they be in immediate danger.

Healing through Healing

The most beautiful part of this program is that the more our ambassadors, who are 95% survivors themselves, help others focus on a bright future, they are inspired to pursue it for themselves too.

Healing is not linear and healers need healing too…..

This program incorperates ongoing healing for all involved.

To learn more about our Ambassador Program please click here and check out ‘Beyond the Intiatives ‘on this page!

Jewellery Drive:

The initiative that started it all, The Gems for Gems Jewellery Drive!

(Our Founding Story)

We collect gently used jewelry from women in the public, clean, package and gift to women in shelters across Canada on Christmas morning!

To date, we have done over 30,000 gift packages due to the extreme generosity of the women of Canada.

To learn how you can get involved, please click here!

Collaborative Events:

Throughout the year there are several events that GEMS either co-hosts or is chosen as the ‘Charity of Choice ‘ for.

These events involve Gems collaborating with an organization or individual who is hosting an event in the city and would like to support GEMS while doing so!

We LOVE this and are always so grateful for the support and the awareness raising!

If you have an event and would like to support GEMS, please reach out and we can discuss through the contact form at the bottom of the page!

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.