Ahead of International Women's Day, March 8, we spoke with two women who are lifting others up: Catherine Leach, executive director of the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society (SCCSS) and Miyuki Shinkai, the president of the Sunshine Coast Labour Council (SCLC).
Catherine Leach
For Leach, International Women’s Day is a part of ongoing conversations and action as the SCCSS is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
And it’s moving ahead with a new addition: Around 92 per cent of the equity needed for the society’s Building Together project will provide 34 affordable housing units to women and children and space for programming. The project is almost shovel ready and, once shovels are in, it will take 18 months to build, Leach said. The new development is part of the society’s programming to support women and women with children who have experienced violence or are at risk. The SCCSS also hosts the Transition House and Thyme Second Stage housing to support vulnerable women.
“This project actually provides the final pathways out of homelessness for women who have experienced violence,” Leach said. “It’s long-term stable, affordable housing for women in our community, and that will include women with children, it will include seniors, it will include youth aging out of care, it will include women with different abilities — it will be quite a community with a pretty holistic response for women from a variety of life’s situations.”
It’s the first time the Coast will have a continuum of such support, Leach said. Housing, she added, is critical for helping women and their families who are living in poverty. “It’s really a win on a number of different levels.”
When asked how she’ll be spending International Women’s Day, Leach said she marks it as a reflection point. Usually, she has a conversation with her daughter and eventually will bring her new granddaughter into the conversation too.
“For me, personally, I’m always thinking there’s so much more to do. But it’s a good reminder to me to look back and talk with women who have come before, to remember that we have come a long way. We have achieved a lot,” Leach said.
While it can be a moment to celebrate, she also uses International Women’s Day as a reminder of the struggles many women still face today: pay isn’t equitable across genders, every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner, and there are not equitable numbers of women in leadership, whether that’s in business or government, she said, with a nod to upcoming elections. Leadership positions are particularly important because that’s where decisions are made. “We need to pay attention to that and not get complacent,” Leach said, “particularly for women who have a fair amount of privilege.”
Leach takes time to consider what life is like for women who have had different experiences than her own, and what role she can play to provide space, support and access to resources.
“I’m so lucky to work in a field where I can actually try and make change that can be systemic and long-term, that can be just in the moment,” she said. “Community Services’ work was founded by women, it is focused on women and families, and we have an opportunity to make change and to really invite the community in with us to make that change.”
Miyuki Shinkai
Shinkai is going into her fourth year as president of SCLC. She is a mother of three who works as an educational assistant at Langdale Elementary School, often working with children with learning disabilities or behaviour issues. In both roles, she finds herself balancing diverse needs and learning every day.
For Shinkai, International Women’s Day is multigenerational. She’s seen the challenges young people, including her own children, face when it comes to finding housing and work — the freedom to choose what their lives look like. When she was growing up in Japan, Shinkai saw how her community thrived by succession planning and involving younger generations with a focus on making life better for everyone.
At the SCLC, Shinkai gets calls at two levels: the day-to-day challenges and the big-picture issues such as housing. For both, Shinkai makes sure she builds trust with the members. Many times, when people seek her out for answers, Shinkai said, “They know the answer inside.” She says being a good supporter comes from being a good listener.
As a racialized woman and an immigrant, Shinkai said she appreciates the opportunity labour council members have given her to be the SCLC’s president. In her role, she’s been able to learn from the Canadian Labour Congress, as well as elders and long-time union activists. “That’s been fuel for me to do better things for the future,” she said.
And Shinkai is extending the invite to SCLC’s annual International Women’s Day potluck on March 8. The Multigenerational Community Potluck Dinner and Celebration is at the Roberts Creek Community Hall from 5 to 8 p.m. and will feature speakers, cultural performances, informational community booths and food.
The event is open to all who are interested. Organizers ask participants to bring their own dishes and cutlery to useand then take home to make the event more sustainable environmentally and for volunteers. “Women always do free labour, like folding laundry and dishes,” Shinkai said, and it’s important to her that the events are joyful for volunteers to participate.
The theme of this year’s potluck is “Women’s fight for a better future.” One of the speakers will talk about stopping gender violence in the workplace. For Shinkai, it’s important to make workplaces safer and happier for women. “It’s about trying to connect with working women’s voices” and reflect them in the community.
Many of the labour council’s members are women who work in public sectors, in education, services and trades and make our community sustainable. But, like many people on the Coast, women are facing affordability and housing issues, especially those who are single mothers. Shinkai hopes to bring their voices to the public on a larger scale, to advocate for women’s work to be recognized, including on a financial level. She noted that many working women are also raising the next generation — a task that largely goes without thanks.
“It’s a personal thing,” Shinkai said of her efforts to help women and youth in her community. “When people talk about ‘The world is falling apart,’ I don’t think so. The kids I’ve seen have resiliency and innovation. They’re very smart from having more information than we used to have… I just make space for them to speak out or connect with elders or community members so they’ll be supported. That’s my work.”
