OUR ROOTS
A coordinated community response to violence against women and girls in Lunenburg County.
The origins of Be the Peace Institute lie with Second Story Women's Centre, a women's resource centre serving Lunenburg and Queens Counties, Nova Scotia for over 30 years. With a 3-year grant from then Status of Women Canada, Second Story began a project to develop a coordinated response to gender-based violence and the Be the Peace Project was born.
Through 12 community working groups, the project focused on:
Promoting gender equity, peaceful relationships, compassion and inclusion
Fostering integrated services and infrastructure for vulnerable people
Gathering both women and men, as allies in preventing gender-based violence
Hosting community conversations to raise awareness
Working with youth and schools to promote healthy relationships
Supporting women affected by violence and engaging them in advocating for change
Working with police and the justice system to promote trauma-informed responses
Using part of the name that had become well-known in our community, Be the Peace Institute was conceived by the 3 coordinators of the project, Sue Bookchin, Nancy Ross and Helen Lanthier and launched in late 2015.
We continue to work closely with Second Story Women's Centre as a sister organization, as well as with many other community partners.
FOR MORE on the Be the Peace Project, see the tabs below:
