Women’s Wellness is open to all women –  trans and cis – and nonbinary people who want to participate in programming that centers women’s experience who live in 30 or 35 Charles Street, University Family Housing. 

Take time out of your busy schedule just for you! Enjoy a breakfast and a weekly interactive session with on-site childminding provided. Raffle prizes each week! The Women’s Wellness series is an opportunity to pause and pay attention to your physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing.

The 2023 series weekly interactive sessions will be:

• Thursday February 16 Connecting with Others and Ourselves
• Thursday February 23 Find Your Slow: A Gentle Writing Workshop
• Thursday March 2 Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence
• Thursday March 9 Boundaries, Nervous Systems and Communication 101

To register, please email family.care@utoronto.ca and include the sessions you are registering for, your name, U of T status (or status of your partner), and the names and ages of your children if you require free childminding.

Organized by the Family Care Office, in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre, University Family Housing, and the Community Safety Office.

Boundaries, Nervous Systems and Communication 101

Date: Thursday, March 9
Time: Breakfast begins at 9:30, childminding drop-off at 9:45 am and the workshop will run from 10 am – 11:30 am
Location: Activity room at 30 Charles Street West

While stress is a regular part of our lives, being overwhelmed can get in the way of us understanding our needs and boundaries. This workshop will provide frameworks to understand one’s needs and to better equip participants in learning how to express them.

This workshop with be an introduction into:

• stress and our nervous system
• what our nervous systems tells us about our boundaries
• communicating our needs
• learning grounding techniques

Facilitator:

Ninotchka (she/her) is a registered social worker providing therapy in private practice in Toronto. With a B.Ed and a MSW, she believes in the power of social change through education, when growth, development, justice and wellbeing are nurtured intentionally with skill, integrity and support. She has focused her work on supporting people who have experienced marginalization and harm through systemic barriers and oppression. Combining her clinical and educational skills, Ninotchka aims to disrupt systems of harm and contribute to building a just society and relationships founded in support and skills in care, responsibility, consent, well-being and joy.

Date: Monday, March 6, 2023
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: The Zoom link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

The Family Care Office is excited to present this new workshop for non-birth parents and/or chosen family who will be supporting the birth parent in the birthing process. We’ll discuss:

1. some things the non-birthing partner can expect during the birthing process and beyond
2. ways to care and support the birth parent during pregnancy, the birthing process and beyond
3. self-care when caring for others in the family
4. ways to bond with the new baby

Facilitators:

The workshop will be an informal conversation between Natasja VanderBerg (a Family Care Advisor and non-birth parent to one child) and Kelly Carrington, Registered Massage Therapist and a Certified Birth Doula. Kelly is the first male doula certified through DONA International in Canada in 2014. Kelly is a father of three boys and a partner. Read about why he became a doula.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are welcome. Partners and family members (including chosen family members) who are co-caregivers with U of T students, staff, postdoctoral fellows and faculty are also welcome to attend. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Women’s Wellness is open to all women –  trans and cis – and nonbinary people who want to participate in programming that centers women’s experience who live in 30 or 35 Charles Street, University Family Housing. 

Take time out of your busy schedule just for you! Enjoy a breakfast and a weekly interactive session with on-site childminding provided. Raffle prizes each week! The Women’s Wellness series is an opportunity to pause and pay attention to your physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing.

The 2023 series weekly interactive sessions will be:

• Thursday February 16 Connecting with Others and Ourselves
• Thursday February 23 Find Your Slow: A Gentle Writing Workshop
• Thursday March 2 Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence
• Thursday March 9 Boundaries, Nervous Systems and Communication 101

To register, please email family.care@utoronto.ca and include the sessions you are registering for, your name, U of T status (or status of your partner), and the names and ages of your children if you require free childminding.

Organized by the Family Care Office, in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre, University Family Housing, and the Community Safety Office.

Wen Do Women’s Self Defence

Date: Thursday, March 2
Time: Breakfast begins at 9:30 am, childminding drop-off at 9:45 am and the workshop will run from 10 am – 11:30 am
Location: Activity room at 30 Charles Street West

This Wen-Do workshop is for women (cis, trans, and anyone who identifies as a woman). In this class, participants will learn simple, powerful physical self-defence skills, explore effective verbal self-defence strategies, develop their ability to recognize and deal with threatening situations, increase their confidence, and have fun!

Facilitators:

Leslie Allin loves teaching Wen-Do because working at the intersection of practice (learning effective physical techniques) and theory (dismantling stereotypes surrounding violence against women, knowledge about self-defense, and naming women’s experience) profoundly empowers women. She continues to be inspired by her students’ insights, energy, and determination. She also volunteers on the Wen-Do phone line. Leslie holds a PhD in Literature and lectures on representations of empire, race, and gender.

Women’s Wellness is open to all women –  trans and cis – and nonbinary people who want to participate in programming that centers women’s experience who live in 30 or 35 Charles Street, University Family Housing. 

Take time out of your busy schedule just for you! Enjoy a breakfast and a weekly interactive session with on-site childminding provided. Raffle prizes each week! The Women’s Wellness series is an opportunity to pause and pay attention to your physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing.

The 2023 series weekly interactive sessions will be:

• Thursday February 16 Connecting with Others and Ourselves
• Thursday February 23 Find Your Slow: A Gentle Writing Workshop
• Thursday March 2 Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence
• Thursday March 9 Boundaries, Nervous Systems and Communication 101

To register, please email family.care@utoronto.ca and include the sessions you are registering for, your name, U of T status (or status of your partner), and the names and ages of your children if you require free childminding.

Organized by the Family Care Office, in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre, University Family Housing, and the Community Safety Office.

Find Your Slow: A Gentle Writing Workshop

Date: Thursday, February 23
Time: Breakfast begins at 9:30 am, childminding drop-off at 9:45 am and the workshop will run from 10 am – 11:30 am
Location: Activity room at 30 Charles Street West

Let’s slow down together as we sip tea and turn to the page for this slow-paced, gentle writing workshop. Through a series of open writing prompts, you’ll hone in on your personal vision for slowness, perhaps within a busy life of parenting and studies. All writing levels are welcome. Participants are most welcome to write in the language of their choice. Sharing your writing is always optional.

Facilitators:

Nina K Moore (MEd) thinks coziness is important and going slow has value. Nina leads writing workshops. For Nina, writing is an important part of managing, and living, with anxiety. Nina is a mama and was a primary teacher for over 12 years.

Women’s Wellness is open to all women –  trans and cis – and nonbinary people who want to participate in programming that centers women’s experience who live in 30 or 35 Charles Street, University Family Housing. 

Take time out of your busy schedule just for you! Enjoy a breakfast and a weekly interactive session with on-site childminding provided. Raffle prizes each week! The Women’s Wellness series is an opportunity to pause and pay attention to your physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing.

The 2023 series weekly interactive sessions will be:

• Thursday February 16 Connecting with Others and Ourselves
• Thursday February 23 Find Your Slow: A Gentle Writing Workshop
• Thursday March 2 Wen-Do Women’s Self Defence
• Thursday March 9 Boundaries, Nervous Systems and Communication 101

To register, please email family.care@utoronto.ca and include the sessions you are registering for, your name, U of T status (or status of your partner), and the names and ages of your children if you require free childminding.

Organized by the Family Care Office, in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre, University Family Housing, and the Community Safety Office.

Connecting with Ourselves and Others

Date: Thursday, February 16
Time: Breakfast begins at 9:30 am, childminding drop-off at 9:45 am and the workshop will run from 10 am – 11:30 am
Location: Activity room at 30 Charles Street West

This opening session will begin with yoga. Yoga will be followed by an opportunity to meet one another as well as some Family Care Office’s peer mentors (upper-year student caregivers and parents). Peer mentors will share their experiences of:

• Meeting others and forming community at U of T and in Toronto
• Living in Toronto and supporting a family on a budget
• Navigating Toronto’s childcare, schools and children’s programs

Bring your questions! If your questions are not answered during the session, FCO advisors will gather the questions and will address them over the weeks of the series.

Facilitators:

Mindful Moments  yoga instructor and Family Care Office peer mentors. Mindful Moments works to support students’ holistic wellbeing: body, mind, spirit and heart. Through mindfulness meditation and yoga classes, Mindful Moments aims to provide programming where students can learn new skills, develop life-long healthy habits and learn about themselves.

 

Date: Monday, December 5, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Location: The Zoom link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

More than 50% of adult Canadians don’t have a will. Most adults know that they should have a will. For a variety of reasons, many people put this off. Often, the process seems overwhelming. During his almost 30 years of wills and estate practice, Steve has encountered many repeated questions, and his seminar will provide some of those answers, to help demystify the process. He will be available at the end of the session to answer questions as well.

Facilitator: Steve Offenheim has been practicing law since 1994, and services wills and estates clients across Ontario.

Registration required. University of Toronto students, staff, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

This introductory webinar will explore how parents can effectively cope with the separation and divorce process while buffering their children from conflict. The webinar will then be followed with a question and discussion period.

Facilitator: Michael Saini is an Associate Professor, holds the endowed Chair in Law and Social Work at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto and is the Co-Director of the Combined J.D. and M.S.W. Program with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He conducts custody evaluations, he is a parent coach for separated families and he provides parent education workshops on issues related to separation and divorce.

Registration required. Current University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Thursday, January 13, 2022
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

This introductory webinar will explore how adults get stuck in negative emotional cycles and how they can get traction on the right path by dealing, feeling and healing from the separation and divorce. The webinar will then be followed with a question and discussion period

Facilitator: Michael Saini is an Associate Professor, holds the endowed Chair in Law and Social Work at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto and is the Co-Director of the Combined J.D. and M.S.W. Program with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto. He conducts custody evaluations, he is a parent coach for separated families and he provides parent education workshops on issues related to separation and divorce.

Registration required. Current University of Toronto students, staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and their partners are welcome. If you have any access needs to ensure your full participation in this event, please contact the Family Care Office and we will try our best to work with you and make appropriate arrangements.

Date: Saturday, December 5, 2020
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

Join Hart House and the Family Care Office for a winter celebration! We will be making season-related crafts and watch the online Santa Claus Parade together on CTV or CTV2.

All U of T students, staff and faculty families are welcome to attend. Please register at family.care@utoronto.ca with your name and children’s names.

Date:  Monday, April 6, 2020
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 pm
Location: The webinar link will be shared with you via email prior to the session start time.

Have you or your family been impacted financially by Covid-19? Are you worried that your income may be impacted in the near future? Worrying about our health along with our finances can be scary, stressful and can create a lot of stress on us and our families. Join us for a practical webinar on how to plan for emergency reduced income, deal with your bills as well as your creditors. You are not alone and we are here to help you!

Facilitator: Anne Arbour is the Financial Educator at the Credit Counselling Society, with over 25 years of experience in financial services and a passion to promote financial literacy in her community. Anne holds an MBA from York University – Schulich School of Business, and is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).

Registration Required. U of T students and their partners are welcome to attend.

If you are registering from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. on Monday, April 6th please email family.care@utoronto.ca to receive access instructions.