Want to Volunteer at The Centre for Women and Trans People?

Come find out more about our volunteer program and sign up at one of our upcoming volunteer info sessions. Our volunteer program is open to both students and community members.

Volunteer Info Sessions:

TBA

Want to volunteer but can’t make it to one of the info sessions or Open House?  Let’s arrange a one-on-one meeting!  Contact us at 416-978-8201 or email coordinator.cwtp AT utoronto DOT ca

Volunteer Training

Anti-oppression and anti-transphobia trainings are MANDATORY components of our volunteer program and we provide you with this training, along with other more specific volunteer training. If you are a new volunteer, you must attend all training sessions:

Date: TBA
Time: TBA

Location: TBA on UofT St. George Campus
All of our meetings and trainings are wheelchair accessible.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Peer Support Program:

The Peer Support Program is designed to offer students and community members an opportunity for group support from their peers with similar lived experiences. This support takes the form of short term peer support/discussion groups created by peer support volunteers.

Peer support volunteers are trained within an anti-oppression framework and supported by staff at The Centre to respond to personal and social concerns, by creating and facilitating small peer support groups around specific topics that affect their own lives. As such, peer support volunteers will be empowered to offer mutual support, advocacy, resources and referrals regarding issues they themselves identify with. Peer support volunteers do not offer formal counselling.

We are looking for peer support/discussion groups that are by and for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), including:

– Transfeminine-spectrum people

– Support for medically transitioning Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour

– Parents and caregivers

– Any specific topics that affect your lives, communities and reflect your experiences

Past/current groups have focused on issues including: resisting oppression and reclaiming religion/spirituality; immigrant and migrant experiences; experiences and critiques of the mental health system as past or present users, consumers and/or survivors; violence and trauma; parenting; relationships; body image; racism; poverty; gender identity; gender expression; sexual health and sexuality.

The Spice – Assist with the The Spice: Community Cooking including menu selection, grocery shopping, meal preparation, group discussion and clean-up. Re-stock the Community Cupboard on Friday afternoons. Assist with planning and outreach for food justice workshops and events.

Dr. Chun Resource Library Admin – Help keep the library open and tidy, catalogue and stock materials, track overdue books. Assist with outreach.

Dr. Chun Resource Library Admin – Help keep the library open and tidy, catalogue and stock materials, track overdue books. Assist with outreach.

Dr. Chun Resource Library Programming – Help plan and organize programming to explore socio-political issues through a critical lens. Such as:

Radical Reads – Help organize a critical reading group

Words of Resistance – Help organize poetry & spoken word nights

Author / Artist Events – Help organize events featuring LGBTQ2SIA BIPOC authors and artists, such as zine and book launches, readings, DIY comic book workshops

LGBTQ2SIA BIPOC Creative Writing Group – Help plan, organize and facilitate a creative writing group for LGBTQ2SIA folks

Immigration Detainee Letter-Writing Night – Help organize monthly letter nights to support participants in writing letters to immigration detainees and learning more about immigration detention. Outreach in campus and community. Attend detention reviews and organize detention visits, if necessary.

Binder exchange program – Start a binder exchange program in campus. Collect binder donations from campus and community. Outreach and promotion for the program. Distribute and collect survey on binder needs in campus.

Outreach – Create posters/materials for the Centre; postering on campus; social media promo; speak for 2 minutes in classes to inform people about The Centre.

Space maintenance – Help organize the Centre; re-stock sexual health resources; update info board and outreach materials; buy and keep plants alive.

GSU Women and Trans People Caucus – CWTP representative.  The Women and Trans People Caucus is a space for self-identified women, trans, gender non-binary and 2 Spirit people who are graduate students on campus to discuss and take action on issues of sexism, racism, colonialism, transphobia, homophobia, ageism, ableism and classism. We work together with other campus organizations to develop workshops, events, and programming toward this end.

Special Events Support – Help set up/clean up & attend Centre events and campus and community actions/rallies. Participate in actions or contingents for annual campus and community campaigns/events including September Take Back the Night, November 20th Trans Day of Remembrance; Dec 6th National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women; Feb 14th Annual Strawberry Ceremony in Honour of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and those who have died Violent Deaths by Colonialism; March 8th IWD; July Trans March; August 10th Prisoners’ Justice Day.

Something else that reflects our vision and mandate?  Maybe you want to organize actions to address white supremacy and gender based-violence on campus, facilitate a weekly art group or knitting circle, teach a podcast tutorial series, create a space for the Centre on campus radio, write articles for campus publications or create a Centre zine?  Let us know your interests and skills!

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The Centre believes that those who are on the margins are often in better positions to understand how systems of oppression, power and privilege work and are maintained. We especially encourage people who are surviving racism, colonization, poverty, transphobia, homophobia, ableism and sexism to volunteer with any of our areas and to join The Centre’s Collective.