support
Rally Behind a Great Idea
Your voice matters. Show your support for submitted projects by leaving a comment, sharing your story or photo, or posting to social media. Every bit of encouragement helps communities grow stronger together.
What is this project about?
SHE BUILDS is a community-based skills and empowerment program designed to give women the practical knowledge, hands-on experience and confidence to use power tools, build things, make repairs and maintain their own homes.
The program will create a welcoming, inclusive workshop environment where women can learn skills that have traditionally been less accessible to them, including safe power-tool use, basic woodworking, home repair, construction techniques, measuring and planning, and problem-solving.
Through hands-on workshops and practical projects, participants will move from “I don't know how to do that” to “I can do that myself.”
SHE BUILDS is about much more than woodworking. It is about building confidence, independence, community connection and practical capacity. Participants will leave with tangible skills they can use immediately in their homes and share with others in their community.
L.E.A.F. funding will help establish the tools, equipment, materials and infrastructure needed to create a sustainable community learning space where these skills can continue to be taught long after the initial grant period.
Why is this project important to the community?
There are many practical skills that people are simply never taught.
For generations, activities such as woodworking, construction, power-tool use and home repair have often been associated with men. Many women grow up without an opportunity to learn how to safely use a drill, saw or other power tool. When something breaks or needs to be built, the assumption can be that they need to ask someone else to do it.
This creates a practical skills gap—but it can also create a confidence gap.
SHE BUILDS addresses both.
We want women to have the opportunity to learn in an environment where it is completely acceptable to be a beginner, ask questions, make mistakes and try again.
A participant doesn't need previous woodworking experience. She doesn't need to own a workshop full of tools. She simply needs the willingness to learn.
By providing access to tools, instruction, materials and a supportive community, SHE BUILDS removes some of the barriers that prevent women from developing these skills.
Target Completion Date
April 20, 2027
Location
229, SEARLE AVE, SEARLE AVE
Toronto
M3H 4B8