Bienvenue à nos visiteurs francophones. Pour en savoir plus sur MentorAction, veuillez cliquer ici.

Bienvenue à nos visiteurs francophones. Pour en savoir plus sur MentorAction, veuillez cliquer ici.

About
MentorAction

About Us

MentorAction is a program of Interval House of Hamilton and is located within the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. MentorAction engages youth and men who are committed to eradicating gender-based violence and through education, mentorship and community participation challenge existing norms that sustain or perpetuate gender-based violence.

MentorAction consists of two groups:

The Steering Group

The Steering Group is comprised of male-identified allies who regularly meet and provide guidance and strategic planning with a focus on raising awareness and creating safer communities. Committee members are volunteers and serve on the committee for a minimum of two years. Each member is responsible to honour the voices and experiences of women, as well as the leadership of women.

Community Partnerships and The Steel City Allies

The Steel City Allies seek individuals who are committed to ending gender-based violence and through action promote violence-free living. The Steel City Allies is a call-to-action campaign focussing on creating change through engaging allies. Allies have taken their #firststepfirstchange towards ending gender-based violence by taking an online oath. Join the Steel City Allies.

Our Community Partnerships have created avenues for mentorship opportunities to flourish between people committed to ending gender-based violence and youth. Establishing key community partnerships has been a critical and strategic decision to enhance the delivery of services, as well as engage various audiences.

To date, our community partnerships include:

  • The Hamilton Tiger-Cats
  • The Hamilton Bulldogs
  • FORGE FC
  • SportHamilton
  • McMaster University Department of Athletics and McMaster University Security Services.

Each partnership contributes meaningful work to end gender-based violence.

Contact us if you’d like to get involved!

 

History

In 2011, Interval House of Hamilton successfully received grant money from The Status of Women Canada to develop a 2-year project focused on improving community safety. The project included a gender-based analysis and the following activities:

  • Deliver focus groups and surveys to determine the experience of safety and security in the City of Hamilton for men, women, and transgendered people.
  • An online survey was conducted that surveyed over four hundred people, and ten focus groups were facilitated.
  • Organizations in the City of Hamilton were contacted about what data they collect on services provided, and if this data differentiated between genders.
  • Community discussions followed about the importance of collecting specific data, to best serve all clients who access for services.
  • A video campaign was created using short videos made by committee and community members encouraging men to “stand up and speak out to end gender-based violence”.
  • The final report from that project can be seen here.
  • Upon completion of the initial project, MentorAction continued as a program of Interval House of Hamilton developing and implementing strategic plans to raise awareness of gender-based violence.

Recent Highlights:

In 2020, all services and supports were moved online to ensure the work to end gender-based violence continued, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, MentorAction expanded services again by offering gender-based violence training focussing on recognizing GBV and providing tools to safely intervene. Training is available to workplaces and interested community groups.

In 2018, Be More Than A Bystander was introduced to local secondary schools with players from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats facilitating in-class learning, followed by in-class debriefing.
In 2018, The original Be More Than A Bystander program was modified and geared towards a younger audience. Players from The Hamilton Bulldogs met with local youth hockey teams in the dressing room and led conversations on healthy relationships, and provided practical tools to end gender-based violence.
In 2018, MentorAction worked closely with McMaster University Security Services creating and implementing full day gender-based violence training for Special Constables working on the campus.
In 2016, Interval House of Hamilton purchased the rights to the “Be More Than A Bystander” program and flowed the program through MentorAction. The Be More Than a Bystander program was developed by Ending Violence Association BC, in partnership with the BC Lions and demonstrated successful outcomes from its inception.
In 2015, Interval House of Hamilton presented MentorAction at the 3rd World Shelter Conference in the Netherlands.

Our Partners

MentorAction and Interval House of Hamilton wish to acknowledge and honour the land upon which we gather as the historic and traditional territory of First Nations peoples. In particular, we recognize and thank the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Anishinaabe Nations for their stewardship of these lands.