As part of our annual holiday tradition, the Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness raises funds for Ernestine's Women's Shelter—a non-profit organization dedicated to offering advocacy, crisis intervention, and shelter to women and gender-diverse individuals and their children facing violence.

Our fundraising goal is $2,000, and we invite the entire Humber College community to help us reach it - we are almost halfway there, with just a week left! Donations can be made at our Canada Helps page FHSW Annual Fundraiser for Ernestine’s 2023 until Friday, December 22. 

The holiday season can intensify stress and anxiety for survivors of gender-based violence. Your generous donations will play a vital role in ensuring that Ernestine's can consistently provide support to those within the shelter and across the community.

Tax receipts are provided, and every contribution, whether it's $10, $25, or more, makes a meaningful impact.

We sincerely appreciate your support.

Your friends in the Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness.

About Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter

Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter was opened in 1983 by a group of community members who saw a need for a safe place for women and children fleeing violence and abuse.

Ernestine’s is a non-profit organization that provides advocacy, crisis intervention and shelter to Women, Two-Spirit, Trans, Non-binary and Gender Diverse individuals and their children experiencing violence. Our services are evidence-informed and driven by values of inclusion, anti-racism, anti-oppression and respect. We seek to interrupt violence through education and advocacy for social justice.

Ernestine’s is a 32-bed emergency shelter with 14 private bedrooms.

We provide a home for individuals and their children – who stay with us from six months to over one year – until we find appropriate housing for them. During their stay, we provide them with all the necessities they might need (new bedding, clothes, school supplies, toiletries, baby supplies, prescriptions not covered by OHIP, loaded Presto cards, and anything else they might need).

In addition to shelter clients, we support over 600 adults and children from across the GTA through our Outreach Program. The shelter’s Outreach clients have access to counselling services and programs as well as the shelter’s on-site donation rooms and food bank.

We provide a range of holistic services to our shelter and Outreach clients. Our services and programs include 24-hour crisis assistance, individual and group-based counselling support, skills exchange programs, as well as legal, housing, and immigration support and advocacy.

Since we opened our doors in 1983, we have supported over 15,000 individuals and children.

Thanks to our supporters, last year we were able to:

• Respond to 1,258 crisis calls
• Provide shelter and support to 50 adults and 35 children, who called Ernestine’s their home
• Offer lifelines to 286 adults and 418 children in the community through our Outreach Programs
• Provide 397 check-ins and supportive engagement to children and youth, who form the majority of our clients
• 214 adults and 401 children were serviced as a result of the 637 times Ernestine’s food support services were accessed. Ernestine’s has continued to see an increased need for our services since the beginning of the pandemic.

FSHW Integrated and Allied Health is looking to give away seven Breakout EDU kits.

Breakout EDU offers a distinctive twist on the well-known escape room idea. Rather than attempting to escape from a room, teams collaborate to break into a box.

If you're interested, please contact Kerchell at kerchell.william@humber.ca.

We would like to remind all staff and faculty that Purchasing cannot accept any requests to set up an individual or sole proprietor without the end user's Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) confirmation that the ICON form has been completed and the individual qualifies as an independent contractor. If the ICON confirmation from HR is not included in your email when forwarding the New/Modify Vendor Form to purchasing@humber.ca, it will be rejected. 

Please direct any questions regarding the ICON questionnaire to your HRBP as they can best assist you in completing this form.

We thank everyone in advance for their cooperation.

Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE) is pleased to announce the publication of Perspectives of Bhutanese TVET practitioners on online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by Sangay Tshewang, Prakash Sarki and Sonam Wangmo.  

Read the article on JIPE.ca.

About JIPE 

Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE) is an online, open-access journal for peer-reviewed papers that mobilize knowledge and insights generated by the global polytechnic community. JIPE is electronically published by Humber Press at Humber College’s Office of Research & Innovation. JIPE is accepting submissions on a rolling basis. To learn more about JIPE, please visit jipe.ca or email humberpress@humber.ca   

Abstract:  

Due to the shutdown of schools, universities, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs during the pandemic, practically all students experienced educational challenges for an entire year. The education system was conducted remotely via the internet, TV, and mobile phones; however, TVET education, which is learned outside of the typical classroom, suffered due to internet problems, lack of electricity supply, lack of availability of technology, unprepared teachers, and challenges in balancing studies and household responsibilities for female students. It is tough and challenging to adapt and implement this educational system under such pandemic conditions, particularly for low-income and vulnerable youths. Since TVET strongly emphasizes practical skills and workplace readiness, remote learning is complex. TVET is a practical-based education that can be successfully learned through performing in classrooms, workshops, or laboratories, along with the practical experience of training or attachment at the workplace. In another setting, practical instruction for some professions could be realistically simulated, for example, through augmented reality experiences. Still, again, the cost of purchasing sophisticated and complex software that can run such simulations can be a barrier for most students. The biggest challenge is adjusting to distance learning, which mainly relies on learning by experience.  

This study aimed to learn more about how Bhutanese teachers and students in a technical training institute perceived and experienced online classrooms during the pandemic. In response to the present pandemic, the entire educational system changed and modified itself to include the delivery of online classes. This survey describes Technical Training Institute teachers’ and students’ perceptions and concerns about the emergency pivot online instruction.  

The sample consisted of 10 trainers and 119 trainees from Technical Training Institute Samthang in Wangdue Phodrang. An online survey method (Google Forms) was used for data collection. While most participants (69%) thought online education saved time, the study also uncovered significant challenges related to the validity of the assessment system. The findings show that only 27 per cent believed online teaching is effective. It is also reported that this negative impression of online education can be attributed to the low level of knowledge transfer, lack of structure in lessons, challenges to clarify doubts during the class, and poorly designed learning materials. Significantly, most participants believed that technical issues majorly disrupt the flow and pace of online teaching.