Welcome!

CFUW Stratford is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of women working to promote lifelong education, to improve the status of women and girls, and to enable women to effect positive change for a peaceful, sustainable future.

We welcome all women in and around Stratford, those with a university or college degree as well as women who have followed less traditional career paths, who share the CFUW goals.

Our roughly 70 members embody more than 70 years of remarkable dedication to both the club and the community.

Optimism Place Tour

Optimism Place Executive Director, Jasmine Clarkand the Residential Manager, Hannah Skinner conducted a fascinating tour for our Women’s Issues Advocacy Committee.

Optimism Place Women’s Shelter and Support Services provides not only shelter but a large number of services, including group psychotherapy sessions and legal aid, to help women alone or with children to escape violence and live free of abuse. They look after women from all socio-economic backgrounds and all ages. The original 7 bedrooms were inadequate for the number of women who needed help. In January 2024, a major refurbishment project was completed, adding 10 rooms and 15 beds. Since this expansion, no one has been turned away.

New Member Tea

Dee Tripp of OARC

Inspiring a better future of long-term care.

Video from presentation

Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils Website

Remembering December 6th

Today, we remembered the 14 young women who were murdered at École Polytechnique in Montreal 35 years ago by a man who claimed he was fighting feminism. In the first classroom he entered, he shot 9 young women, killing six. The gunman then went on a rampage killing only women students as he moved through corridors, into a crowded cafeteria, and into another classroom. He targeted women students, pursuing those who attempted to hide or to escape. A wounded student asked for help; the gunman stabbed her three times with his hunting knife, killing her.

The women who were killed would be in their fifties and sixties now. We mourn for the lives they were not given a chance to live and for their families and friends who have been mourning their deaths all these long years.

We also remember the 10 other women the gunman targeted and the four men who were wounded. The survivors watched the deaths of these young women who were friends and fellow students. In the case of the nursing student, her spouse was with her and saw her killed. For all present, the killings were a horror that would be impossible to forget.

Unfortunately, this tragedy did not mark a beginning to the end of violence against women. We are still struggling to end gender-based violence and women are still dying. To remember is to work for change.

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Climate Communications January

Climate Conversations Energy Flyer_Final2

Climate Momentum Conversations

Alternative Energy Options

January 23 7:00-9:00pm

Stratford City Hall Auditorium

Mike Masse

Tuesday January 28, 2025 at 7:00pm

Mike Masse

Be Kind to Your Mind

How the mental health crisis is impacting our next generation and how to reset the stress.

Mike Masse is a mindfulness consultant, public speaker and best-selling author who specializes in mindfulness-based stress reduction. For over a decade, he has been teaching adults, youth and children mindfulness skills to help reduce their levels of stress and anxiety. Mike has become a highly sought after trainer; facilitating workshops with educators, first responders, health care providers, and others who work in high-stress environments. Mike’s engaging and encouraging teaching style will have you feeling excited and hopeful about what mindfulness can do to transform your well-being.

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REALIZING POTENTIAL.

FOR ALL WOMEN.

Connect for Fun, Learning, and Impact

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral (Attiwondeonk), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. the territory is governed by two Treaties. The first is the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant of 1701, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. The second is the Huron Tract Treaty of 1827, an agreement made between eighteen Anishinabek Chiefs and the Canada Company. The responsibility to share and care for this territory extends to all of us for generations to come.

Learn more about Territorial Acknowledgements