Across Waterloo Region, many women and gender-diverse individuals face complex barriers when trying to re-enter the workforce. Gaps in employment due to caregiving, health, trauma, or recovery often leave people feeling unseen and uncertain about how to start again. Many carry experiences of violence, discrimination, or poverty that have chipped away at their confidence long before they sit down to write a resume.
For these individuals, employment programs that focus only on job skills aren’t enough. They need holistic, compassionate support, programs that aim to rebuild confidence, create community, and remind participants of their own strength and potential.
That’s where YWCA Cambridge’s Small Steps to Success programs make big strides.
A Holistic Pathway to Change
Small Steps to Success is a 12-week pre-employment and life skills journey for women and gender-diverse individuals across Waterloo Region. The program combines practical skill-building with personal growth and community connection, helping participants take meaningful steps toward stability and independence.
Each session, a small group of participants comes together in a supportive, trauma-informed environment led by our incredible facilitators. In these strong, carefully crafted group dynamics, participants build essential skills, explore career pathways, and most importantly, connect with others who understand their journeys and the challenges many women and gender-diverse individuals face when returning to the workforce after having been out of it for any length of time.
Through workshops on communication, stress management, financial literacy and more, participants leave with updated resumes and cover letters but also with something that’s harder to measure: renewed self-esteem, lasting friendships, and a stronger foundation for their future.
The Dragonfly: A Symbol of Transformation
The program’s unofficial logo, a dragonfly, has come to symbolize everything Small Steps stands for. Dragonflies represent change, transformation, adaptability and self-realization: everything our participants embody as they move through the program. Over the years, this symbol has become a powerful marker of the Small Steps journey.
For many, the dragonfly has become a deeply personal symbol of their transformation. The life cycle of a dragonfly includes a significant metamorphosis from water to a soaring adult, a dramatic shift from one world to another, serving as a powerful metaphor. Their ability to fly in all directions and their changing colours also represent swiftness, wisdom, and the need to view life with adaptability and emotional maturity. Some graduates have even chosen to get matching dragonfly tattoos as a celebration of their growth and the unbreakable sisterhood they’ve built together.
Like the dragonfly, participants emerge from Small Steps with new wings, ready to move forward with confidence and courage.
Participant Spotlight: Brittney’s Story
Brittney first heard about Small Steps while living at Ancora House, a sober-living facility operated by Porchlight Counselling and Addictions Services. She learned about the program from her roommate and former graduate of Small Steps, encouraging her to rebuild her confidence, gain life skills and find her way back to the workforce.
At the time, Brittney didn’t believe she had many skills to offer, but she did have determination and hope. She showed up to every session with a bright smile, eager to learn, listen, and grow. Over the weeks, her confidence blossomed. She began sharing her thoughts in group discussions, taking on challenges she once thought impossible, and slowly rediscovering her voice.
When staff noticed her compassion and interest in helping others, they encouraged Brittney to explore a placement in the healthcare field. She was thrilled to begin a volunteer role at Chartwell Retirement Residences, where she quickly proved herself to be dedicated, kind, and eager to learn. That experience solidified her goal: to become a Personal Support Worker (PSW).
Getting there wasn’t easy. The PSW program at St. Louis Adult Learning Centre had limited space, and she faced months of waiting before she could even apply. But Brittney’s perseverance paid off and she was accepted into the full-time program starting January 2025.
Today, Brittney is thriving – nine months sober, living in her own apartment, and on the path to independence and rebuilding her life.
When asked about the impact Small Steps to Success had on her, she said:
“This program has taught me life skills I can take with me, especially learning about boundaries. The day I learned about them I started using them and wow, has it helped me out! It’s a phenomenal program and I am very grateful I got to be in it…”
From the Classroom to Careers
Every participant in our Small Steps program has the opportunity to explore a three-week volunteer placement to gain real, relevant and recent experience. Often, these placements lead to direct employment or further education. Recent graduates have stepped into roles in customer service, healthcare, education, and skilled trades and each opportunity reflects unique goals and growth. Participants have moved on to a number of opportunities, including:
-
- Guest Attendant, Chartwell
- Education Assistant, Waterloo Region
- Student, Conestoga Social Services Program
- Customer Service Rep, CIBC
- Volunteer, Preston Heights Community Centre & Marillac Place
- High School Diploma Completed
- Employed at Cambridge Restore
- Cleaning, Grace Bible Church
- Restaurant Supervisor, Best Western
- Student, The Literacy Group (Computer Literacy)
- Volunteer, Ray of Hope
- Student, Conestoga College Women In Skilled Trades (WIST) (Carpentry)
- Student, The Literacy Group (Computer Literacy)
All of these outcomes represent a powerful truth: when women are supported to rediscover their strengths, they build careers and confidence that truly lasts.
Why Small Steps Matters
With a waitlist of 30–50 women at any given time, the demand for Small Steps in Waterloo Region is clear. For participants who begin the program feeling isolated or stuck, this is often the first place they’ve felt seen and supported in years.
And the impact speaks for itself:
-
- 100% of graduates say they feel more confident, connected, and employable
- 60% gain employment during or shortly after the program
- 100% say their lives have been changed for the better
For Brittney, and so many others, Small Steps was the start of a new chapter.
Because sometimes, the biggest changes start with one small step.
Support women taking their next step this holiday season.
Festive Futures is our annual campaign providing ongoing support to women participating in Small Steps to Success. So often, holiday drives focus on kids/ families, and these resilient women are overlooked. Festive Futures is your chance to tell them: You are seen, you are valued, and your hard work is worth celebrating.
By providing gift cards to our Small Steps sisters, you’re giving choice, a little bit of stability, and a whole lot of joy. Every gift helps make the holiday season brighter for women who deserve to know their community cares about them.
Festive Futures
Give the gift of Choice.
