THE SHOE PROJECT
The Shoe Project holds writing workshops where Canadian writers exchange skills with newcomer women, enabling them to share their stories of arrival in and adaptation to Canada -- through a pair of shoes.
CHALLENGE
Whether immigrant or refugee, many women are professionals in their own countries but need to improve their communication skills in English to attain their goals in Canada. Others are homemakers, workers or have had their education disrupted but have the desire to lead.
INNOVATION
The Shoe Project want to raise the voices of all. The program has two major components: the first is a writing workshop. When stories are completed, each woman moves on to personal performance coaching, the second part of our program. The two come together when they perform for the public. Since the first workshop in 2011, The Shoe Project participants have written over 250 stories and staged 30 performances.
Shoes are a metaphor for journey and transformation. They are with us every step of the way. They are also a great icebreaker for groups of women of diverse age, faith, background and language.
“The Shoe Project has created for me a fabulous platform to stand on and tell my story — the immigrant story of which I can never have enough — to the rest of Canada and by extension the world.”
