Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration (MRCSSI)

Published purpose

This 32-month project will further test the Culturally Integrative Family Safety Response model (CIFSR) to address the lack of culturally grounded supports for Muslim Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivors and their families in Ottawa and Kitchener/Waterloo. The Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration (MRCSSI) will achieve this by conducting a comprehensive situational analysis in Ottawa and Kitchener/Waterloo, establishing and formalizing key partnerships, and testing and refining the CIFSR model in these communities. Learnings will be used to further refine the CIFSR model, and the updated model will be shared among GBV community agencies and policy makers. This project will engage with the Coalition of Muslim Women KW (CMW), Ottawa Muslim Community Services (OMCS), faith leaders, service providers, and Muslim GBV survivors, ensuring that key project activities are trauma-informed and survivor-led. The impact of this model will also be assessed through a third-party evaluation, including the analysis of its potential to be adapted and replicated. By the end of the project, MRCSSI will have strengthened their promising practice and have shared it with the wider GBV sector, to strengthen supports to Muslim GBV survivors and their families, in Canada.