Moving from REED to Sisters Walking Together

REED’s volunteer Transitional Board is pleased to announce that REED is strategically pivoting our focus to working with incarcerated women who’ve recently been released. Our new mission is to support incarcerated & recently released Indigenous women in their Creator-given cultural and spiritual identity & to advocate for justice in the prison system with and for them. 

We’d like to introduce you to the new name of our organization that better embodies the renewed focus of this work: Sisters Walking Together.

Sisters Walking Together is a group of Indigenous and Settler women living in the Vancouver area who are committed to walking alongside recently-released incarcerated women in Vancouver and Burnaby and advocating for justice with and for them.  The Sisters will walk with women:

  1. As they re-enter their communities
  2. In their Creator-given cultural and spiritual identity
  3. By advocating for needs of incarcerated women

We do this by meeting with women at monthly gatherings, focusing on Indigenous perspectives, and being led and walking in the way of matriarchs. 

Timeline of Our New Direction:

2020-2022:

  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, REED paused its work in order to rebuild structure and financial stability and further mobilize the community to serve sexually-exploited women. 
  • REED’s volunteer board continued to oversee its Women Rising bursary for Indigenous women, as well as offering financial and other supports as needed, through trusted allies & partners.
  • At the same time, a group of Indigenous and Settler women began to pray, dream, and hope. They longed for a team of Indigenous and Settler women who could offer trauma-informed spiritual support for incarcerated Indigenous women from Indigenous perspectives, as well as justice advocacy for these women.

Spring 2023:

  • Five of those women made a commitment to eat and pray together while learning for 6 weeks from Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and others who had experience with incarceration in the fall of 2023.
  • Meanwhile, the REED volunteer board heard about this dream/project and began conversations with the Indigenous and Settler group to explore ideas of potentially supporting or partnering with this initiative. 

End of 2023:

  • The current volunteer board terms were expiring, so they found another group of volunteers who wanted to replace them as transitional board members while REED was considering partnering with this new initiative. 

February 2024:

  • The new REED volunteer board joined and began conversations with the Indigenous and Settler group about what a partnership could look like, as they felt that the values of REED and advocating for women closely aligned with the goals and dreams of this group to support incarcerated Indigenous women. 

April 2024:

  • The REED board decided to move our organization’s focus towards building relationships with and advocating for incarcerated Indigenous women by partnering with this Indigenous and Settler group, with an understanding that most, if not all incarcerated women have survived sexual abuse and/or exploitation.

Summer 2024:

  • The two groups met together to build relationships with each other and work towards joining together as one organization – the REED board supporting with administration and the Indigenous and Settler group exploring how to best support incarcerated Indigenous women in the Vancouver area.

September 2024:

  • After much discussion and prayer, both groups chose the name “Sisters Walking Together” to describe this new vision to support incarcerated Indigenous women, which would replace the previous organization name, Resist Exploitation Embrace Dignity (REED). 

Meaning of Our Name:

The name Sisters Walking Together was chosen because it aligned closely with the prayer and work that the Indigenous and Settler women had already been doing to support incarcerated women, but also gave words to what we hope to continue to do. 

  • “Sisters” resonates with women who are incarcerated, who often identify as ‘sisters’ together in their shared experience. 
  • “Walking Together” evokes the sense of women supporting each other in the journey toward wholeness and freedom, while acknowledging each one takes different steps at different times. The path or road is open-ended and not prescriptive.
  • The name also incorporates different images and words that the group had come to mind during the discernment process, such as: women together; unity or togetherness; path or road; walking.