How SASC Uses Izzy to Streamline Gender-Based Violence Support
Published on 4/18/2025
Lyndsey Butcher
Director of Care
Sexual Assault Support Centre, Waterloo Region (SASC), KItchener, ON
At Izzy, we want to support you in supporting your communities. We also believe that communicating our successes, and those of our clients, is of value to others. That’s why we want to share the stories of folks who’re using the platform — to show how we can help, and to hear from our clients about who they are and how their work supports the communities they live in.
Recently, we sat down with Lyndsey Butcher, (SASC), Director of Care at Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region, Kitchener, Ontario, to learn about SASC’s history, mission, programs, and challenges, and to find out how Izzy has helped them to streamline their operations and better achieve their goals.
“We were founded in 1989,” Lyndsey told us, “by a group of women, many of whom were survivors themselves in Kitchener, ON. lves.” These women, she said, came together to support other survivors and to fight the stigma, shame, and judgement around the experience of sexual violence.
Having many years of experience in the sector, Lyndsey started out 20 years ago, volunteering at a sexual assault support line while in university. “Pretty much my entire career has been working around issues of gender-based violence, or women's rights, or social justice,” she said. “I've always been really committed to this work.”
Clear in their mission, SASC has two main priorities. “Our current mission,” Lyndsey said, “is to support survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking so that they don't feel as alone in their journey to healing — and then our secondary goal is to work towards a world where there is no gender-based violence.” Consequently, Lyndsey and the team at SASC provide community education and prevention programs for children, youth, and young adults, as well as programming to engage men in the work to end gender-based violence.
SASC’s newest program is specifically for newcomers. “Often, when newcomers come to Canada,” Lyndsey said, “if they're experiencing gender-based violence, it can impact their immigration and housing status. If they're on a student visa, if they're on their partner's visa, they can be quite vulnerable to abuse, violence, and even human trafficking.” With their new program, SASC aims to support newcomers in navigating immigration proceedings, family court, and criminal court.
Like many non-profits navigating the current economy, SASC struggles to fundraise. Many government grants, Lyndsey told us, haven’t increased to reflect rising inflation and the cost of housing. “When we're unable to provide good wages that cover the cost of living in our community,” she said, “it's really challenging to attract and retain staff, and to keep our programs going.”
To supplement the insufficient government funding they receive for their programs, SASC needs to fundraise within their community. This takes time and energy away from their core mission and work. “We have to organize bowl-a-thons and galas, send letters, and make phone calls to try to raise money,” Lyndsey said, “just to cover our operating expenses.”
Adding to the challenge of fundraising, regional economic uncertainty now limits what people are willing to give. In Lyndsey’s community, manufacturing and the automotive sector are major employers. Where there used to be reliable corporate giving, she told us, now manufacturing and automotive companies are holding back. While Lyndsey can understand why this might be, she acknowledged that it doesn’t make fundraising any easier. “People want to make sure that they've covered their own costs before they look to make donations or invest in a charity,” she said, “so I think over the next year or so, it's going to really tighten up.”
One of SASC’s key services, its 24-7, volunteer-operated support line, feels that strain acutely. “We’ve operated a support line probably since 1989,” Lyndsey said. “We don't receive funding for that support line, and it takes up a lot of staff resources just to organize and keep it open.”
The support line, operated by over 150 volunteers working in four-hour shifts, was the original reason why SASC decided to start using Izzy. “It's always been kind of a nightmare to organize that many shifts every single month,” Lyndsey said, “so we started using Izzy a few years ago, specifically for our support line.” Finding that the Izzy Helpline was just what they needed, SASC decided to use our Case Management software as well.
The switch to Izzy, Lyndsey told us, meant that SASC now had the right technology for the work they wanted to do. “The technology we were using before wasn't as reliable,” she said, “and so Izzy came around with this made-for-our-sector solution. That's what made it different than other software products: Izzy really invested in the sexual assault services sector and the needs that we have.”
Prior to using Izzy, trying to find the right software for SASC’s specific needs could be challenging. “Because we are a charity and under-resourced,” Lyndsey said, “we often would get these pre-packaged products.” Frequently, she told us, when SASC would ask a software developer to provide support, or update their product based on feedback, the answer would be silence. “We would get ghosted,” she said, “even with companies we had contracts with.”
Unlike other platforms, Izzy was keen to engage. “When we were getting going,” Lyndsey said, “on a daily basis, we would hear from your team.” That dialogue continues. “You always reach out when you’re planning to roll out new features,” she said. “You ask for our input, and we feel like there's a real respect for the work that we do. We have relationships with your team, from your basic tech support all the way up to your leadership.”
Before Izzy, much of SASC’s data tracking was done using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. This approach took a lot of time and was fraught with error. “Every month end,” Lyndsey said, “staff would spend a day or two checking off how many clients were men, how many were newcomers — we had spreadsheets for everything. With that amount of data entry and human error, it was really difficult to keep everything compliant.”
Now, the situation is different. “All of our programs are hosted within Izzy,” Lyndsey told us, “and all of them have custom forms to make sure that we're able to accurately report on the impact we're having in the community.” SASC uses Izzy Case Management to run their court support, counselling, and human trafficking services, and the Education module for their public education program. All in one platform, they can pull stats, track their performance measures, and meet their reporting requirements with newfound efficiency.
Izzy’s security also appealed to Lyndsey. During the transition, SASC asked Izzy where we stored our client data, and what legislation the platform complied with. “We were very satisfied,” she said, “with all the steps you had taken to ensure the privacy of the data.”
For Lyndsey, the greatest gains to come from switching to Izzy have been our respect for SASC’s work and the presence of an engaged professional relationship. “In every interaction we've had with you,” she said, “you demonstrated that you really do care about the work that you’re doing. I feel like you treat us like we're experts. We rarely get that treatment from anyone, let alone a tech company.”
Thanks, Lyndsey!
By Will Belton