Noelle Ward
Mending Communities | Peterborough, ON
Noelle Ward is a 28-year-old transgender activist and social service work student. She graduated from Trent University in 2018 with a degree in Psychology and has continued her education in support services through Fleming College. Noelle works with multiple Peterborough-based organizations to help build a community support network among queer and other marginalized people in the city. Outside of activism, Noelle is a tabletop gaming enthusiast and LARPer, the latter of which helped inspire Mending Communities as she learned how many skilled crafters live in her local community.
About the Project
Mending Communities was born out of two unmet needs in the community. As anyone who has worked with clothing donations knows, there is always some donated clothing which cannot be used. Meanwhile, the skills people need to maintain or modify their own clothing are difficult to master and come with a high monetary cost in materials. Mending Communities will take unsuitable items and repair or upcycle them, while teaching community members how to maintain and repair clothing using these donations as training. Materials will be free to use so community members can repair their own clothing as well.