That's a great question. One thing I want to highlight is that the partnerships really developed over a very, very long period of time. Even before the dream of the building in 2008, a number of organizations, dating way back, were all doing the work of addressing issues related to violence against women.
One thing we learned early on, particularly in Peel, a community that is extremely diverse and has really exploded over time, is that really we had to work together to be able to provide the services. I think it's a real example of grassroots community development, all of us coming together and building those relationships. It takes time, investment, and commitment from a lot of people to really focus on what's most important to the people in the community.
In terms of the shared sense of values, it's really the values around respect. Really, what are we here for? Are we here for ourselves or are we here for the people we serve? I think that's the bedrock of the community partnerships. It's tricky. It's not always easy to do this. We have to navigate differences in cultures among different organizations and stay in conversation with each other. Part of what we do in working together is to create documents together around what our agreements would be. What are those values that we will abide by? How will we make decisions together? We strive for consensus decision-making. When that can't happen, then we go into a vote.
All of these relationships that get built over time really galvanize the relationships and set the focus on what's most important to the community we serve. It's great to be here to celebrate what we've accomplished, but I don't want to give you the impression that it didn't take a lot of time to forge that common vision together.