Mark Saturday, December 5 on your calendar and plan to be at Stillwater Books and Art on Shoppers Row at 7:30pm to hear a reading by Nova Scotia native Harry Thurston. He is the new Haig Brown Writer-in-Residence at Haig Brown House.
Welcome to Campbell River Harry!
Tags: Campbell River, Haig-Brown, Harry Thurston, Stillwater Books, Women's Centre, Writer-in-Residence
Arts and Culture | ginaforsyth September 24, 2009 | 
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Monday through Thursday the door is unlocked and the phone is answered starting at 10am. And as soon as the clock strikes that hour and the door opens, the phone starts ringing and women and their children arrive. Welcome to the Women’s Centre.
Funding cuts to non-profits in BC are very much in the news right now. Although the Women’s Centre hasn’t been informed of any budget decreases in the near future, it doesn’t mean money challenges don’t exist. They do.
At a time when Centre services are being used more and more, the reality is that right now, the status quo can’t always be maintained.
For example, the Centre’s Antipoverty program is currently experiencing a significant decrease in donations. This program provides personal care items such as shampoo, toothpaste, soap, and feminine hygiene supplies to low income women and their families. It’s often a “way to build rapport with women,” said Georgette Whitehead, Executive Director. Women are more likely to ask for support should they need it if they’ve visited the Centre at a time when basic hygiene products didn’t last as long as the monthly budget, she added.
The money budgetted for this year for $20 formula and diaper vouchers was gone by spring. What lasted 12 months in 2008 only lasted until three months this year. Georgette attributes the huge increase in need to the economic situation. This program is currently suspended until the new budget kicks in.
The Drop In Centre Program component continues to be the heart of the Centre. On average, more than 420 women a month come into the Centre to have someone to talk to, to pick up a brochure from the large variety available, to use the computers, or to ask a question about housing, family law, or financial issues.
Consider this fact:
* Before the start of this school year, 310 bags of basic school supplies were given out free. This is an increase of roughly 30% over previous years. Average cost of each bag? $20 to $25.
The Centre’s Inspire Program, made possible through a federal Status of Women grant starting in the fall of 2007 through to the end of April 2009 is awaiting word on further funding. The program focussed on communication skills, self-care, and other skills related to give women the chance to make life changes.
Core funding for the Centre is a but a memory. It disappeared around 2003, when the Ministry of Women’s Equality was axed by the provincial government. Federal core funding was gone before that. Now the Centre limps along on project monies that have to be reapplied for each year with no guarantee it will be forthcoming again. There’s no such thing as long term planning under such circumstances.
But through it all, the two part-time staff as well as volunteers and board members are committed to keeping the doors open. The Centre’s three year funding agreement with the province remains in place until November 2011 and gaming revenues helps a great deal too, commented Georgette.
If you need emotional support or information about services available in town, please phone, drop in, or email. It’s a friendly, safe place and you will be welcomed. The Women’s Centre has helped thousands of women make positive changes in their lives. When you’re ready, let them help you too.
The Centre’s website is www.vinwrs.ca. Call them at 250-287-3044 or email them at womenscentre@shawcable.com. The Centre is located at 1265A Ironwood Road and is most easily accessible by parking in the lot on 12th Ave, across from Price’s Alarms. They’re open Monday through Thursday 10am to 3pm.
It may seem early to start thinking about sending the kids off to school for another year but at the Women’s Centre, staff is already accepting donations for its eighth annual School Supply Drive to make this time of year somewhat easier for low-income families.
Georgette Whitehead, Coordinator, said recently that if demand for this service is in line with demand for its others so far this year, the free school supplies the Centre gives out will certainly be popular again.
In years past, people have literally lined up outside the door on distribution days, she added, saying that in 2008, their program served 230 kids, primarily in the elementary grades.
These are the new supplies that are specifically needed:
* Binders (especially zippered ones for older students)
* Backpacks (“we never have enough,” said Centre Coordinator Georgette Whitehead)
* Lined paper (looseleaf)
* Keytab type exercise books
* Pencil cases and what goes in them - pencils, ball point pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners that contain the shavings, pencil crayons, fine tip black markers
* Wax crayons
If you don’t have time to shop but recognize the importance of this grassroots initiative and would like to support it, cash donations are also gratefully accepted. Cash allows centre staff to purchase in bulk whatever items are needed and which weren’t donated.
For the third consecutive year, the local branch of the Coastal Community Credit Union will be support this program through the donation of funds raised through its hot dog sale. In addition, the local Altrusa Club has given cash in the past and will once again this year provide volunteers to assist with shopping and to provide additional hands on distribution days.
Supplies and/or monies can be dropped off at the Women’s Centre during their regular hours of Monday through Thursday between 10am and 3pm at 1265A Ironwood Street. Their phone number is 250-287-3044.
Distribution dates, which are traditionally a couple of days before school starts in September, will be announced in the local newspapers.
The Women’s Centre has been serving women in Campbell River since 1983 and has been critical to the creation and development of several non-profit organizations, including the North Island Transition Society, which operates the Ann Elmore Transition House, Planned Parenthood, now called Options for Sexual Health, the North Island Advocacy Coalition Society (Now Island JADE), as well as the Business and Professional Women’s Network, Multicultural and Immigrant Services Association (MISA), the Women’s Sexual Assault Centre, now known as the Counselling Centre for Adults Affected by Abuse.
Have a look at their new website - www.vinwrs.ca.
