After years of working together in a crowded house, the employees and volunteers of the Envision Counselling Centre finally have a little room to breathe.
Envision unveiled its new digs to the public during an open house Friday morning. (As per Envision's request, the location of their new office was withheld from this article.) Executive director Patt Lenover-Adams says although the move was a tough one for them, it was needed for the organization's future growth in Estevan.
"Obviously financially it was a hard decision, but we were renting a house from Cornerstone (School Division) and we were on top of each other," said Lenover-Adams. "But in order to grow and take on new programs we have to have a larger space."
Lenover-Adams noted that Envision moved to the new office in November and said the staff is still getting used to having such perks as offices of their own.
"We had four of the staff in the open area in the house. This is the first time we've all had our own offices and it's hard to get used to," she said.
Along with opening up more space for Envision's Estevan employees, the new location has also allowed them to introduce an important new program.
The Family Intervention Program was officially made available to the public on Monday and will enable Envision to provide immediate support and counselling to families experiencing a single or recurring problem.
"It is for families so that they can access services when they are in crisis," Lenover-Adams said. "They can't wait to get in to see counsellors, they need someone (now). The counsellor will go in and do couples counselling, family counselling or individual counselling if there is a certain member that needs it and get them reconnected, with the hope that after six weeks, they are ready to move on. They also gave us funding for a support worker with that program so she can continue on with them if they need someone to check in and see how it's going, make sure things are in line."
Alana Clow, who is the counsellor for the intervention program, said Envision recognized that there was a need in the community that wasn't being met by other services and decided to fill that void with their new offering.
"Anytime a family is in some sort of crisis, if there is a family breakdown of some sort, they can call us and we'll do intensive, short-term counselling - four to six weeks- and we'll hopefully get them to the proper resources in the community," Clow said.
"Let's say somebody has a teen that is acting out or doing some high-risk behaviour; it's not necessarily a mental health issue for the family but they would need someone to talk to so they can come in and get some support. Hopefully by intervening at that stage, it is not going to be a prolonged crisis."
Lenover-Adams said had Envision not made the switch to their new office, they wouldn't have been able to add the FIP to their slate of programs which focus on issues such as abused women and children, violence intervention, adult survivors of abuse and older person abuse.
"We just keep getting bigger," she said. "I couldn't apply for more funding or a grant, anything, because I didn't have the physical space for a desk. When Envision started, we had a budget of $147,000 and we are up to $1 million now. We've grown from three employees to 26 between Estevan and Weyburn."
