International Women’s Day received some early recognition last Thursday with a celebration of women during an open house event at the Estevan Envision Counselling and Support Centre.
The celebration to mark International Women’s Day, which was officially tabbed as being March 8, brought dozens of visitors as well as a host of employees to the centre.
Ed Komarnicki, MP for Souris-Moose Mountain, who delivered a cheque of nearly $167,000 in support of a pilot cyber violence project last year, spoke of the valuable work being done by Envision with their staff “on the ground” helping those who face abuse of varying kinds who don’t know where to turn.
“In weak and vulnerable moments, you need a place to turn to, where you can find encouragement and care immediately. This is a place of hope and recovery,” said the MP, who added that Envision is on the radar on a national scale and it is brought up as a model when it comes to providing assistance for those facing abusive situations.
Komarnicki went on to note how women have been making steady progress on the political side as well, citing the names of several women holding federal cabinet positions. He also noted that the leaders of the next federal election campaign teams for all parties will be women. He noted how it wasn’t too long ago when women were still struggling to be recognized as “persons” in a legislative sense.
Envision’s executive director, Christa Daku spoke briefly, thanking Estevan Police Service and Victim Services for their continual support. Paul Ladouceur, Estevan’s police chief, replied that so often the police got so tied up in “dealing with the bad guys and bad girls, we often forget the victim and therefore the assistance Envision provides is so welcome in the community.”
Mayor Roy Ludwig brought greetings from the City and also paid tribute to Envision and the work that women do, often doing double duty as homemakers as well as being a force of change in their community.
Earlier in the afternoon, Daku said Envision, with its head office in Estevan and field offices in Carlyle and Weyburn, calls upon a staff of about 80 with some of those being unpaid volunteers.
“Our client base is over 2,300, and the work can be challenging at times. We have to debrief ourselves regularly, lean on one another so we can help others,” she told the Mercury. There is no communication disconnect among the three offices, which is a big help and the common goal remains consistent.
“Ultimately we want to see people healthy so the challenge is to help them make changes,” she said. To do that, often requires home visit support staff as well as immediate safety outlets and support teams. She noted how the program has expanded from a modest $136,000 budget when the violence intervention program first got off the ground with Patt Lenover-Adams as the helm, to the point where they can offer extended services and support models within a $1.4 million budget.
“If we are to be agents of change, then I salute our front line workers, who make it happen,” she said.
During the open house, which attracted over 50 visitors for a three hour period, guests were shown around the facility that included conference rooms, interview offices and child and family spaces along with administration and communications offices.
