On Thursday (Feb. 2), Community Connections celebrated the opening of the Revelstoke Women’s Centre, a safe space for women and girls.
“The Women’s Centre idea has been something that Community Connections has been working on for over 10 years,” said Kerstin Bell, Director of Family Services with Revelstoke Community Connections.
A vision for the centre has been in the works with Community Connections and some women from the community, due to the growing need to bring awareness to gender-based violence and femicide.
Eventually, funding from the Canadian Women’s Foundation, a national non-profit organization focused on helping women and girls, helped make their vision a reality.
On Feb. 2, roughly 40 women and girls gathered at their new space on Orton Ave. to see the space for the first time and share ideas about the possibilities for the centre going forward.
What differentiates the Women’s Centre from the Revelstoke Women’s Shelter is that the shelter is meant for those with specific problems in immediate need of assistance or care.
The Women’s Centre is a drop-in safe space for anyone who identifies as a woman in Revelstoke, whether they need to nurse a child but have nowhere to go, want to gain access to counselling, require legal aid, or just want to enjoy their lunch with friends.
“If you need something, come here and we’ll figure it out together,” said Bell.
According to Bell, Community Connections is hoping that women from the community can help make informed decisions on what type of sessions they would like to see in the space, and for community groups to come to use it in thoughtful and meaningful ways.
“Our priority will be to just talk to as many women as possible and just hear what will be meaningful for women, then make all of our programmings according to that,” said Bell.
While the opening of the Women’s Centre will be a big step forward in championing women in Revelstoke, Bell added that there is still plenty of work to be done.
“I think little things like this make a real meaningful impact,” said Bell.
The Women’s Centre is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Monday through Wednesday, and on Fridays from 9 a.m. until noon.
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