by Marlene Goley, Manager of Cridge Transition House for Women and Outreach Services

For Beata, our Cridge Transition House Outreach Worker, the “no wrong door” approach can translate into, “Let’s just do it, okay?”

Beata has been working with a woman for many months who had so many set-backs, she was ready to just give up. Her ex-husband was not allowing their child to spend time with her; he was not paying any support; his mother was harassing her with false reports to the Ministry of Child and Family Development; and her Legal Aid lawyer seemed more interested in representing her ex’s interests than in hers. She requested a change of lawyers through Legal Aid but was denied with no clear reason given. Small wonder that she was ready to just give up.

Enter Beata who talked to this woman about how the Justice Access Centre could help her prepare for court and she could represent herself. The woman had little confidence that this would have a good outcome. Finally, Beata said, “Let’s just do it, okay?” It really wasn’t a question.

Beata took her to the Justice Access Centre and helped her figure out what she had to do. The woman carefully followed the instructions she was given and with Beata’s support, went to the scheduled court date. Although she was up against her husband’s lawyer, she presented her case so well that the judge ordered that her ex must facilitate 50-50 access with their child, that he pay her child support, and that he attend counselling. This success helped her reclaim her confidence and determination. Now she is the first one to say, “Let’s just do it, okay?”

Kevin sustained an acquired brain injury from a fall in 2009.  As a result, he experiences physical stiffness and cognitive challenges. Kevin does have good insight into his limitations and he works hard to pace himself accordingly.

Kevin will not allow his brain injury to hold him back. He does have struggles, but everyday he makes a commitment to live well and to get out and be a part of his community. In fact, if you are one of the lucky people to pass Kevin walking down the street or sitting beside him on a bus, you will likely be the recipient of his warm smile and often a “Good morning, friend.”

Kevin’s warm personality is engaging and he generally enjoys being with people. He has a great sense of humor, an infectious laugh, and likes to be an encourager to others.

After Kevin’s injury, he was faced with many day-to-day challenges. He worked through speech difficulties, fatigue issues, learning coping strategies to avoid verbal outbursts and how to deal with outside stimuli, like excessive noise. Like many other individuals, Kevin also struggled with substance use; however, he has worked on his recovery and this is now behind him.

Kevin lives his life to the fullest by using strategies daily. For example, he uses a pocket calendar, smart phone for texting and recording information, doctors’ appointments and his to-do list. Kevin does not shy away from work by any means. In fact, one of the struggles Kevin still faces today is putting the needs of others first. He needs to remind himself daily that his care plan needs to come first so he can be of service to others.

Kevin has a variety of interests including gardening, cooking, poetry writing, doing research, and building things. His connection with The Cridge came through volunteering at Macdonald House. He then went on to participate in our community kitchen and became involved with the Kale King program. Kevin’s interest in gardening and cooking was advantageous to this program as he quickly became a lead team member in gardening, cookie-making and selling products at the night market. Kevin now serves in the Daycare Breakfast Program and has made a great connection with the staff and children.

Kevin also proudly completed his diploma in Community, Family and Child Studies through Camosun College in 2014 – the same year he joined Kale Kings. In 2015, Kevin moved in to Mary Cridge Manor to further develop social interests and employment goals. Kevin is an avid volunteer too. He continues to work on yard maintenance at Macdonald House and cooks and delivers vegetarian meals weekly through the Food Not Bombs program.

By Alison Chamberlain

Misha comes into the Seniors’ Centre weekly to be a computer mentor to our seniors. He assists staff in providing technological assistance to the seniors in the building. Whether it is the senior’s own laptop, computer, iPad, smart phone, printer or other piece of technology, he is booked by half hour sessions to assist in the use, exploration or troubleshooting of these items.

By being very knowledgeable about both the item and how to walk a senior through the steps, Misha helps each senior to engage with it more easily and enjoyably. By helping them, he is allowing The Cridge Village Seniors Centre to support senior access and exposure to technology and our digital world. By taking the time to write down steps for the senior, he breaks the barrier of confusion or frustration with a device and allows them to build confidence.  Misha bridges a technology gap between generations while he gets the chance to engage meaningfully with his skill set as he decides his career path in college.

We are so grateful for Misha!

Michelle is the owner of a local gift shop that has faithfully donated their unsold merchandise to The Cridge for many years. This merchandise has been distributed to tenants of Cridge housing (women fleeing intimate partner violence and immigrant/refugee families) , as well as clients of our Cridge Transition House outreach in the community.

Recently, Michelle stepped forward to take on a volunteer role in helping us to distribute donations to clients. She created a beautiful, free “gift shop” called Oasis, that women can come and select items for their home, gifts for their children, and personal items such a jewelry for themselves. Michelle opens the store weekly, and uses her natural sales abilities as well as her huge heart of compassion to support women to select items. Steve, from Educators.co.uk says that “this will help them to feel proud of their new home, and their new violence-free life.”

The difficult journey from violence to safety, from persecution to freedom is paved with love, care, grace, mercy and kindness by this volunteer’s vision and efforts.  She walks alongside us to create success and beauty in lives that are damaged by violence and pain, and in doing so, is helping create a path to health and wholeness.

My volunteer experience with The Cridge Centre for the Family Dovetail Program and The Cridge Transition House for Women has been a life changing and fulfilling experience. I decided last year, later in life, that I wanted to make a career change into the social work field. I search extensively to pick an organization that I wanted to volunteer with and I decided The Cridge Centre was a perfect fit for me.

From the moment I contacted Karen about volunteer opportunities, she has been nothing short of wonderful. She has made sure throughout the process that the volunteer work I am doing is both meaningful to me as a social work student, the clients I am privileged to work with and the organization as a whole.

I started my volunteer role at The Cridge Transition House helping with a variety of tasks that span from driving residents to appointments to cooking, cleaning and child care. This original opportunity has blossomed into working with Karen at the Dovetail Program, assisting her with accompanying clients to Vancouver for Immigration and Refugee hearings, attending court with clients and preparing briefings for lawyers to assist in ongoing client court cases. This experience has been invaluable to my training to be a social worker. I have enjoyed my volunteer experience so immensely that I will be doing my first practicum at The Cridge Transition House this Fall.