Article in Times Colonist (November 30, 2025) by Andrew A. Duffy with photo by Adrian Lam.
Cridge programs help everyone from women fleeing intimate partner abuse to young parents in a difficult spot and people with brain injuries or complex health needs.
With age comes experience, and the Cridge Centre for the Family has certainly picked up a few things over its 152-year history. The organization, on a hill overlooking the city at Hillside Avenue and Cook Street, has learned that being there for people in moments of crisis is important, but staying with them on the road to recovery is essential.
“We want to be able to give families a time of support — it’s not like a one-time support,” said Adam Richards, chief executive of the organization, which began as an orphanage but now provides a broad suite of social programs and housing, serving about 2,500 people annually.
Cridge programs help everyone from women fleeing intimate partner abuse to young parents in a difficult spot and people with brain injuries or complex health needs. Richards said many of its programs offer support for months at a time, sometimes in the form of gift cards for groceries and other necessities, to help create some stability and give people in trauma a bit of a break.
“Statistics show when a woman with her children or a woman on her own leaves domestic violence or intimate partner violence, they’re often in a state of poverty for three years,” he said. Forced from their homes and in need of new housing, they may have lost a support network. That’s where the Cridge and its suite of programs come in, Richards said. “We can reach in to help with the real needs of the individuals.”
The Times Colonist Christmas Fund has been part of that. The fund, now in its 70th year of helping people in need, raised about $1.34 million last year, working with the local chapter of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, to ensure the money is used as effectively as possible. Through the fund, the Times Colonist supports dozens of community agencies in Greater Victoria and elsewhere on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. This year, it provided $15,500 to the Cridge, which used the money to provide gift cards for food to families in need, sometimes with the added challenge of paying more for necessities due to allergies or dietary restrictions. “Often those foods are just that much more expensive,” Jennifer Smith, the Cridge’s director of communications.
Some of the money will also be used to support people in so-called second-stage housing programs — those who may have just left the Women’s Transition House or are part of the Cridge’s young parent outreach program. “The money we receive from the TC Christmas Fund is going above and beyond the basics we can provide, which is why we are so grateful for it,” she said.
Founded by Edward and Mary Cridge as an orphanage in 1873, the Cridge is the oldest charitable organization in Western Canada, Richards said. While its mission has evolved over the years, “children are still at the core of who we are,” he said, noting the Cridge has a large childcare centre. It also has a seniors centre, works with survivors of traumatic brain injury, and provides support for young parents in difficult circumstances and families raising kids with complex needs who may need a break. For women and children fleeing intimate partner violence, Cridge aims not just to get them into a safe place but to help them rebuild independent lives. Richards said the same is true of their services for people suffering from brain injuries. “We have sort of a continuum of care that we have with them, and we help them again work towards independence if possible, and if not, we kind of care for them through the journey.”
The organization gets some government funding for services for seniors and children that cover the basics, but its programs rely heavily on donations from the community — about $1 million in donations each year. Richards said they have a broad and generous network that makes many of the programs possible — the young parent outreach program and family R&R programs are completely funded by donations. “The need is always there — it’s more acute than ever,” he said, noting the organization has learned over the years how to maximize every cent.
He said the Cridge’s longevity and reputation have set it apart. “When things are tight, people want to know their donations are going to the right place — they’re maybe being a bit more choosy about where their donations go,” he said.
“We will never run out of need, unfortunately. The need will always outweigh what we can provide. Our job is to do as much as we can with what we have.” Both Richards and Smith stress that hope is at the heart of what they do, even though the need seems to grow every year. “We have seen the impact of our work. If we haven’t, it would be very difficult to do,” he said. “We’ve seen what a difference it can make in a person’s life to have somebody come alongside them where they’re at and want to walk with them.”
From Nov. 12 to Nov. 28, the 2025 Times Colonist Christmas Fund has raised $207,710.35, from 616 individual donors.
