With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1273655
C R E AT E D BY BCBusiness I N PA RT N E RS H I P W IT H THE SALVATION ARMY building will allow program consolidation, adequate and appropri- ate space, and provide practical and compassionate support to the community's most vulnerable. Its programming will include a com- munity meal program, vocational training, counselling, life skills and career development, addictions treatment, and outreach services. It will include 46 transitional and long-term housing units, and 300 beds divided between emergency shelter, seasonal mats, a community correctional facility, affordable housing, and treatment beds for men and women. Women's Giving Circle An essential part of the development will be an addiction treatment program exclusively serving women. The program will occupy the building's third floor and offer 18 treatment beds and four transitional housing units. Board members Kathy McGarrigle and Sabine Kempe are chair and vice-chair leading a sub-campaign called Women's Giving Circle, and they are looking for others to walk with them on this journey. McGarrigle says The Salvation Army is the largest non-govern- mental provider of direct social services in Canada and one of the first adopters of addiction programs for women in this province. "They are passionate about the issue of helping women through addiction, and they quietly go about doing extremely difficult work, bringing hope to those who have very little," she says. Forty percent of the DTES population is women, and their chal- lenges are different from those experienced by men. Trauma, vio- lence, exploitation, physical, mental, and sexual abuse, survival sex work, complex family structure issues, and responsibility for children create more complex barriers for women and require specialized support. Kempe struggles to understand why there aren't more services for women dealing with addiction. "For women, the wait for treatment is up to three months," she says. "Navigating an addiction is hard enough; imagine doing that not knowing where to go or what ques- tions to ask. That is where my passion for this project comes from." The Women's Giving Circle calls on women in the business com- munity for help. "Women supporting women is not a new concept, but it contin- ues to evolve," Kempe says. "The value of the mentoring and coach- ing relationship that exists in the business environment is mirrored in women going through recovery." "From a corporate perspective, when you think of women sup- porting women, it is more around helping women progress in their careers, but there is help needed on a broader scale," McGarrigle says. "Addiction, abuse, sex trafficking—these are not sexy topics for corporations to talk about, but it is happening all over. The women facing these issues don't have a voice. Any voice we can give, any- thing we can do to shine the spotlight these issues can change lives." For more information or to get involved with the project contact Karenina Trinidad at info@ninestoriesofhope.org. n P R O M O T E D C O N T E N T WOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN "Besides this intersection of vulnerabilities, these women don't have the financial resources to access treatment, and that is why they need the community's support." Kathy McGarrigle (right) Chair, Women's Giving Circle