Camrose Energy is excited to introduce the Camrose Women’s Shelter Society as our newest Community Partner! New Camrose Energy customers may now elect to have their portion of 10% of our annual profits donated to the Camrose Women’s Shelter – just by paying their utility bill they’re helping this vital and worthwhile community resource.
SERVING CAMROSE AND AREA FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS
Since 1983, women and children fleeing domestic violence, in crisis or experiencing temporary homelessness have found safety and support in the Camrose Women’s Shelter. The Shelter was actually started when officials from St. Mary’s Hospital, police agencies and Social Services approached the Business and Professional Women’s Club to find a way to assist the growing number of women in the area facing physical abuse.
From its humble beginnings almost 40 years ago, the shelter has grown to 22 beds in seven separate bedrooms, and provides support services to not just Camrose residents, but the surrounding area of over 127,000 people.
Each year, the Camrose Women’s Shelter sees about 400 women and children come through its doors, and also responds to over 100 crisis calls a month.
WHY THE CAMROSE WOMEN’S SHELTER?
I’ve had a long-time connection with shelters, and the families served by them are close to my heart. When I was a university student at Augustana, I volunteered, then worked as a summer student, at the Camrose Women’s Shelter. After graduation I was a Crisis Intervention Worker at a shelter in Edmonton for the next seven years.
The stories and experiences of many women and children experiencing domestic violence are heartbreaking, but shelters are instrumental in helping victims regain control of their lives and transition into a new and more positive living environment.
In a perfect world all people would be free from violence and abuse, but until that time comes, facilities like the Camrose Women’s Shelter are committed to providing safety and support services for individuals and families affected by violence and abuse.
WHAT DOES THIS PARTNERSHIP MEAN FOR THE SHELTER?
According to Nora-Lee Rear, Executive Director of the Camrose Women’s Shelter said that by becoming a Community Partner with Camrose Energy, the Camrose Women’s Shelters future looks environmentally friendly, as the funding will be invested in solar energy.
Adding solar panels to both our current site and our future Second Stage Transitional Housing project will give the organization the opportunity to lower monthly utility costs significantly and generate clean energy for our facilities,
Every year approximately 400 women and children walk through the shelter doors, carrying the pain, grief and fear that violence and abuse create. It is because of community support like the partnership with Camrose Energy that the organization has the ability to provide families access to safety, new opportunities and healing from traumatic experiences.
Nora-Lee
MORE THAN JUST A SHELTER
According to Nora-Lee Rear, the Camrose Women’s Shelter provides a crucial service by helping women and families in crisis find a safe place to stay, but there’s more to the Shelter than a roof and walls. The Camrose Women’s Shelter first provides families with basic needs – like food, hygiene items and accommodations – but supportive services including counselling, referrals, safety planning, domestic violence information and life skills education are also available to help women escape the threats, abuse and violence they have experienced.
PROGRAMMING SUPPORT AND EDUCATION
Nora-Lee explains that in addition to the shelter services, the Camrose Women’s Shelter Society offers a wide array of supportive programming including:
- A 24/7 crisis line providing emotional support, safety planning, advocacy and referrals.
- An Outreach Program to help women transition from the emergency shelter into the community.
- A Family Support Program providing a wide range of emotional, educational and informative supports about the effects of family violence on children
- An on-site School Program with classroom instruction consistent with the Alberta Education curriculum while tailored to a child’s academic ability.
- An on-site licensed daycare with age-appropriate activities for children during their stay.
BELIEF STATEMENTS
Nora-Lee added that the Camrose Women’s Shelter Society and its staff is a team that can rely on each other with humour, collaboration and forward-thinking, and they believe:
- That children and families are central to our vision of making a safe place free of violence and abuse. We do this through a trauma-informed lens, understanding and respecting diversity, spirituality and culture.
- In creating a safe, secure environment for everyone, both inside and outside the organization.
- In an environment of respect, empathy and compassion. With transparency, honesty and trust we support people.
TRAUMA INFORMED VALUES
The Camrose Women’s Shelter Society values a Trauma Informed Care approach to healing and recovery, and Nora-Lee noted this method differs from traditional healing practices that may inadvertently re-traumatize women and their families. Re-traumatization is any situation or environment that resembles an individual’s trauma literally or symbolically, which then triggers difficult feelings and reactions associated with the original trauma. The potential for re-traumatization exists in all systems and in all levels of care: individuals, staff and system/organization.
These six values are:
Safety – Ensure that the staff and people we serve feel physically and psychologically safe. This includes promoting a sense of safety in interpersonal interactions and ensuring that the physical setting is safe.
Transparency and trustworthiness – Ensure that organizational operations and decisions are conducted with transparency so that trust can be built and maintained among staff, clients and family members. This can be achieved by making tasks clear and maintaining appropriate boundaries.
Collaboration and mutuality – Ensure that there is a meaningful sharing of power and decision-making. Our goal is to level the power differences between staff as well as between staff and clients. Everyone has a role to play in the Trauma-informed Care approach.
Empowerment, voice and choice – Ensure that each person’s strengths are recognized, built on and validated; and build opportunities for individuals to develop new skills when necessary. The organization aims to recognize the unique experiences of each person and includes a belief in the resilience and ability of individuals, organizations and communities to heal and promote recovery from trauma.
Peer support and mutual self-help – Peer support and mutual self-help are important vehicles for building trust, establishing safety and ensuring empowerment. These are integral to our organizational and service delivery approach.
Cultural, historical & gender issues – Ensure that the organization moves past cultural stereotypes and biases by offering gender responsive services; leveraging the healing values of traditional cultural connections; and recognizing and addressing historical trauma.
WE ARE PLEASED TO SUPPORT THE CWSS
Camrose Energy values the efforts and impacts that the Camrose Women’s Shelter Society continues to make on the Camrose region toward ending domestic violence. Camrose Energy is optimistic that by including them in our Community Partnership Program, our contribution can help them continue the great work they do.
