Women's Centre Homeless:

The Centre was forced to leave their new home on Harris Road on May 1st.  The decision to move was based on safety concerns for staff and clients.  The barn was full of old furniture and garbage (which was supposed to be cleaned out by the landlord but wasn't).  This in turn attracted rats which refused to stay in the barn and who frequently made their way into the house.  The back deck started caving in to a five foot root cellar and would have taken thousands of dollars to repair.  The outbuilding was full of mould and would have needed to be completely demolished and rebuilt.  We were told that if we did not continue to pay for the two buldings (the barn and the outbuilding that we couldn't use) the garbage from the barn would be put in our driveway so we could not enter or exit the property.  Power and control issues prevailed so the Board made the decision to leave.    The community has been so supportive of us in our new place but we just couldn't continue to fight all the odds.  We have Formosa Farms (on 203rd) on Firdays for their potluck lunch and healing day.  We invite those who would like to join us to bring a food item to share or their healing skills (reiki, massage, healing oils etc.) for an afternoon of discussion and support.  Taunia, our wonderful artist, is also working on her mural for the Women's Centre there.  It is an incredible masterpiece of artistic talent representing women's issues.

Christmas come early to Women's Centre!

After the exhaustive move to their new location the staff and volunteers of the Ridge Meadows Women's Centre just wanted to unpack, re-open and do what they had always done. This was not to happen. After painting the entire inside of the new house staff were getting blinding headaches and not feeling well. Scott Martin came out to look at the furnace after offering to clean it free of charge. What he saw caused him to immediately turn the furnace down and send everyone home. After talking to Cheryl Lynne Peters, Director of the Centre, Scott made the decision to donate a new furnace and have it installed through his company CR Martin Heating. "He was just a godsend to us" said Peters. We are busy trying to raise rent money and there was no way we could afford a furnace. The owners of the house live out of the country and aside from putting on a new roof, do not want to do any major repairs to it. We agreed that we would paint and prepare it for use as a Centre." All of the paint and supplies were donated by Benjamin Moore, Cloverdale paint and Rona while community members have given carpeting, home baked cookies for the painters and various items required for the Centre.

"We are now open and planning for Christmas" said Peters. On the 19^th from 2-6 p.m. we'll be having our annual shopping for mom day where the kids can purchase a new or re-gifted present and have help wrapping it by volunteers at the Centre. Van City is once again doing an angel tree for us and volunteers from the community are helping with our Christmas party at the Allliance Church. Donations of oranges, treats, baking and gifts would be greatly appreciated for these events.

In addition to the Christmas festivities, the Centre has also opened their "clothing boutique" and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard for community members in need of some extra food items on the weekends. Coming in January are a new weekly Mom and Tot day at the Centre, (ten acres of room to run, crafts, singing and stories) Teen Time, (a chance for teens to visit the clothing boutique, meet new friends and listen to guest speakers) a senior Tea and a Talk group (an opportunity for seniors to become involved with the Centre) Changes and Challenges (a support group for women experiencing any stressful times in their lives) and the Suddenly Single group for women and their friends or family members to attend to learn how best to support the newly separated person through the grieving process.

Volunteers are needed and are welcome to choose which program they would like to give their time to, whether it is administrative, in the boutique, assisting others with computer skills, fundraising, working outdoors or what have you. Peters added, "this is a new and exciting time of change for us, we welcome new ideas and new help." The Centre will be changing their hours to accommodate the new programs. "Also, we have space to rent now for those wanting to host a retreat, a meeting, a group, or even a wedding."   Interested community members can call 604-460-0064 for more info or visit our website www.ridgemeadowswomenscentre.com which will be up and running this month.