Connection

2020-2021 Annual Report

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Table of Contents

About Us ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
Land Acknowledgement............................................................................................................................ 1
Mission ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
Vision ......................................................................................................................................................... 1
Pillars & Values.......................................................................................................................................... 1

Snapshot of 2020/2021 ................................................................................................................................ 1

Staff, Support, Board Members & Volunteers ............................................................................................ 2

Message from the Chair ............................................................................................................................... 3

Message from the Executive Director ......................................................................................................... 5

Safe Home Program Report ......................................................................................................................... 7

Outreach Program Report ............................................................................................................................ 9

Capacity Building & Creating Stronger Supports....................................................................................... 11

Fundraising ................................................................................................................................................. 12

Donors, Funders, Friends ........................................................................................................................... 13

Looking Back ............................................................................................................................................... 14

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ABOUT US

Land Acknowledgement
The Golden Women’s Resource Centre gratefully acknowledges that we live and work on the territory of
the Ktunaxa people, who share their land with the Secwépemc people, and home of the Métis Nation
Columbia River Society.

Vision
An equal world where all women and girls feel safe, respected and empowered.

Mission
To provide direct services and supports to women and girls promoting their safety, empowerment and
equality. Through collaboration, education and advocacy we inspire community commitment to change.

Pillars & Values

We will operate in a way that is:
We stand for: ● Accountable
● Gender equality ● Accessible
● Empowerment ● Client-centered
● Equity ● Collaborative
● Self-Determination ● Confidential
● Non-violence ● Ethical
● Safety ● Feminist
● Support ● Inclusive and informed by intersectional feminism
● Professional
We will treat people with: ● Reflective and up to date
● Empathy and compassion ● Response based
● Open minds in a non-judgemental way ● Transparent and honest
● Respect and dignity ● Trauma informed
● Trustworthy

2020/2021 SNAPSHOT

Services & Programs Offered:

Shelter for women & children fleeing violence RISE Virtual Legal Clinic
Safe place to hang out Light Meals
Safe Home Program (Women’s Shelter) On-site computer support
Women’s Shelter 24-hour crisis line Free computer and internet access
Stopping the Violence Outreach Program Free faxing & phone use
3rd Party Reporting of Sexual Assault Feminist Resource Library
Information, education & referrals Free coffee & tea
Advocacy & support Free condoms & menstruation supplies
Support navigating the Legal System Breastfeeding friendly location

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STAFF, SUPPORT, BOARD MEMBERS, & VOLUNTEERS
We would like to recognize and thank all the people that make the work we do possible.

Staff
Alycia Weir – Policy & Procedure Update as well as Outreach Education, Events & Support
Carol Brown – Assistant Safe Home Worker
Kelly Sudsbury – Fundraising Coordinator
Linley McLean – Executive Director & Stopping the Violence Outreach Coordinator
Roni Beauregard – Safe Homes Coordinator

Board of Directors Supports & Contracts

Katherine Enright Fiebig - Chair Alison Kippan – AK Bookkeeping
Jane Tevelein Doel – Vice Chair Baljit Rana – Safe Home Program Support Worker
Leslie Adams – Secretary Harriet Eastman – Safe Homes Program Support Worker
Sandra Corbett - Treasurer Karen Wilson – Safe Home Program Support Worker
Amy Angheluta – Director Kicking Horse Janitorial – Keeping us clean and healthy!
Katherina Miller - Director Maureen Hogan - Cleaning
Kristina Archer – Director Megan Crandall – marketing and promotions update
Susan Cowan - Safe Home Program Support Worker

Volunteers
Volunteers are an important part of our organization. Contributing their time, skills, energy, creativity
and perspectives. This past year, we were unable to provide volunteer opportunities normally available
at our organization. Thank you to all the people that reached out to our organization and offered to
volunteer. We missed having volunteers this year and we look forward to having them again soon!

The GWRC in the Community:

Our organization is involved with the following collaborative efforts, committees and more:
• Age Friendly Committee
• Community Coordination for Safety in Relationships committee
• Golden Community Social Services Co-op
• Interagency Case Assessment Team

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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

It has been a challenging, confusing, heart wrenching year for many women so the theme we chose for
the AGM this year is “connection'.

Despite the Golden Women's Resource Centre having to operate differently due to the Public Health
Orders we did not slow down in our initiatives to uphold the rights and promote the advancement of
women.

As Linley McLean's Executive Director and Stopping the Violence Outreach Coordinator’s Annual Reports
and Roni Beauregard's Safe Homes Annual Report will show support services for women continued
throughout the year.

Through an image refresh process over the last couple of years we successfully launched a public group
page on Facebook called Golden Women's Resource Centre with 276 followers and 259 likes, coupled
with our Golden Women’s Resource Centre Friends group with 472 members and many more followers.
We use this platform, expertly managed by Alycia Weir, to share information and offer support. One
particular post that touched my heart was Wildsight Golden awarding the first annual memorial Ellen
Zimmerman award for outstanding contributions to the environment in the Upper Columbia Region to
Rachel Darvill. We miss Ellen so much and she will now be remembered and honored forever.

We zoomed lots! Board meetings, committee meetings, community events and even a social gathering.
Survival functioning through a pandemic!

Our annual major fundraising event, the Starlight Soiree, was canceled as public gatherings were not
permitted so our ever-resourceful Fundraising Coordinator, Kelly Sudsbury organized a calendar raffle.
Her efforts enabled us to award a prize every day through March and helped bring in much needed
fundraising dollars.

I reached out to women in the community asking them what had been their experience during the past
year. I will end my message with their insightful, inspiring comments.

Our board Treasurer Sandra Corbett talks about her connection to the Golden Women's Centre Society
when she states:
I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the board for this past year. It has been a year of challenge with
Covid yet we have stayed the course with the program to support women in the community. We also met
our goal of fundraising! Ongoing work with the Policy and Procedure Manual and updating the Vision
and Mission Statements has been a huge effort and two of our Strategic Priorities!

Thelma Brown shares her thoughts on how she is connecting with herself during this time of social
distancing:
Looking for some goodness from the last dark year has revealed some valuable things I have learned.
Being alone a lot and being on a legislated time out has quieted and slowed me down. I have had the
opportunity to take a magnified inspection of who I am, understand what I need to let go, what to
honour and appreciate going forward, and a reminder of what to be grateful for.

Jane Tevelein Doel found connections through her art and through her past saying:

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At first during the pandemic, making Art seemed far away from anything I was doing in my
survival mode. Eventually I went back to some thoughts I had had about 18 months previously
when starting a new Series, provisionally called Icons, I tried to contemplate our basic necessity to
have some form of visual touchstones in times of change.
Where do we go? How do we find our feet? What are the images meaningful to each of us in these
complicated times?
I have reached far back in time in my European culture and beyond, and find that from very
ancient times Humans made Art with meaning. It could be a small Ice Age carving on a mammoth
tooth to hold close as a totem in times of need. It could be carvings of humans and animals on a
rock face, to communicate an event of huge importance and significance to the lives of the makers,
or a universally known symbol such as the symbol for Peace which continues to inspire so many
people throughout the world. Whatever works for each of us becomes our Icon.

Amy Angheluta shared this message of how she found connections through the ways we connect and
support each other:
The last year has been so big on so many different levels. I find it hard to bring my thoughts together in a
concise way so I will go with what stands out to me the most: How we connect. On the surface covid has
been about separation, but I have found deeper connections with people in my life that I would not have
connected with had there not been a pandemic. It highlights the importance of reaching out, listening
deeply and being curious. The way through to the other side of this pandemic does not always seems
clear or certain. In a dark time in which there are so many things we can’t do we can look out for each
other and check in with each other. Some days receiving a message that someone is thinking of me has
been just the thing to help when days feel heavy.

With love,
Katherine Fiebig
Chairperson

Board & staff showing off self portraits during a zoom get together.

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MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

What a year. COVID-19 has shifted our lives in unprecedented ways. As we learned more about COVID-
19, we understood that limiting in person contact was an effective way of preventing its spread. Of
course, this resulted in physical distancing, working from home, no longer meeting in person, not being
able to host or attend events, not having volunteers, and shifting how we provide some of our services.
COVID -19 created ongoing stress in our personal and professional lives. I want to recognize the staff
and the board of directors, who developed and adjusted the Golden Women’s Resource Centre’s safety
plan as we navigated ever changing information, and public health orders, who adapted as required, and
who continued providing supports and services to clients and simply doing the work. I am deeply
grateful to each of you.

After navigating this past year, there is one thing that really stands out to me, and that is the value and
power of connection. As we adapted to public health orders and worked to reduce physical contact, for
a period of time, staff worked from home, with only one person at the Women's Centre at a time. While
this was an important decision, with the intention being to reduce contact points among staff and
clients, it also brought to light the importance of co-workers and their impact on my work, and
wellbeing. The work we do can be hard, and heavy and having a team makes it easier to do. I am more
productive, more creative, and more motivated when I am connected to my co-workers. It's more than
distributing the workload, it's about wellbeing. Realizing this, we adjusted our safety plan to ensure
more connection among staff.

I have been missing the women that are casually

a part of the Golden Women's Resource Centre.
The regulars who stop by to use the computer,
check out the Good Karma Exchange, eat lunch in
the lounge, or simply stop by to say "hi". These
connections, and this sense of community that
they bring, adds tremendous value to our
organization and the Women's Centre as a space.

I have been deeply moved by the number of

people that have reached out to our organization
during the pandemic, offering their time and to
help out in any way they can. Due to COVID-19,
we did not have the volunteer opportunities that we typically do. Volunteers contribute so much to our
organization in a variety of ways, and while their presence was missed, the number of people that
reached out, and wanted to connect with us was moving. I hope that we will get back to having
volunteers in the Women's Centre and helping out with events again soon.

We made some new connections this year, with Kicking Horse Culture reaching out to partner with us
and bring shameless hussy's Dissolve to our community, and the Golden Rotary Club sharing proceeds
from their hugely successful Friday night bingo, along with other businesses and donors, all contributing
to our organization, our vision and mission. We also turned to existing connections with partner
organizations as we touched base to try and get a sense of the community's wellbeing or to better
support clients.

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As Public Health Orders relax more and the number of COVID-19 cases decrease, I will be grateful to
move back to working more with clients in person again. The safety plans we had in place and the
adaptations we made were important in the context of a pandemic, but I believe that our clients missed
the in-person connection, the availability to drop in, and ability to see our faces and to have theirs
uncovered as they share their experiences with us, and we work with them towards safety and
wellbeing. While we reflect on the impact COVID-19 has had on us as service providers, we recognize
the impact it has had on our clients, and their experience of our services.

All these connections and the important role they play as part of the Golden Women's Resource Centre
have been made more visible and meaningful this past year. Thank you to everyone for connecting with
us.

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SAFE HOMES
Program Coordinator: Roni Beauregard
Funded By: BC Housing & donations

The Safe Home Program Services

• Temporary confidential shelter for women and children fleeing
violence (safe two bedroom, fully furnished suite, including linens
and dishes, in a confidential location)
• 24-hour women’s shelter crisis line and support for women
experiencing abuse
• Women and children in the shelter are provided with toiletries &
food
• Non-judgmental and supportive crisis response
• Safety planning suitable to each person's unique situation
• Advocacy, referral, and accompaniment to community resources
• Respect for women’s choices
• Emotional support
• Information regarding women’s options
• Referrals to Safe Homes/Transition Houses in other communities
• Transportation provided when appropriate

We are proud to provide the Golden Women’s Safe Home Program. The Safe Home Coordinator is
available during weekdays to provide emotional support, support with safety planning, supporting
clients with developing plans for their next steps, and managing the shelter. After hours, on weekends
and during holidays Kootenay Haven Transition House answers calls for the Golden Safe Home Program
and when a woman (and her children) require shelter, Golden Safe Home Program Support Workers
(PSWs) are contacted and respond. The Safe Home Coordinator is available to back up PSWs who may
have questions or need accompaniment to shelter a woman. After the Women’s Centre closes for the
day, the staff at KHTH responds to calls to the Golden Safe Home program

Women and their dependent children that are fleeing abuse can stay up to 10 days in the shelter.
If there is space availability, the program can also accommodate women who are experiencing other
forms of crisis depending on the situation.

Statistics

March 31, 2020 - April 1 2021,

• 296 adult bed nights and 30 child bed nights. The make-up of this is 19 women and 26 children.
• The average length of a safe home stay was 16 days.
• Safe Home program supports were access 499 times
March 31, 2019 - April 1, 2020
• 585 adult bed nights and 362 child bed nights.
• Safe Home program supports were accessed 706 times

The Year in Review

Just like the rest of the world the Safe Home program had to adjust to accommodate public health
orders. There were many Zoom meetings with the contractor and other sources to ensure personal
protection equipment and Covid supplies were available, as well as adhering to policy and service

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delivery. Providing an essential service required some changes to delivery, for example having hotel
rooms available to serve more than one sheltered client at a time, changes in how clients are supported
with in person visits, transportation and access to the Women’s Centre. For a brief period of time I did
some work from home. I wanted to resist this, I did not want to bring that type of negative energy into
my personal space. Also included in the hundreds of zoom meetings was information on how to
continue to support clients, legally, mental health crisis, with provincial Income assistance and access to
the food bank. Other things continued on without too much interruption, zoom meetings with Social
Development and Poverty Reduction, the Interagency Case Assessment Team, the continued updating
of the GWRC’s policy and procedures. In the past year (another first) The Ending Violence Association of
BC hosted all of the annual training forum in a virtual format. While the reinforcement of knowledge is
always a great thing, the experience of “in person” training is far more energizing and impactful. There
were opportunities to take part in a nation-wide discussion about gendered violence to include mental,
verbal and emotional abuse to be considered a threat to health and safety, thereby criminal offences.

When I reflect on the past year, I think about the trend that the media was talking about, stating there
was expectation that incidents of violence against women and girls would increase. This was true in
some regions of the province, but it did not really represent the local picture. Those who were verbally
and mentally abusing their partners just included Covid 19 as part of the pattern of abuse. What I did
experience was a far more noticeable gap on how the genders were impacted. A few examples are,
while custody and access cases were put on hold, court orders to change maintenance payments were
not. In Canada, one in three women lost their wage income while one in ten men did. I also found more
than ever Golden needs a mental health response that is trauma informed. The mental health team we
currently have is wonderful but providing crisis support is a 24/7 job. I am thankful this conversation has
begun within the province.

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STOPPING THE VIOLENCE OUTREACH
Program Coordinator: Linley McLean
Funded By: Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General

Outreach Services:
• Provide emotional support to women who have experienced /at risk of experiencing violence, abuse
or threats
• Facilitate safety planning, problem solving, communication and risk reduction.
• Assist women in creating their own safety plan.
• Provide follow up and support for family law cases.
• Facilitate RISE Women’s Legal Centre’s Virtual Legal Clinic
• Facilitate women’s understandings of their experience and the emotional and psychological impact
of trauma while respecting women’s rights to their own values, beliefs, culture and choices.
• Support women that have experienced sexual assault, outline options surrounding reporting,
facilitate 3rd party reporting.
• Provide educational opportunities, resource materials and referrals to women who have
experienced violence. Connect women with existing services and resources that will promote safety
and independence.
• Provide local transportation, accompaniment and advocacy, as required, such as for medical
emergencies, legal or social services appointments and provide transportation to the local safe
home.
• Support the GWCS in the creation and development of complimentary programming to ensure
holistic and empowering support for women experiencing violence.
• Collaborate with, develop and work to maintain positive relationships with related service providers.
• Provide a community coordinating role to promote violence prevention and to reduce gaps
• Work to coordinate and collaborate at an inter-agency, multi sectored level (including other violence
intervention services, police, government authorities, faith and business. communities), to identify
and address service and safety needs of women and their children.
• Develop and deliver culturally appropriate public education initiatives to raise awareness of the
effects of violence against women, violence prevention; healthy relationships; and options for
women experiencing violence. Gather/create and distribute related educational materials.

Statistics
April 1st, 2020 – March 31st, 2021 STV Outreach one on one service was accessed 220 times by women
April 1st, 2019 – March 31st, 2020 STV Outreach one on one service was accessed 262 times by women.
April 1st, 2018 – March 31st, 2019 STV Outreach one on one service was accessed 172 times by women.

STV Outreach in the community

• Multiple awareness campaigns throughout the year on social media around how to support women
in abusive relationships, information surrounding gender-based violence, how to recognize abuse,
etc.
• We distributed a survey to our local partners to connect with them, but also to gauge the
prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual assault among their clients. This is the first step
in getting the Community Coordination for Safety in Relationships team back together. This will also
help us understand what questions our partners might have, what challenges they are facing – as
well as their clients – and how we might be able to help.

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• Throughout the year local service providers reach out to STV Outreach to ask questions about
challenges their clients are facing surrounding abuse of sexual assault, how we can help, and for
referrals.
• We partnered with the local Arts Society, Kicking Horse Culture, to bring shameless hussy’s live
performance “Dissolve” (a 1-woman performance about sexual assault) to Golden. There were 2 live
performances via zoom. After the performance, there was a live Q&A, STV Outreach participated,
and so did WAVAW. There were 2 performances: 1 with the local high school and 1 for any
community members in the evening.
• Be More Than A Bystander (BC Lions & EVA BC) held a virtual assembly at the Golden Secondary
High School. STV Outreach was present during the conversation portion of the assembly.

December 6th, National Day of Women’s Centre window display promoting Dissolve.
Remembrance and Action on Violence
Against Women Display outside the Post
Office.

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Policy & Procedure Manual & Promotional Media Upgrade
Funded by: Department of Women & Gender Equality
Promotional Media Upgrade: Mountain Town Digital
Policy & Procedure Manual Update: Alycia Weir

The Capacity Building Grant from the Department of Women & Gender Equality has allowed our
organization to align our Policy & Procedure Manual and our promotional material with our
organizational identity.

Through consultation with the board, the GWRC Policy & Procedure manual has been made clearer,
more thorough, more concise and more relevant to the centre’s current needs. It is being brought into
closer alignment with necessary legal requirements and current social awareness and inclusion trends. It
more clearly reflect the day-to-day operations of the centre and is a much more accessible resource
for our staff, board members, new employees, and volunteers. It includes updated vision, mission, and
pillars.

Our promotional materials, both print and electronic, are being updated and expanded. Our new
website will be available to the public shortly. We are looking forward to working with a local
videographer and creating a promotional video for the centre as part of this project. The aim is to
communicate better with our clients, community, donors and can be used as a fundraising tool.

Previous pamphlet compared to new one New sign with updated logo

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FUNDRAISING
Coordinator: Kelly Sudsbury

This year presented unique challenges to fundraising due to Covid-19. We were unable to host our
Annual Starlight Soiree Gala which is our primary fundraiser. However, with the support of our
community and the creativity of our team, we were able to rise to the challenge!

This year, the Golden Women’s Resource Centre’s fundraisers included:

 Give The Gift of Safety. A campaign in conjunction with the 16 Days of Activism, we invited people to
give the gift of safety to women and girls in our community by donating $31 to the Golden Women’s
Resource Centre in commemoration of the 31st anniversary of the Montreal massacre at L’École
Polytechnique in 1989.

 30 Days of Prizes! Raffle tickets were sold for a chance to win a prize each day of March 2021. Prizes
were donated by local businesses and artists and every single day in March there was a draw!

 Local individuals, artists and businesses raised money for the Golden Women’s Resource Centre in
their own way. Whether they donated the proceeds of their sales, or held their own fundraisers, we
are deeply grateful for their contribution!

 Golden Rotary Bingo! The Golden Rotary Club started hosting online BINGO games on Friday
evenings throughout the pandemic. On March 5th, the Golden Rotary shared half of their profits
from the regular BINGO games with the Golden Women’s Resource Centre.

 Donations from local businesses, and individuals.

Doing the daily draw in March - draw prize winner - Receiving a cheque from the Golden Rotary Club

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 DONORS, FUNDERS, AND FRIENDS
The Golden Women's Centre Society wishes to acknowledge the generous support received from our
donors, funders, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and members.

Alison Biles Golden Bakery & Deli Marie Lessard

Alpine IT Golden Clean Marin Lentz
Alycia Weir Golden Dental Centre Martin Steinheber
Ann Sutton Golden Optometric Clinic MERC Flooring & Paint
Anonymous Golden Rotary & Bingo Meriah Ruskowsky
Barbara Friedli Heather Barrett Metis Nation Columbia River Society
Big Bend Café & Shawna Degagne Heidi Perren Mitchell Beacom
Blaeberry Natural Cleaning Services Helena Oosthoek Moon River Gift Gallery
Bona Fide Higher Ground Myrna
Brandi Romano Indian Kitchen Noemie Roy
Charlie Adams Isobel Freeman Regan Johnson
Cherie Devlin Jane Tevelein Doel Robin Walker
Cherisse Feldberg Janet Rodman Rockwater Grill & Bar
Christina Perren Jayne Baun Ruth Sudsbury
Claudine St-Cyr Premont Jeanine Thiel Sabrina Curtis
Courtney Allen Jena Lee Photographs Sandra Corbett
Courtney Jones Jessica Joy Selkirk Ski & Bike
Darcie-Lyn Volkart Joy Orr Sherry Murrell
Darkside Kalika Bowlby Stephanie Knaak
Davene & David Dunn Kelly Sudsbury Susan Taylor
Desired Sugaring & Beauty Bar Kicking Horse Coffee The Island Restaurant
Dogtooth Construction Kicking Horse Janitorial Thread the Needle
Don Zimmerman Kicking Horse Mountain Resort Todd Menzies
Eat Pure Mountain Market Knead Wellness Tree Ring Prints/Kadi Alkuela
Eleven22 Restaurant Leslie Adams Turning Point Restaurant
Elizabeth Delong Leslie Hein Whitetooth Bistro
Fred McLean Leslie Parent Wild Beauty Styling Co
Gabrielle Clarke Lois Tisdale Zimmerman Construction
Lori Tisdale

Thank you to the families that request donations to the Golden Women’s Resource Centre in memory of
loved ones they have lost.

Our commitment to our community and dedication to the safety and empowerment of women is
validated by your support and donations. We appreciate deeply this show of confidence in our mission
and thank all of our supporters and funders for helping us continue delivering these essential services to
women of all ages and their children in our community.

Thank you to the individuals, artists, businesses, and organizations that had their own fundraisers for
the Golden Women’s Resource Centre, and to all the people that supported them!

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Looking back…

Red Dresses in honour of Missing and Murdered

Indigenous Women & Girls at the Metis Nation Cheryl Berry Winner of the 2021 Woman of Year Prize
Columbia River Office

The first of many board meetings via zoom…

A couple of dedicated volunteers. 

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