Welcome to the brand-new Nanaimo Women's Centre blog!

The Nanaimo Women’s Resources Society has a 25-year history of providing services to women in our community. Since we became a registered non-profit society in 1981, our staff and volunteers have always been available to help women in crisis. The Women’s Centre is located centrally in the downtown south side of Nanaimo, and we assist 300 to 400 clients per month, during the 60 hours we can afford to have our doors open. (Just 15 hours per week.)

We have lost our core funding, and with it our Executive Director. We’ve been forced to downsize our Centre, and we are struggling to make the rent so that we can continue to operate.
Government cuts to women’s programs in British Columbia have inordinately affected Aboriginal women, women of colour, immigrants, refugees, single mothers, women with disabilities, the poor and the elderly (Losing Ground: The Effects of Government Cutbacks on Women in British Columbia, 2001-2005). The effects on women in Nanaimo have been devastating, and demand for the referral, resource, counseling and legal services offered through the Nanaimo Women’s Centre continues to increase.

Nanaimo has one of the highest rates of single-women parenthood and child poverty in British Columbia. The rates of teen pregnancy, spousal assault, and illicit drug use and death are higher in Nanaimo than the B.C. average. Nanaimo female single-parent families earn $4500 less per year than the B.C. average. Compared with other communities in B.C., Nanaimo has the second highest rate of dependent elderly women. Between 1997 and 2002, the Nanaimo area saw a 130 per cent increase in family violence and more recently, a sharp decline in accessible legal services.

At our drop-in centre, women can access counseling, free legal clinics and workshops, free phone, computer, photocopier and fax services, support groups (such as our 16 Steps Recovery/Discovery for substance addiction issues and 16 Steps to Empowerment for eating disorders issues), referrals, a free clothing exchange, parenting support, emergency supplies such as soap, diapers and bus tickets and more.

Our goal is to keep our drop-in open as a first-line-of-action resource for women in our community. We are also seeking project funding so that we can begin to operate a much-needed Women’s Legal Services Program. This would provide women with practical legal assistance including peer counseling, legal education workshops and group sessions, individual assistance with court documentation and other educational workshops.

Civic elections are coming up on November 19. We wish all candidates luck, and we ask you all to remember that the Nanaimo Women's Centre needs your support!