CEDAR BRANCHES FINALLY OPENS, AND PROGRAM SUPERVISOR ADRIA WANTS TO SHARE THE JOURNEY WITH YOU

The new Cedar Branches Women’s Shelter

After years of tireless efforts from several generous partners, staff, countless advocacy hours, and an unyielding community commitment to the cause, the grand opening of Cedar Branches Women's Shelter, formerly known as Charlotte's Place, took place on December 14th, 2023. This fully renovated shelter with double the occupancy of the previous location is a triumph we are thrilled to celebrate. The doors have finally swung open, revealing more than just a building – but a sanctuary designed with love and filled with hope for women in need. 

As the anticipation for the grand opening buzzed in Cowichan, I had the privilege of sitting down with Adria, Cedar Branches Women's Shelter Program Supervisor. Her passion was as palpable as her determination when she spoke about the arduous but rewarding journey that led us here. She shared her visions for the future of this life-changing initiative and gave some insight into the changes happening between the move from Charlotte's Place to Cedar Branches. Read on to hear how this project came to life and what lies ahead for this beacon of hope within our community. 

How did the name change get decided? And why did it change? 

It just felt like the perfect time. We have a new building and an opportunity for more programming and support services. It feels like the right time to grow into a new name that better encompasses our whole team and the work we’re doing.  

I was a little bit nervous to discuss a name change with Jan, our Executive Director at that time. I know it can be quite a process especially as we were well known in the community as Charlotte’s Place, but there was a lot of support about finding a name to fit our vision for our new space and programs. I brought it to the Indigenous Women's Council to put the decision-making process with them. It was very emotional talking about our shelter – our history, where we came from and where we want to go. The name actually came out pretty quick. The suggestion of Cedar Branches definitely fit. I felt like it reflected our team so well. A Cedar branch on its own is important, but branches together are so much stronger, they are home to so much life, and offer shelter. Branches sway and bend in the wind and respond to their environment, just as we do with our women and community. 

What are your pipe dreams for the program? What is the vision? 

I'd say we've always been beyond just a shelter. Now, we really want to connect the program to health and wellness, in a client-centred and trauma-informed way. It’s important for us to listen to our clients and hear what health and wellness is for them, without an agenda or what we think they need. We really try to work in the moment with our clients, listening to understand what an individual needs. We spend as long as we need to moment by moment with our women until they can start to feel safer and build trust and it feels possible to look outside of the moment to tomorrow, and the next day, and an individual can start to consider the future and next steps.  

What would you say are the program’s best upgrades thus far, besides the amazing renovations? 

We now have the possibility to support 20 clients within the shelter, which is almost double what we had before. I really love that with the different areas of the building we’re able to create a hybrid model to support clients in all different stages. We have a downstairs area that is much more independent. This area has private rooms, a client common area, and a client kitchen where they can bring in their own food and have much more responsibility and agency.  

On the main floor, we have several rooms with shared ‘dorm style’ rooms. These are for clients new to the shelter or those who have higher needs. They’re a bit closer to staff, so those clients have much more support close at hand. On this floor, we are also working towards having a more ‘drop-in’ style program. These folks will not move in with us but will have a window of time where they can come in, rest, warm up, shower, and head out again. This also gives a good chance for more street-entrenched clients to get to know us, test out our services without commitment or expectation while building trust and relationships.  

Another huge improvement is our Wellness Room. We were so lucky to be able to bring in Heather Taylor as our Nurse Practitioner. She is able to do everything a GP can do--order prescriptions, tests, exams, etc. It’s been incredible as there are so many barriers to our women being able to access health services. Already within the first month we have seen huge improvements in health and health resourcing. She works out of our building on Mondays and can see not just our existing clients, but any woman who is unhoused or precariously housed.  

To support Heather, we also have a full-time Client Navigator, Ellen Mitchell. This is proving to be so instrumental in bridging gaps between our clients’ needs and goals as well as community connections and resources. Ellen really takes time to listen to each individual and follows their lead on what they want and need.  

Is there anything else you would like to add?  

Just my huge and immense gratitude and appreciation for everyone who has supported us up to this point. We really couldn’t have done it without the community support and partnerships, and all those who gave us so much of their time, expertise, advocacy, financial support, and so on. The list is endless for all the support and kindness we have received.  

I am also so forever grateful to our staff team. We have such a dedicated, compassionate, and caring team who work tirelessly to support our clients and our community. They have truly been the drivers behind our innovative programming, the ones always pushing us towards the next step and setting our sights higher because of the care they have for our clients and community.  

Program supervisor Adria on far left cutting the ceremonial ribbon with a group of incredible women (CWAVS directors, funders, and political figures) who all came together and helped make this project possible. Taken at the Cedar Branches’ Grand Opening on December 14th

In a final editorial note, thank you to Adria and the staff at Cedar Branches for taking the time to meet with me before the busy grand opening! The launch of the new Cedar Branches Women's Shelter in the Cowichan Valley is a promising step towards supporting the lives of vulnerable women in our community. Adria and her staff foresee the program creating an immeasurable impact by offering health and wellness services, trauma-informed support, accessibility, more beds, and, hopefully, more in-house services for clients. The inception of the Cedar Branches name itself underscores the program's commitment to providing personalized, sensitive, and collaborative care. Cedar Branches is a space everyone can be proud of – a testament to community resilience and empowerment. Please join us in celebrating this milestone together as we continue to support initiatives that uplift women's well-being.