If you’ve ever been to West Central Women’s Resource Centre, you know it’s a colourful place. Different shades of purple adorn the awnings and many of the interior walls, along with happy artwork and murals. Even the building itself on Ellice Avenue is a pleasant sage green.
But the most colourful room of them all just might be the one where a group of women meet once a week around a table stacked with vivid and bright yarns. It’s a place to knit and crochet, share stories in sisterhood, and—for Winnipeggers like Kim—it’s a place to heal.
“It’s my happy place,” Kim says. “I’ve built a community for myself where I’m comfortable, and it helps with my recovery.”
The 32-year-old Winnipeg mom first stepped into West Central Women’s Resource Centre (WCWRC) about eight months ago, when her son Fern was four months old, and she was newly in addiction recovery.
The months and years before that day were tremendously difficult for Kim. Trained as a registered massage therapist, Kim was in the throes of a challenging relationship when she was introduced to drugs. The situation caused strife with her family, and she was forced to leave home.
“Addiction is loneliness … When you’re with other people,it helps with your recovery.”
“I was struggling before I came here,” she recalled. “I was literally homeless for six months. I had no food … It was really sad because I literally wouldn’t eat.”
Even though Kim knew she needed help, she didn’t know where to find it. She also wasn’t in a place in her life where she felt she was ready to ask for help.
“Addiction is loneliness,” she said. “When I was an addict, I didn’t want to go out. I didn’t want to be with anyone.”
When Fern was born, Kim was ready to fight and get out from underneath the grip of her misuse of drugs. She went looking for a place that could help with food and other basic needs for her and her son.
“I heard about this place, and I came (to see), ‘Is it for me?’” she remembered. “It is a resource … but it’s much more than that. They help you get on your feet again.
“I ended up coming here every single day.”
West Central Women’s Resource Centre empowers women and gender-diverse people in the community to move from where they are to where they want to be. United Way Winnipeg donors have been supporting their work since 2005. The centre saw more than 21,000 visits last year.
WCWRC is open six days a week and offers drop-in coffee and snacks, child-minding services, cooking classes, free haircuts, and regular programs such as drum making, beading, journaling, and crocheting.
The crochet group meets once a week on Friday afternoons and is made up of women of all ages in all stages of life. Teacher Sharon has been facilitating the class since 1999. She herself learned to crochet after suffering separate eye and head injuries as a child, so she intimately knows the healing power of the craft.
“The doctor said it would calm me down,” Sharon recalled, adding the group has been emotionally beneficial for her over the years. “The friendships that you make are special to me.
“If you don’t have the connection, you’re lost.”
When Kim arrived, Sharon helped her learn basic stitches and techniques. Kim’s been working on the same scarf for several months now, and she giggles when she wonders if she’ll ever get it finished.
But that doesn’t matter much to her. When she lays the scarf out on the table, it represents to her the time she’s spent with the group—and how far she’s come.
“I’ve learned to be grateful. Everyone’s so kind to me,” she says. “When you’re with other people, it helps with your recovery. You’re also talking to people who have been or are in the same similar situation, so you learn from them. And there’s no putting each other down. Instead of being like, oh, how could you? It’s like, just keep trying.”
The Canadian Centre for Addictions says art therapy—like painting, making music, crocheting, writing, and more—helps those on a journey of recovery because it supports emotional healing, builds self-awareness, improves coping skills, reduces stress, and encourages mindfulness. Some studies show that as many as 93% of art therapy participants report reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.
"It's really just being around other women—and women need to support each other."
Kim says she considers West Central Women’s a part of her safety plan in recovery because she can see the tangible positive results in her own life—in the power of community and the strength of connection.
“I’m trying to create healthier habits,” she says. “This is a good gateway because you’re surrounded by women. It’s really just being around other women—and women need to support each other. That’s the biggest thing.
“It’s just what I love about this place.”
