Centre to provide support for women, children, families in Regina
The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Regina opened the doors to their new kikaskihtânaw Centre on Nov 6, 2024. The center, located at 2817 12th Ave, is a step towards providing support to women, children, and families in need.
YWCA is a national organization that began around 150 years ago in 1870. The Government of Canada’s website lists YWCA as the largest and oldest multi-service organization in the country. The website also states that YWCA has over 32 associations functioning in over 400 districts and towns nationwide, offering both services and activities to women and their families. YCWA’s website claims that it aims to further its national goal of empowering women and standing up for social justice by creating change through informed advocacy.
According to YWCA Regina’s webpage, the organization came into Regina in 1910 to support a large number of young female settlers who were in need of friendship and support. YWCA’s first endeavor in Regina in 1910, known as the Traveler’s Aid program, helped women by connecting them to resources, families, and communities. More than a century after coming into Regina, YWCA continues to serve the women, children, and families in need.
“In over a century since YWCA Regina was established, much has changed, but we continue to respond to the immediate needs of women and children, stabilize crisis situations, build social networks, and connect women, youth and children with the resources they need to survive and thrive,” states YWCA Regina’s webpage.
YWCA Regina’s new kikaskihtânaw Centre is a part of the organization’s “Here for Her” campaign. The website calls the center “The Place We All Succeed.”
The facility’s official website states that Saskatchewan has the highest domestic and sexual assault rate in Canada and Indigenous women and girls are six times more likely to face such violence. The website claims that around 80 per cent of women who seek support at YWCA do so in an attempt to escape violence.
According to YWCA’s webpage, 3000 women seeking support at their shelter had to be turned away due to lack of space. The new facility aims to address this problem.
Last July, in a conversation with The Regina Leader Post, YWCA CEO Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen had said, “This will be the first of its kind in terms of a hub based on a feminist platform that is meant for women and their families.”
The name “kikaskihtânaw” means “we all succeed” in Plains Cree, and, according to The Leader Post, was bestowed upon the centre by Nina Wilson, a Kahkewistahaw First Nation Knowledge Keeper.
On the centre’s official opening day, Melissa Coomber-Bendtsen said to CTV that “Our women have been in this space now for three weeks, and I can already see the way that they navigate a day, how they gather together, what they’re doing to support each other, is different.”
Tanya Bunnie’s statements to CTV highlighted the importance of the facility to women in need. “It felt like home. It literally felt like home. Like I came here and there was no barriers or anything [….] every time that I got a chance to come into the shelter, they [welcomed] me with open arms. And they were like, all right, what next? What can we do for you? How can we help you?” said Bunnie.
The new facility was built via joint funding of over $70 million by donors, community partners, and all levels of government. According to the YWCA’s website, the facility covers 96,000 square feet and includes 72 supportive housing suites, 41 emergency beds, along with family suites with adjacent rooms and child care spaces that accommodate up to 180 children.
