BC Coalition of Women's Centres


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The Herstory, Risk and Survival of BC Women's Centres
A Discussion Paper  |  May 2003
   

II. Profile of BC Women's Centres

Herstory
Funding
Activities of Women's Centres

>> Herstory

Local grass-roots feminists founded the majority of community Women’s Centres in the 1970’s.  Funding for Centres has changed many times over the years; most Centres currently receive a combination of Federal and Provincial funding for a range of programs, projects and services.  In the beginning, Centres were typically situated in houses in residential neighbourhoods.  Over the years, that has become a challenge for women in many communities, and now Centres are, more often than not, located in office-type environments.  A small number of Centres do not pay rent, as their City or municipality provides space to them for free or at a substantially discounted rate. 

There are 37 Women’s Centres in BC in the following communities: 100 Mile House, Campbell River, Chetwynd, Comox Valley, Cranbrook, Fernie, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Golden, Grand Forks, Howe Sound, Kamloops, Kelowna, Kitimat, Nanaimo, North Shore, Penticton, Port Alberni, Port Coquitlam, Queen Charlotte Islands, Quesnel, Richmond, Ridge Meadows, Sunshine Coast, South Surrey/ White Rock, Surrey, Terrace, Ucluelet, Vancouver, Vernon, Victoria, West Kootenays, Williams Lake, and Vancouver.

These Women’s Centres operate as non-profit organizations; about half of these have charitable tax status.  Volunteer board members or collectives govern the activities, staff and direction of Centres.  Membership ranges from around 20 up to hundreds of members, depending on the size of the community.

Co-coordinators, administrators, project coordinators, practicum students, volunteers and researchers carry out the work of Centres.

Women’s Centres generally have two main focuses that all the work of the Centre relates to:
  • Improving the status of women through political, social, economic and legal actions on a local, provincial, national and global scale
  • Providing direct services to women in the community determined by local needs

>> Funding

Currently, the only core funding Centres receive is from the Province of BC, Ministry of Community Aboriginal and Women’s Services, in the amount of approximately $48,000.00 per Centre per year.  This provincial funding provides for some direct services, events and advocacy for women in the community.  Some of the services* offered are:
  • drop-in and referral
  • crisis counselling
  • free telephone, fax, photocopier, computer use   
  • support groups
  • resource library and information
  • advocacy
  • public education
  • clothing exchanges
  • hot lunches
  • job-re-entry programs
  • self-help groups
  • umbrella for other groups to meet and become established
  • meeting space for women’s groups
  • women’s events including Take Back the Night, IWD and Dec.6th
  • community coordination, especially on the issues of VAWIR
  • community leadership on issues that affect women
  • housing registries
  • newsletters
  • volunteer opportunities
  • volunteer training
  • free legal clinics/workshops
  • social opportunities
  • parenting support
  • community kitchens
  • safe homes
  • emergency shelters
(*Not all Centres offer all or the same services.)

Through other provincial contracts a small number of  Women’s Centres also have:
  • transition houses
  • Stopping the Violence counselling services
  • Specialized Victim’s Assistance and Counselling program
  • Children Who Witness Abuse program
  • job placement programs
  • poverty law services
In the past two Six Month Descriptive Reports (July 1, 2001—December 31, 2001 and January 1—June 30, 2002), submitted to the BC Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services, all Women’s Centres indicated that they are busier than ever.  There has been a marked increase in poverty-related calls and violence-related calls. The reports indicate that in 2001, all  37 Women’s Centres combined received over 300,000 calls and drop-ins. 

A large majority of Centres have had to decrease their staff and the hours they are open to the public,  in recent months.  This comes as a result of changes to the provincial administration of Gaming funds, and cuts to other non-core funding contracts held by many Centres.  Direct Access Gaming funds make up anywhere from 5 to 59% of Women’s Centres annual budgets.

Many Centres receive Status of Women Canada funding for initiatives each year.  The initiatives periods are one to three years, with only a handful of Centres receiving multi-year funding.  Only a few receive Status of Women funding for more than one initiative at a time.


>> Activities of Women’s Centres

The last eighteen months have been particularly challenging for women and women’s organizations in BC.  In many communities across the province, Women’s Centres are the “catch-all,” especially when related services are no longer in place. 

Centres in rural and remote communities have the biggest struggles.  Women’s Centres in these rural communities have become “everything to everyone.”  The lack of access to technology in some of these Centres further compounds the problems. 

Many Centres are now finding their work re-directed, in large part due to cuts in women’s services in the province.  Women’s Centres are struggling to keep up not only with increased demand, but also with rapidly changing needs.  Changes to income assistance regulations, legal aid services, disability benefits and childcare, to name a few examples, are also adding a huge amount to workloads at Centres.

Women’s Centres are often the only voice in British Columbia on women’s issues.  Women’s Centres are taking the risks, speaking out and challenging systems that affect women’s equality.  Women’s Centres are true equality seeking organizations.  The ways in which that is done varies from community to community depending on a number of factors:  the economic climate, the political climate, community support, directives from organizational memberships, et cetera.  Attached is a sampling of some of the media work done by Centres throughout the province. 

In 2001 the BC Coalition of Women’s Centres (BCCWC) was created.  The Coalition’s mission statement is to “seek an end to the violence, poverty and other human rights abuses experienced by women in British Columbia, by supporting and promoting both independent and coordinated social change action among Women’s Centres and other equity-seeking organizations.”
 
All of the Centres in BC, with the exception of the Vancouver Women’s Health Collective, Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (Vancouver), Philippine Women’s Centre (Vancouver) and South Asian Women’s Centre (Vancouver) are actively participating members of the BC Coalition of Women’s Centres.

The BC Coalition of Women’s Centres has been active and involved in many actions, events and projects in the last year.

Women’s Centres are represented on a large number of community boards, committees, commissions, councils and groups, including municipal social planning councils, labour councils, violence against women in relationships committees, university and college community advisory bodies, anti-poverty groups, youth and family committees, employment services Steering Committees, crime prevention committees, anti-racism groups, safer community committees, drug and alcohol boards, transgender alliance groups, lesbian organizations and other community-based, provincial and national groups, as appropriate.
If you have questions/comments for BCCWC, please e-mail us at bcwomen@telus.net  For other contact information, please go to our Information Page

BC Coalition of Women's Centres • British Columbia, Canada
100 Mile House • Campbell River • Chetwynd • Comox Valley • Cranbrook • Fernie • Fort Nelson • Fort St. John • Golden • Grand Forks • Howe Sound • Kamloops • Kelowna • Kitimat • North Shore • Penticton • Port Coquitlam • Queen Charlotte Islands • Quesnel • Richmond • Ridge Meadows • Sunshine Coast • South Surrey/White Rock • Surrey • Terrace •  Vancouver • Vernon • Westcoast • West Kootenay • Williams Lake
This page last updated:  June 20, 2003
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