Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader

Tuesday evening women’s nights are back in Slave Lake.

“Northern Haven used to do their women’s outreach every week,” says Rebecca King, with Slave Lake and Area Women’s Wellness Society.

This group met on Tuesdays evenings in the Slave Lake Alliance Church to do various workshops. It was free and included childcare.

Northern Haven has changed its outreach model and has monthly Ladies Learning sessions, resumé workshops and other events.

However, the Tuesday group had a core group of 15 women who came regularly, says King. This is a multi-generational group, and many of the women don’t have family support in the area. Many are new to the area or single parents.

The group offered “somewhere to meet people, that’s not a bar, I guess,” says King. “It’s just to support each other through all of life’s ups and downs.”

King is originally from downtown Toronto. She moved to Slave Lake 11 years ago, intent on staying for five years. Now she’s deeply embedded in the community. For her, the transition from stranger to community member started with ParentLink. She was there every weekday with her young children.

The current government family resource in Slave Lake, the Children’s Resource Council, has a different approach. It has one weekly program, family visitation, a bi-weekly program, and offers courses once in a while.

“I don’t have family here, but I have family here,” says King about Slave Lake. What she means is that over the years, she has built up a natural support system of friends, fellow mothers, and other community members she can rely on.

For three months, she did a trial run of organizing ladies nights. Not having society status or grant funding, King had to charge and there was no child care. However, the workshops were still full. Unfortunately, some of the single moms and other women couldn’t afford to come.

This showed that there was a definite need for the group in the community, says King.

King and the other five board members started working on society status and applying for grants.

Women’s Wellness received a grant for childcare from the Emes-Lukan Memorial Society and a grant from Town of Slave Lake Family and Community Support Services for programs to the end of December.

On Tuesday evenings, Women’s Wellness will have free, weekly workshops on a variety of topics. These include finances, cooking, crafts, life-skills, and mental health topics, such as setting healthy boundaries. Women sign up for whichever topics interest them.

St. Peter’s Ecumenical Church in Slave Lake has donated the space.

“That’s just the space,” says King. “It’s not religious-based. It’s a great space, and Pastor Blessing he’s great. He encourages it.”

For details about what workshops are being offered, check out Slave Lake and Area Women’s Wellness Society on Facebook.

Slave Lake has mental health professionals with AHS Addictions and Mental Health and some private firms, but not everything to do with mental health has to be done by a professional.

“We’re not going to have the mental health resources that you need,” says King. “Especially, in a northern community where a lot of these women don’t have family support.”

Community groups and other natural supports can fill these gaps. Women’s Wellness plans on collaborating with other local groups such as the Regional Arts Council.

Weekly meetings are just the start.

“My goal is building up, so we can have mental health retreats,” says King. “There is mental health money out there. There is so much you can do with mental health.”