November Newsletter: Holiday Season, Outreach Friday Updates
And we are back! You may have noticed; we took a long hiatus from our newsletter updates. Like many other organizations, we were adversely affected by the pandemic and the many adjacent impacts to our work, our funding and our team. However, there is a lot happening in our world now, and we are happy to share some Elizabeth Fry Northern Alberta (EFNA) news with you below! Ensure that you’ve subscribed to receive regular updates from us.
EFNA Holiday Season
The holiday season is right around the corner! As an agency, we are in the full swing of Christmas planning with the goal of giving our clients in the community and correctional facilities a joyous and heart-warming holiday season. Lookout for our Holiday Boutique that is happening from November 29th till December 3rd, where we will be giving out clothing and Christmas presents for FREE.
Even during the turbulence of the pandemic, our team at E.Fry is working diligently to make sure that women, girls, and gender diverse folks in prisons will experience some Christmas joy. This season, our agency will be providing goodies for women, girls, non-binary and two-spirit individuals housed in the Edmonton Institution for Women, Edmonton Remand Centre, Edmonton Young Offenders Centre, Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre, Red Deer Remand Centre, Buffalo Sage Healing Lodge, and Elpida Halfway House. Whilst we enjoy the holiday season, we encourage you to give and be mindful of the individuals who are struggling from poverty, continue to languish in prison, and are spending the holidays isolated from their families.
Outreach Fridays
As the world around us shut down and even our own building became inaccessible, we knew we needed to do more to reach out to folks in the community and assist, provide resources, conduct referrals, and connect in new and meaningful ways. As such, we have started EFry Outreach Fridays! Each Friday morning our outreach team loads up a wagon with items to handout, including assorted snacks, water bottles, hygiene kits, masks and bus tickets. So far, we meander the Edmonton downtown streets engaging with the folks that we encounter to better understand their needs, listen to their stories, give them items from our wagon and provide appropriate resources. In the coming weeks, we hope to extend the Outreach Fridays in different areas of the city such as Whyte Ave and even as outside the city in places like Stony Plain. In October, we have dedicated a day of outreach solely to City of Red Deer.
We have observed that houseless folks in this city have been pushed to the outskirts and isolated corners of downtown to keep the sense of “normalcy” for the general public. It has been a frustratingly eye-opening experience to learn not only how much the COVID-19 pandemic has depleted valuable resources for those in need, but also about the continual pressures by law enforcement the houseless communities have had to face to relocate and remain unseen.
While the temperature continues to drop, shelters are often surrounded by crowds of people attempting to seek refugee inside but there is simply not enough space for the growing demand. This coming winter is expected to be a brutally cold one for the province, putting many Albertans at risk of frostbite within minutes of contact with the air. Many of our most vulnerable populations, such as indigenous women, girls, non-binary, 2-spirit folks, and elders, are on the streets with nowhere to go. They need necessities to keep themselves warm as the weather begins to worsen. Clothing items such as mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, earmuffs, coats, and especially socks are all commonly requested. The folks we work with need these items to survive and fight against dangerous weather conditions. This has been vocalized many times in our outreach mornings since we first began in September, and will only continue to be a pressing concern.
We know all too well the that the criminalization of poverty exists in our communities; however, with depletion of resources and community supports over the past few years, we have seen the exacerbation of complex cases of poverty, marginalization, addictions, mental health, houselessness, etc before the courts and at the hands of our justice system to address. We know, from a trauma-informed perspective, that we much go farther upstream and help folks before criminalization occurs. This is why our outreach efforts and the needs we are able to address are so important.
So, that bring us to what can you do to support vulnerable members of our community. We are currently taking any monetary donations through Canada Helps click here to aid us in re-stocking our outreach wagon. This can include gift cards you may have lying around as it could allow us to purchase warm drinks and food. Any type of support or donation would be greatly appreciated by us, a small gesture can go a long way in our agency’s efforts to support struggling community members.
Success Stories
In a one-on-one session with a client going over interview skills, she had done thorough research about the company she was applying to, used the tips I had given her, and delivered her questions clearly with confidence.”
“I really cherish those moments of witnessing growth; I know she did incredible.”
·- MILICA, PROGRAM COORDINATOR FOR COMMUNITY AND CORRECTIONS
“I received a call from a woman who is facing drug trafficking charges. She's made a lot of positive changes, including being clean 3+ years and getting her kids back.”
“She's now pregnant and still facing possible jail time due to mandatory sentencing.”
· - LINDSAY, EMPOWERMENT FACILITATOR IN RED DEER
Upcoming in our next newsletter:
Exciting, new, revamped approach to support decriminalization and decarceration!
Launching of our Prison to Community Program (P2C)! Watch out for updates and ways that you can become involved.
Official public re-opening of our main office location and restrictions (if any) will be in place
If you haven’t already, please follow our social media; we appreciate all retweets, shares, and likes so that we can beat the terrible algorithms plaguing social media these days!
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Northern Alberta advances the dignity and worth of women, girls, two-spirit and non-binary individuals who are criminalized and those who are considered at risk.
Contact: Toni Sinclair, Executive Director
780.784.2201
director@efrynorthernalberta.com