Case Study
Wellness Workshops for Staff and Newcomer Women
Provided wellbeing workshops that applied a healing-centered approach for community support workers and groups from marginalized populations
Client: Watari Counselling and Support Services
Location: Vancouver
Who we were working with: Management, frontline staff, and women with precarious status in Canada
What we were addressing
Community support workers on the downtown eastside of Vancouver are often passionate about the work they do. Given increasing caseloads and the complexity of circumstances, there is a growing need for mental health support for those working in the field. Staff often suffer from burnout and compassion fatigue and therefore require ongoing support and healing.
Newcomer women with precarious status are more susceptible to gender-based violence but have no ability to access services without fear of deportation. Newcomer women without status are not in control of their lives and have to put their future on hold. It is often a struggle to feel safe and secure while decisions regarding their application for refugee status are being decided. These women are in need of mental health support, safe community connections, and a sense of belonging through community support programs that are accessible to all newcomer women irrespective of their status in Canada.
How we were addressing it
Working in collaboration with Watari leadership we provided 4 workshops for staff training on healing centered engagement with tools and resources to improve staff skills in trauma informed approaches to their work with clients on the DTES. The workshops also included tools and strategies to support front line staff with their own need for mental health support and thereby diminishing the possibility of burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
We also developed 24 wellness and connection workshops and weekly Zoom meditation sessions for newcomer women. The workshops included yoga, art, and other engaging practices such as cooking, crafts and journaling. We invited guest speakers so participants could gain skills in innovative ways to improve their wellbeing through daily practices. All workshops included language learning components and were facilitated with a trauma informed approach.
Outcomes
Front line staff were supported with tailored workshops to build their capacity to work with clients who have experienced trauma, and at the same learn strategies and have access to practical tools and experiences that help them continue to serve society’s marginalized populations. Organizations were supported with structural strategies for ongoing support of front line staff.
Improvement in mental health
Participants learned skills such as yoga and meditation that helped them improve their overall mental health, and combat anxiety and depression.
Sense of belonging
Participants gained a sense of belonging with women with similar lived experiences in a space where they shared their experiences, expressed their concerns and joys, and felt supported
Healing-centered approach
Staff gained and/or refined their skills in community service by providing a clear healing-centered approach to their work in the Downtown East Side
Testimonials
