People
Women of Wisdom Make Wednesdays Worthwhile
Every Wednesday a group of women gather at Communitas Supportive Care Society for mutual support, learning, and fun.
The group is called WOW, which stands for Women of Wisdom and is made up of women who receive support or are alumni of Communitas’ Community Living Program (CLP.)
Samantha De Jong is a life skills worker with CLP and leads the group, which has run on-and-off for more than a decade. It was first developed when staff recognized that one of the women they served appeared to be isolated.
“The staff team decided to create a safe space where this woman could go and meet other women, which benefited everyone,” Samantha says.
WOW has since become a safe haven for other women through CLP. They meet every Wednesday and do a variety of things including discussions on various topics, vision boards, and crafts.
Budgeting is a popular topic. Recently, the women worked with an imaginary budget for a Girl Date. It was a fun exercise that helped them consider the cost of the choices they would make.
“They had to look at the amount of money they had to work with and decide things like whether they’d take a bus or rent a limo, meet for a walk in the park or go to a concert,” Samantha explains.
Crafts are also an opportunity to learn a new skill, do something creative, and build relationship at the same time. On Pink Shirt Day, the women talked about bullying and then created pink paper t-shirts with positive messages. At Easter, the women made Bunny decorations. For Mother’s Day this year, they’re thinking about potentially making some jewelry that they could give as gifts, something that helps the women manage their budgets.
The women who participate enjoy all the different activities but when asked about what their favourite part of the group is, it all came down to relationships.
“I like meeting with the people here,” Marlena said.
Elizabeth and Donna agreed. “And we really like meeting with Sam,” Donna added.
WOW meets every Wednesday afternoon.
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