Moose Jaw Transition House is making it easier for women to build community and push back against pandemic-induced isolation by creating a close-knit social and support health and wellness group.
The open space group is scheduled to meet every Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. for eight weeks starting June 24. The organization has set aside seven spaces for women who want to join, although there is currently a waitlist.
Moose Jaw Transition House’s goal with this group is to develop a safe place for women so they can create community with others from Moose Jaw and area, explained Michelle Welsh, community outreach co-ordinator. The group will discuss various topics, such as vulnerability, blame, healthy relationships, self-esteem and respect, self-care, anxiety and stress management.
“People have brought up concerns with me that there’s nothing for them to do (and that) there’s nothing for them to have that sense of community right now, and it causes a lot of anxiety in people,” Welsh said. “So, feeling very alone, especially women who have left housing because of domestic abuse or whatever, they’re starting over again.”
COVID-19 has caused many people to isolate during the pandemic, with that “horrible” isolation making life worse for some women since they fear going out into public or believe they have nowhere to find belonging, she continued. That is why the wellness group will help these women develop resiliency to walk outside again without fear and believe they matter.
The group comprises members who have different mindsets and are at different points in their lives, which Welsh believes will help them mesh well together.
“It’s important for the women (to mesh together). Most of them, if they’ve left that home, they feel alone, and there’s nothing out there because they’ve been out of touch with their friends for years because of the abuse in the house,” she said. “So they have no one to really reach out to, and their self-esteem is really low, and (so the group will help them) get a better picture of what a healthy relationship would be.”
Welsh is considering starting a second wellness group in the fall if this first group goes well. She is also thinking of setting up a group focused on helping parents positively discipline their children.
This is important, she said, because many children have been learning from home this past year and have also been cut off from friends. This has sometimes led to increased family violence since some kids have been sitting around more and parents don’t know how to motivate them.
“This parenting program will focus on how to re-bond with your child and let them know that it’s OK what they’re doing, but we need to look at different ways of doing it,” added Welsh. “It’s a different mindset, is what that parenting program is going to be about. It’s going to be a ‘care’ instead of just ‘do.’”
For more information on the women’s wellness group, call Michelle Welsh at 306-630-2188 or email [email protected].
