Page 1

Ref lect ions Island Crisis Care Society Autumn Newsletter 2013

Did you know? P.1 People of ICCS p.2

Our purpose in life P.3 Thank you! P.4

this issue

Did You Know?

ICCS provided 3099 bed

nights in 2011/12. That

equals 9,297 meals that

year!

Thankful to Have a Home - Results Thank you to the following 7

Churches for your support!

Oceanside Church

St Andrew's Presbyterian

Hammond Bay Church

Alliance Church

Brechin United Church

St Paul's Anglican Church

Maranantha Church

Total Given: $3,258.10

Contact Us 3156 Barons Road,

Nanaimo, BC V9T 4B5

Executive Director

Violet Hayes

(250) 585-2577

vhayes@iccare.ca

Policy and

Publications

Manager

Richard Powell

(250) 753-5580

rpowell@iccare.ca

Administrative

Support

Manager

Michelle Authier

(250) 585-2577

Volunteers Opportunities at ICCS

Coldest Night of the Year

Walk with your team on 3,

5, and 10 K routes to raise

money for those who are

homeless.

Board Members

We are seeking people of

vision who share ICCS’s

Vision. Join our Board of

Directors and help govern

the society and provide

decisions and direction.

Life Skills & Social Contact

Provide life skills mentoring

and social contact for

women at Mary’s Place.

(Some restrictions apply)

This space: $125.00

Call now to make it

yours: 250.585.2577

THIS SPACE $250

YOU CAN SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

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Bernice Penney

Support Worker

From April 2008 to November 2013

ICCS recently said goodbye to Ber-

nice after 5 years of dedicated work

at Samaritan House. Bernice worked

as a Teacher, Marketer, Legal Re-

searcher, and Community Service

Worker Before coming to work at

Samaritan House. She holds Bache-

lor of Arts and Bachelor Education

Degrees with Majors in History &

Religious Studies as well as courses

in Educational Psychology , Group

Processes, and Helping Relation-

ships. Bernice moved back to the

East Coast to be near family and

friends.

Richard: Do you have a mem-orable story or two from your time at Samaritan House?

Bernice: The most memorable

moment of many special mo-

ments at Samaritan House

was just recently when man-

agement allowed me to cook

a Newfoundland style fish n’

chips with gravy and dressing

as my going-away gift to the

residents. There was plenty of

food and the residents en-

joyed every morsel. It was my

last night of em-

ployment at the

shelter and there

was lots of laughter,

singing, and some

tears. Many of the

residents made me

good-bye cards put

together from a few

materials available

to them; some con-

s t r uct i on pap e r ,

beads , feather s ,

etc. One knitted me

slippers for my long drive across the

country.

When I read the words they had

written to me, I was overjoyed with

the love that they showed, and the

next day when I read the same

words to my sister in Newfoundland,

we both cried over the phone.

Those words meant more to me

than winning any award, any prize,

and any recognition. The words in-

side those hand-made cards made

me cry and I realized just how

blessed I was to love, and to be

loved. This is the greatest gift in life, it

i s n o t

about ego

o r a n y -

t h i n g o f

the sort. It

i s t r u l y

a b o u t

transcending the mental health and

addictions and discovering God’s

essence within our core. This is what

I am taking with me and I hope I

have left something of myself with

the women who crossed the door-

step of Samaritan House.

Richard: What did you like best about working at Sa-maritan House?

Bernice: It was very reward-

ing and I liked the variety of

tasks that keep a worker

busy. I have never been a

person who likes doing the

same thing, day in and day

out. In the 1994 American

c o m ed y -d ra m a F o r r e s t

Gump, Forrest, played by

Tom Hanks, states that life is

like a box of chocolates and

that's so true. There's always

something to do, some pro-

ject to work on, and so on.

When I first came to Samari-

tan House, I did not have my

heart set on working with

women who had mental

health and addictions issues,

but knew that I wanted to

do humanitarian work. After

This space: $125.00

Call now to make it

yours: 250.585.2577

YOU COULD SPONSOR THIS NEWSLETTER!

Your Website.com

“The words inside those hand-made

cards made me cry and I realized just

how blessed I was to love, and to be

loved.”

The People of ICCS

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a few days, I started to enjoy work-

ing with such women and realized

the true essence of the human spirit

buried beneath the suffering that

accompanies such issues. I had

found a worthy cause to demon-

strate my gifts and talents.

Being from Newfoundland, I was

well trained in the art of hospitality

and strived to make Samaritan

House as much a home as possible

within the capacity of working for a

not-for-profit organization. I loved

cooking special dishes for the resi-

dents and they eagerly awaited me

cooking a very nutritious omelette

once a week, occa-

sional dessert crepes,

a n d h o m e - m a d e

bread. My heart felt so

good in doing so, and I

came realize that our

purpose in l i fe is to

serve others however

we can, and whenever

we can. Cooking was

just one way that al-

lowed me to show love to the wom-

en who stayed at Samaritan House.

I had great joy in the small things,

bringing their dinner plate right to

where they were sitting rather than

making them line up at the kitchen

door. While preparing meals, I sang

old Irish tunes that I recalled from

my years growing up in Newfound-

land and I know that the residents

felt comforted by this at times, and

then conversation might come up

around different cultures, and their

interconnectedness.

I have had great support from like-

minded co-workers and I deeply

appreciate how much I learned

from them. The management at

Samaritan House brought out the

best in each of us, recognizing

our skills and talents, working for

the good of all. They were fantas-

tic role models for me, showing

care and compassion in some of

my more difficult moments. For

example, management knew I

loved writing and allowed me to

write protocols for a smoother

operation of the Samaritan House

program, write newsletters for the

clients, and so on.

In 2010, the Executive and man-

agement supported my efforts to

establish an annual si-

lent auction fundraiser

called Sweets for the

Streets, and in this ca-

pacity I excelled with

my strong track record

in sales and marketing,

and public speaking

skills. My Newfie accent

sure helped in this re-

gard because I was

able to make my sales pitch while

they intently listened. My heart

was on fire for this type of work

and in 2012 with a great team

involved, the event was a hit!

Richard: What advice would you give a new employees just start-ing out?

Bernice: Starting out as a new

employee can be challenging as

there is so much to learn, and

every individual has their own

style of learning. Each new em-

ployee strives to find her own

niche in the workplace, trying to

fit in, trying to establish personal

and professional boundaries, try-

ing to understand mental health

“Workers made me aware

that they were available

and came through when I

asked.

All were friendly, soft spo-

ken & joyful.

All showed patience, un-

derstanding & ac-

ceptance.

I wasn’t criticized one

time. Never saw them treat

anyone better than any

other. Shared many com-

munity resources and

helped me see/discover

positive things about me

and my future. Good ad-

vice, feedback & sugges-

tions.

The facility &

workers are a

blessing.

I believe both

save lives...

The facility & workers

were/are a blessing. I be-

lieve both save lives &

make clients believe there

is hope. Words can’t ex-

press my gratitude. I will

be forever grateful & plan

to give back to this partic-

ular house & support it in

any way that I can. One

last thing- I made an

anonymous suggestion &

it was utilized right

away.” - Client at Samaritan House

“Our purpose

in life is to

serve others

however we

can, and

whenever we

can.”

Page 4

More Support for Samaritan House Pilot Project! and addictions, and knowing

one’s limitations as a support

worker.

Employees at Samaritan House

know that they could provide the

support that is within our capaci-

ty. We cannot be everything to

everyone, and it is best practice

to support rather than enable resi-

dents in getting back on their

feet. The best advice is to go with

t h e f l o w , b e p r e p a r e d f o r

change, and accept rather than

resist the change.

Richard: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Bernice: Vancouver Island will al-

ways be a part of me and I believe

I learned so very much. It is a very

spiritual place because of its beau-

ty and nature, and who knows

what might happen in a few years?

When I achieve the goals I wish to

achieve and experience the ad-

ventures that I wish to experience, I

might return. Until then, I will keep

everyone in my heart and will re-

member with much fondness the

people that I have met, especially

the residents and workers at Samar-

itan House. I will always be grateful

to ICCS for being great role models

and helping me to learn many vir-

tues so necessary in life to suc-

ceed.

Cover Photo by Mathias, Mainz, Germany.

Used under the creative commons license on

Flickr.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Mark Your Calendars The 2014 WALK is on February 22, 2014.

Registration opens Monday, Dec. 2, 2013.

me through his grace and your

compassion we can all receive

these gifts — we have been

through a great deal together and

my thanks to you all for patience,

love and understanding. It says in

Corinthians ‘Love is patient and

kind’ and you have exceeded in

providing that. You are all in my

prayers and my thanks.”

“For giving me hope when I

thought I had none. For showing

me direction when my compass

was broke. For being there con-

stantly through every temptation,

every heartbreak , every doubt. For

showing love throughout. Thank

you staff of Samaritan House.”

Violet Hayes, Executive Direc-

tors for ICCS receives a cheque

from Barb Peters, Director of

Mid Island Co-op. Our sincere

thank you to Mid Island Co-op

for their generous donation of

$7,500.00 to furnish Mary’s

Place!

We would like to extend a big

thank you to Mid Island Co-op

and United Way Central and

Northern Vancouver Island!

United Way Central and North-

ern Vancouver Island Executive

Director Signy Madden con-

gratulates ICCS Executive Di-

rector Violet Hayes on becom-

ing a United Way Community

Partners. ICCS was awarded

$7,000.00 from United Way to

provide outreach services

through the two year pilot

project at Samaritan House.

Client

Feedback

“This House and

the People at Safe

Harbour helped

me to find a reason to laugh and live

my life instead of ending it, which was

the reason I came. I appreciate all the

workers and all they do for anyone who

comes through the doors.”

“Thanks to the staff at Crescent House,

you were all very helpful and kind to

me.”

“To Patricia and the rest of the family

(staff). Well its finally here, the day I

leave the nest to the next phase of my

development. I can’t put into words

how grateful I am to you all. These past

9 months working together to improve

the quality of my life. God has shown