thecridge_newsletter_march2015-2comp

Operated under the distinguished patronage of Her Honour, The Honorable Judith Guichon, OBC, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

MessengerThe

Celebrating 142 Years of Community Service

The Messenger March 2013

Mary Cridge Manor A Community within a Community

Being part of The Cridge Centre for the Family team brings us many opportuni-ties to create a sense of community among those we serve. Yet it is truly a blessing when we witness those we help making their own contributions to the Cridge community. Anwar, Nidaa and their children are a lovely example of how one family can help to build a sense of community here at The Cridge Centre.

In the Fall of 2009, the staff of The Cridge Supportive Transitional Housing were contacted by Anwar, who was looking for safe and affordable housing

for himself and his family. Anwar had come from Iraq to Canada ahead of his wife and two little girls and his young son, and was doing all he could to bring them to Victoria. In the Spring of 2010, Anwar’s hard work and dedication paid off, and we were delighted to welcome the whole family to a two-bedroom suite at our Mary Cridge Manor location.

At that time, Mary Cridge Manor (MCM) had been newly established as a place for both Cridge Brain Injury and Support-ive Transitional Housing tenants to live and receive support. Anwar, Nidaa and

their three little children quickly became a special part of that community. Whether sharing in a friendly conversa-tion with Supportive Transitional Housing tenants in the hallway, baking special treats for the team and tenants to enjoy, or welcoming others to join them as the children played in the outside spaces, this family was able to bring a great deal of warmth and joy to Mary Cridge Manor.

By Janelle Breese-Biagioni and Candace Stretch

March 2013In This Issue

Mary Cridge Manor – A Com-munity within a Community

(continued from page 1)

Preserving our Shelter from the Storms

Learning to Lead on the JobBringing the Victim into the Room

Chef’s Corner

A Night and a Woman to RememberWhite Ribbon Campaign Success

Thank You – Giving pages

Calendar of Events

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

The Messenger is published by The Cridge Center for the Family in March, July and November. Editors: Shannon Whissell, Florence Moorman, Shelley MorrisProduction: IdeaZonePrinting: Flynn PrintingThe Cridge Brain Injury team at Mary Cridge Manor

“The littlest feet make the biggest footprints in our hearts” ~Author Unknown

Atticus Wilkinson Breese McNeill, made his en-trance into the world at 33 weeks, 5 days gesta-tion on March 13, 2013, weighing in at a tiny 4 lbs. 11 oz. He was born by caesarean after his moth-er, Myriah, developed a life-threatening condi-tion. Atticus is the second child of Myriah and Kelly and has an older brother, Sampson.

By all accounts, the caesarean was ‘unremarkable’ and little Atticus re-sponded as any other newborn and did not even require oxygen. He remained in Victoria General’s Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for 16 days. As a newborn, Atticus re-sponded in typical ways. He ate, he slept, and he nursed well. It was in the 3 – 6 month stage that issues be-gan to surface. He was low on iron, his eyes wanted to cross, and he was having difficulty lifting his head. He was diagnosed with Torticollis, a tightening of a neck muscle result-ing in him not being able to turn his head to the left. This required some therapy to stretch the muscles. He was scheduled to have surgery on his eyes just after his first birthday and was prescribed glasses which opened up a whole new world for him. However, his eyes “grew” with him and not only did Atticus not have to under-

go surgery, but he no longer needs to wear glasses at all.

In many ways, At-ticus has developed as any other baby. However, he has poor muscle tone and is developmen-tally delayed in his fine and gross motor skills. Atticus turns

two years old in March 2015 and he has only begun to sit up on his own for brief periods, he does not crawl and has mini-mal tolerance for being on his hands and knees. He can pick up small pieces of food and get them into his mouth and he has taken a fancy to sharing whatever he is eating.

The majority of Atticus’ improvements have occurred since being accepted into The Cridge Daycare last October. His fam-ily attributes this to being around children his own age and wanting to do what they are doing, so he works hard to copy them. As well, the care he receives is second to none. “The women who look after Atticus are just as devoted to his development as we are. They always find time in the busy

In This IssueMarch 2015

Page 1 Family Praises The Cridge Daycare workersPage 2 Family Praises The Cridge Daycare workers (cont’d)Page 3 Christmas Blessings at The Cridge Transition House for WomenPage 4 Shimmy Mob And the Blessings Keep Coming InPage 5 Coming Up Orange Your WorkplacePage 6 Chef’s Corner and Used HelpsPage 7 Circle of CarePage 8 National Volunteer Week

The Messenger is published by The Cridge Centre for the Family in March, July and November. Editors: Joanne Specht, Florence and ColinMoorman, Shelley MorrisProduction: IdeaZonePrinting: Flynn Printing

Family Praises The Cridge Daycare Workers In Infant’s Development

...con’t on page 2

the cridgechildcare services

the cridgechildcare servicesJanelle Breese Biagioni

The Messenger March 2015,

Family Praises The Cridge Daycare Workers In Infant’s Development (cont’d)

day to get in a few exercises or tummy time,” explains Myriah. Moreover, it is Paula West-Patrick and her team, Lyn-da, Florinda and Janine, who diligently follow the instructions of his Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist and Infant Development Worker through Queen Alexandra Centre for Children’s Health on a daily basis. Not only has the hands-on physical therapy done by the daycare workers improved Atticus’ de-velopment, but their work has brought a huge sigh of relief to the family. It is challenging enough for a mother to re-turn to work and leave her babe in the care of others, but it is extremely heart-wrenching when you know your baby has special needs and requires daily stimulation to get his neurological sys-tem working with everything else and you can’t be home to do it.

From Lynda holding his hands and try-ing to get him to move his feet, to Flo-rinda cheering him on during tummy time, to Janine ensuring he is sitting squarely with feet planted for feeding, and to Shelley Morris who took time out of her busy schedule to check on him when he started at the daycare and

kept mom and grandma informed of his happiness, every effort (big or small) has brought Atticus to an encouraging place in his development.

Most recently, Atticus has been loaned a specialized walker from QA, which is kept at the daycare. It was an exciting day for him (and his family) when the workers were able to take him outside in his walker to be with the other chil-

dren. Up until then, Atticus had to be carried or sit in a stroller. Now he can stand with his peers in the playground and be a part of the group.

Atticus is scheduled for an MRI, which will hopefully provide insight into the cause of his delayed development. There is little doubt that he will require ongoing therapy for a few years; how-ever, his family remain positive and hopeful that “time” is all that is needed for this strapping little boy to catch up to his peers.

In the picture, Atticus is seen working in his specialized walker with his daycare workers. “What I know for sure is that Atticus is in good hands here at The Cridge daycare and they are just as in-vested in his growth as we are,” states his mom. “That has made a tremen-dous difference for all of us.”

Finding good daycare is vital to par-ents, but when a daycare team goes above and beyond providing “child-care” to do whatever it takes to ad-dress a child’s special needs, in the way The Cridge daycare has for Atti-cus, it is truly a gift (and divine guid-ance). God bless them all.

Atticus with his child care workers Lynda, Florinda and Janine

...con’t from page 1



God makes the best playground of all.

Don’t forget to visit us online! We love to interact on

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Check out cridge.org for regular blog updates.


Making Christmas Special for Women & Children Impacted by ViolenceCandace Stretch

How can we make Christmas spe-cial for a family in crisis? In the midst of the chaos and pain of leaving an abusive relationship, is it even pos-sible to experience the joy of Christ-mas? These are some of the tough questions the staff and clients of The Cridge Women’s & Family Services face each year as Christmas ap-proaches. And yet, through God’s pro-vision and the support of our caring community, we have seen women’s and children’s lives touched by joy each Christmas. And 2014 was no exception!

This past Christmas the women and children in our Supportive Transitional Housing were blessed in amazing ways by individuals and businesses alike. In early December, we took a group of our tenant women out to Butchart Gardens to see the Christ-mas Lights. The wonderful staff of the Gardens gave all 25 of us free admis-sion, and we enjoyed a lovely evening of beauty and fun. The children were invited to a Christmas party hosted by the AODA (Ancient Order of Doers Anonymous) with a delicious Christ-mas dinner and a visit from Santa. Headstart Hair Design and Michelle’s Yoga Studio both hosted food drives, collecting several boxes of non-perish-able food for our free food cupboard. Later in the month, every family living in our housing received a Christmas hamper full of gifts, grocery gift cards, food, and other festive touches. Twenty-nine donors came forward to create hampers for 43 families. The looks on the faces of each family as they came to pick up their hamper was evidence that joy can truly come in the midst of crisis.

Over at The Cridge Transition House for Women, we were showered with gifts and treats to make Christmas special. Our faithful “Christmas elves” Elaine Strand & Ann Glas came through once again, delivering toys

for each of the children who attended our annual CTHW Open House on December 5th. Linda Ferguson of the Shoeboxes Project for Shelter donated dozens of wrapped shoeboxes full of gifts for the women. The Zonta Club and the Soroptomist Club both delivered gift bags of toiletries and treats. And Iredale Archi-tecture donated a fully deco-rated gingerbread house, along with toys for the children to open on Christmas Day.

In the lives of the women and children that we serve, these gifts represent more than just toys and treats. They show our women that they are part of a caring community that wants to see them thrive. What a truly wonderful gift to give at Christmas!

Santa arrives at The Transition House

the cridgetransition housefor women


Candace (R) receives a food donation from Megan at Headstart


Shimmy Mob Benefits The Cridge Transition House for Women

May 9 2015 will be the 3rd Annual Shimmy Mob in Victoria to ben-efit Cridge Transition House for Women!

What’s a Shimmy Mob, you ask?

It’s an international “Flash Mob” performance.

Dancers in cities all over the world dance on the same day, to the same music, with the same chore-ography, wearing the same t-shirt to raise awareness and funds for local women’s transition houses.

In Victoria, Bunny Keo is the Shimmy Mob coordinator. She has talent, skill, lots of energy and en-thusiasm, and even more patience to get a “mob” together, teach

everyone the moves and then take it to the streets! We have a good “Cridge” contingent joining the “mob” this year.

To join us in the fun for a great cause go to: www.shimmymob.com

Then: Create a log in account, wait for your account to be acti-vated and then follow the web site directions to register.

Donations for the Shimmy Mob can be made to The Cridge Centre for the Family with Shimmy Mob as the program.

See you at the rehearsals!

Marlene Goley

Shimmy Mob 2014



And the blessings keep coming in…The month of December is always a month of generosity and great blessings for The Cridge Centre. It is a time when we see the incred-ible love and support of the community as it comes and blesses us over and over again with donations and gifts in kind. And as we re-ceive those blessings, we are so thankful for each person, group and business that gives – because we know that the gifts keep on giving as we continue to provide services in each of our program areas. Thanks so much to ALL our donors!

Members of The Cridge board, residents of MacDonald House and the Telus Ambassadors

celebrate together

One of our younger donors at Stuff the Stocking,

Simon Chudley

L to R Heidi Gayleard (Victoria Women’s Transition House), Sharen

Warde (Royal LePage realtor and intiator of the Shelter Fund), Marlene Goley (Women’s and Family Services

Manager – The Cridge), Joanne Specht (Manager of Communication and Fund

Development -- The Cridge)

Joanne accepts a check from Ted Leaker, President of the Trafalgar/Pro Patria Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.


Leadership Victoria is a community-based, voluntary organization com-mitted to developing, recognizing and honouring outstanding community leaders in building a vibrant community. Its Community Leadership Develop-ment Program prepares individuals to become vibrant community leaders. This year Cridge employee Ben Rob-ertson has had the opportunity to join the Program. The program provides opportunities for emerging leaders to solve real-world community issues and benefit from the guidance of Leader-ship Victoria board members, coaches, and alumni. The 2014/2015 cohort was arranged into teams of 5 and charged with completing a Community Action Project (CAP). Project criteria consist of partnering with a community orga-

nization and creating a project that will provide a long lasting benefit to the community. After months of brainstorm-ing and team building, Ben and his team (Team Orange United) identified The Cridge Centre for the Family as an ideal community partner. They have been working with Candace Stretch and Marlene Goley in the Dovetail Pro-grams to help spread awareness of the prevention of violence against women.

The United Nations initiative of Orange Day encourages people to wear orange on the 25th of each month to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence against women. Whereas The Cridge Centre, by adopting this initia-tive, has been successful in promoting the issue in The Cridge workplace,

Ben’s CAP team decided to focus their project on bringing Orange Day into the workplace in the wider community, and are gearing up for an event taking place March 4th. The event will consist of guest speakers who can speak directly to the issue and will be attended by employers from the community. Em-ployers will leave with ideas on how to promote Orange Day in their work-place and a toolkit filled with employer resources for any employees who may be experiencing domestic violence. The occasion promises to be a great opportunity to promote the issues of domestic violence and to strategize on solutions and action plans to prevent it. Congratulations to Ben and his team on getting the word out there on such an important issue!

Orange Your WorkplaceBy Ben Robertson

Many of you will remember the Ride for Refuge that The Cridge Centre sponsored in October 2014. It was a day of bike riding, new partnerships and great enthusiasm to raise funds for charities that care for the vulnerable, the displaced and exploited. Over $100,000 was raised that day for 17 charities, most of whom are local to Victoria. It was such

a great day, that we are already thinking about and planning for the next Ride – and we wanted to share our excitement with you. So please, mark your calendar for Saturday, October 3, 2015 as the day to ride out in support of The Cridge.

If you are not a bike rider, there will be many opportunities to volunteer before and at the event. Give us a call if you are interested (Joanne 250 995 6419).

Coming Up:

Breaking News:Orange Your Workplace was a huge success with over 80 participants from the business, education, health care, police and human services sectors. The par-ticipants enjoyed informative and thought provoking presentations and then had time to discuss how they are going to orange their workplace. We can expect to see plenty of orange in Victoria on March 25 and the 25th of every month! For more information see www.facebook.com/orangeyourworkplace?ref=hl or http://www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/orangeday.shtml

The Society Members’ Breakfast is coming up and is an event not to be missed! Friday, April 17 from 7:30 – 9 am you will find the management and society members enjoy-ing a wonderful breakfast and sharing all the great things that are going on at The Cridge. If you are a society member and would like to attend, please RSVP to Pat (250 995 6410) by March 30.


It seems for the most part, most of us prefer to use prime cuts for our protein needs. Maybe we don’t realize that even though offal has over time lost some of its popularity, it still retains its low cost and richness both in flavour and nutrition. Source these from your local butcher. Enjoy! Chicken Liver Pate 360 g chicken livers trimmed, rinsed and patted dry30 ml butter80 ml shallots30 ml brandy75 ml white or red wine60 ml heavy cream15 ml fresh thymeSalt, Pepper and nutmeg to taste

Chef’s Corner Nikolas Milonas CCC Executive Chef at The Cridge Seniors’ Centre

the cridgeseniors’services

the cridgeseniors’services

Method:

Trim fat and sinews from the livers. Add enough milk to cover and refrigerate overnight. The next day drain, rinse the livers and pat dry. Cook the shallots in the butter and then add the chicken livers and cook with some salt. Add the brandy and wine and allow to cook for a few minutes then add the cream and fresh thyme. Take off the heat and season. Let cool and puree. If too thick, add some more cream. When pureeing, use fresh lemon juice, nutmeg and a bit of port (if available) to taste. If smoothness is desired, puree while warm then cool. Serve on toast or crackers with cranberry sauce or Cumberland sauce. Marmalade is also delicious with this pate!

Used Helps:We’re excited to announce that you can now donate to The Cridge Centre for the Family in a new way that doesn’t dip into your pocketbook and also helps you de-clutter:#UsedHelps! Simply find things you no longer need, take a few pictures of your items and place a free ad on your local UsedVictoria.com site. Select “YES donate proceeds to charity” and find The Cridge Centre for the Family in the dropdown list. For items over $20 you will receive a tax receipt when the item sells. Next, please share your ad on Facebook and/or Twitter - simply use the “share” button on the top right side of your UsedVictoria.com ad. Buyers will pay for the item with a secure credit card transaction and you’ll receive notification when the funds have been transferred to The Cridge.

You will be glad that you de-cluttered – and so will we!

Cumberland Sauce375 g Red currant jelly120 g Port wine1 Orange - juice and zest1 Lemon - juice and zest to taste Candied ginger chopped fine

Method:1. Combine all ingredients in sauce pan. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.2. Cool, serve cold with pates.


Circle of CareSingle gift amount: $_________________

Cheque enclosed or Please charge my credit card

Monthly gift amount: $_________________

Please use my gift as follows: [ ] Where needed most. [ ] With the following designation: ______________________________

First Name: ___________________________________MIddle Initial: _________ Last Name:__________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________________ PC: __________________________

Phone: ________________________________ Email: _________________________________________________________________________

[ ] VISA [ ] Mastercard Name on card: _______________________________________________________________________________

Card Number: _____________________________________________________________________ Expiry Date: _______________/_________

Signature: ________________________________________________________ Date: _______________________________________________Sign also to authorise bank withdrawalsAll monthly payments will be scheduled the first day of each month. Receipts for your charitable giving tax credit will be Issued annually. Charitable Registration # 108079419RR0001

The Cridge Centre for the Family collects personal information on this form for reasonable and obvious purposes that meet with regulatory requirements. This information will never be shared, and will never be used for purposes outside of the obvious without your permission.

YES, I/We would like to join The Cridge Centre Circle

Please detach and mail this form to:The Cridge Centre for the Family -- 1307 Hillside Ave. Victoria, BC V8T 0A2Contact: Joanne Specht, Manager of Communication & Fund Development

250.995.6419 Email: [email protected]

Would you prefer to make your gift anonymous?

Void cheque enclosed or Please charge my credit card

Gift End Date:__________or until further notice.

And we are getting excited about SunFun Day Camp! Registration opens Mar 1. [email protected] or 250 995 6407

Spending of funds is con�ned to Board approved programs and purchases. Each gift designated toward an approved program will be used as designated with the understanding that when a given need has been met, designated gifts will be used where needed most. Gifts will be acknowledged with an o�cial receipt for income tax purposes.

The Cridge Centre for the Family is a member of the Canadian Council of Chris-tian Charities and has been accredited by the Imagine Canada Standards program.

3423948

The Cridge Centre for the Family1307 Hillside AvenueVictoria, BC V8T 0A2Phone: 250-384-8058Fax: 250-384-5267

[email protected]

NOTE: We have recently upgraded our software. Please double check the accuracy of your name and address and notify Pat Bailey of any changes via email to [email protected] or by phone at (250) 995-6410



3423948


[email protected]




3423948


[email protected]


National Volunteer WeekVolunteer Canada and Investors Group have designated April 12 - 18, 2015 as National Volunteer Week. The week is set aside to recognize the tremendous contri-bution of volunteers across the country. As we know, volunteers are a vital, valuable source of support for all the programs with The Cridge Centre for the Family. We are thankful for all the volunteers who make The Cridge Centre for the Family a vibrant and caring place to live and work.

A volunteer with a MacDonald House resident

thecridge_newsletter_march2015-2comp

Documents

cridge community

cridge centre

cridge center

issue mary cridge manor

mary cridge manor mcm

mary cridge manor location

sense of community

family team