By Sheldon Spackman

CAWES taking ‘Open Doors’ approach

Sep 8, 2018 | 10:16 AM

A local organization geared towards helping families dealing with domestic violence is continuing to shift its focus.

Officials with Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter (CAWES) say their new ‘Open Doors’ focus is to now encourage trauma informed and low-barrier-to-entry services.

It’s described as a transition which began in January of 2017 after CAWES joined a national initiative spearheaded by the YWCA Canada and B.C. Transition Housing.

CAWES officials say the organization has previously tried to deliver client-centred and evidence-based services but now feel the need to address trauma and not inadvertently re-traumatize clients in a bid to help them.

Notable changes are now said to include working with women in a way that minimizes re-traumatization and opening doors to women who in the past would have been turned away or referred to other services. In addition to encouraging CAWES residents and outreach clients to consider harm-reduction strategies.

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For more information on CAWES and the services they provide, visit cawes.com.