SYDNEY, N.S. — The Jane Paul Indigenous Women's Resource Centre reopened its doors Wednesday to offer services to some of the more vulnerable Indigenous women in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
For Darren Paul, it was an emotional day for his family. He and Jane Paul, the Mi'kmaw woman the centre was renamed after, have a daughter, Crisinda Paul, together.
“It means a lot, it’s good, it's very good for a lot of women, they’ll have a place to go,” said Paul.
Jane Paul was an advocate and volunteered at the resource centre. After Jane’s death in 2016, the centre was renamed after her. Crisinda was on hand to cut the red ribbon for the reopening. The 14-year-old was visibly emotional like many in attendance.
Karen Bernard is the director of the centre and she spent a lot of hours prepping for the reopening. She was elated to finally reopen.
“This weight is off my chest because we got through the biggest part we had to get through and I feel great,” said Bernard.
The Jane Paul Centre provides vulnerable Indigenous women with resources to help with housing, employment, skills training and peer supports. Due to funding issues, the centre was closed for almost a year but in February, the province of Nova Scotia committed $150,000 annually for the next five years to help the centre to reopen.
But by March, the COVID-19 pandemic had limited the centre. In June, Bernard was hired as the director and helped guide the reopening plan and the centre's many renovations. It now has a stove where women can cook, a collection of Indigenous artwork and Bernard says a plethora of commitments from outside organizations. Through partnerships with the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre and the Young Women’s Christian Association, the centre will get added housing supports and an Indigenous peer support worker. The center is also in the process of bringing in a missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) prevention worker.
“We will have a lot of support, a team here that was never here before,” said Bernard.
The centre is adjusting to the pandemic by doing contact tracing and will limit the hours the women can access the centre, which Bernard admits is a barrier. She would like for the women to have unlimited access, but public safety is a must. The centre also brought in personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and masks.
Annie Bernard-Daisley is the president of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association and was happy to see the centre reopen. She’s made it her life's work to help Indigenous women.
“It means the world to me to be able to stand up and speak out and represent our women and represent our people in a capacity that actually results in action,” said Bernard-Daisley.
When Bernard-Daisley was elected as president she made it her goal to see the centre reopen and continue to support Indigenous women. She was ecstatic to see the provincial government make such a commitment to Indigenous women and said she would like to see the federal government make similar commitments.
“I hope the federal government addresses and creates the right path to the 231 calls for justice,” said Bernard-Daisley.
She said anyone hoping to help the centre should come down and see what they need.
