Santa Rosa Place
Nothing is more important than feeling safe and secure in your own home. But for the residents of Santa Rosa Place—a second-stage transitional housing project run by the Women’s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley (WRSFV)—personal safety has been a major concern lately.
“We’ve already had a couple of security breaches where unsafe males have unlawfully entered Santa Rosa and have had to be removed by the RCMP,” explains Pamela Willis, executive director of WRSFV.
Now thanks to a new 55-foot long fence on the north side of the property, Santa Rosa residents are less vulnerable to these unwanted visitors. The fence was built thanks to a $7,000 grant from the Envision Financial Community Endowment housed with the First West Foundation, while local company Fraser Valley Building Supplies helped to secure a contractor and materials to fit the budget. “The safety of our residents is our priority, so we’re very grateful to the Envision Financial Community Endowment and Fraser Valley Building Supplies for helping build this fence,” adds Willis.
Currently 14 women and seven children live at Santa Rosa. In addition to decreasing the risk of unwanted visitors, the fence prevents small children from wandering onto 1st avenue, already a busy thoroughfare in Mission. The fence has also made a big impact aesthetically, recently winning a community award as part of the Communities in Bloom competition. The adjudication committee noted that the fence has helped Santa Rosa become a ‘showpiece,’ making an ‘amazing transformation [to] a formerly decrepit building.’
“This project will provide lasting positive benefits for the residents of Santa Rosa, which is why the Foundation is really pleased to be involved,” says First West Foundation Executive Director Seline Kutan. “The fence helps these women feel safer and it also adds to the overall beauty of Santa Rosa—now the residents can really take pride in where they live.”
WRSFV is a non-profit registered charity which provides emergency shelter, second stage housing, crisis intervention, outreach support and counselling for women, children and youth who are dealing with the impacts of violence in the home. The Society also provides support services to women who have suffered from violence associated with sexual abuse and sexual assault. In 2008-2009, WRSFV served more than 6,000 women and children, and staff answered more than 5,000 calls for support and information during this same period.
The First West Foundation provides much-needed funding to community groups in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Kitimat and Thompson-Okanagan-Similkameen regions. The Foundation currently works to grow its endowments through charitable gifts and philanthropic giving. To date, the First West Foundation has donated more than $1.6 million in grants to local community groups and projects.
