Years after debate over gender inclusion led to a schism among its members, the Nelson and District Women’s Centre has issued a public apology that its executive director hopes will welcome back all of those in need of its services.
The apology, which can be read in full at the end of this story, commits to safe and inclusive services for all women, gender diverse individuals and their families who visit the centre.
“As an organization, we were underprepared to navigate the community’s polarized opinions about gender inclusivity. We recognize that women and gender diverse individuals alike are victims of patriarchal systems, as well as the lateral violence that occurs within the feminist movement. We failed to maintain a safe space during the difficult conversations surrounding inclusivity during that time.”
The 51-year-old women’s centre had previously struggled with questions about who it should serve.
The centre began offering resources for trans and gender diverse people in 2016, but two years later membership was split over the hiring of an executive director who identified as non-binary transgender. That person resigned in 2019 after what the centre described as “six months of controversy and harassment regarding their gender expression.”
At a contentious annual general meeting in December 2019, voting for a new board was split between camps who argued for and against a broader definition of who could access the centre.
Malia Joy hopes that past is now behind the centre.
Joy, who is non-binary, joined the centre as its environmental program co-ordinator in 2021 and was appointed executive director in January 2023.
They run the 45-member centre with two part-time staff, volunteers and a board of directors that has completely turned over in the years following the 2019 AGM.
Since their hiring, Joy said their work has been to act on a new constitution approved by members in 2022, which includes gender diverse individuals among the centre’s clients.
For Joy, part of that work was to take ownership of the hurt the centre had caused.
“I hope that people will have restored faith and will feel safe to come back and visit the centre. I think we’ve had some people not feel that the women’s centre is a space that they want to come anymore and I think that that’s a real shame because we need representation to make change.”
The women’s centre serves approximately 300 individuals each year, according to Joy. It offers access to free food, clothing, referrals to local agencies, counselling, a children’s play area, and a kitchen table to gather around with coffee and snacks.
Joy said what women’s centre offers is of particular importance as inflation and housing costs rise in Canada.
“We’re living in a hard time. I know there’s a lot of people struggling to, buy groceries and pay for rent and find places to live and raise your kids and do extracurriculars and find places like community where you can feel supported.”
The centre’s next step in the coming months is to begin strategic planning, which includes programming directives.
But before it can start, Joy said they wanted to make sure the community knows who the centre is open to. In acknowledging the past, the centre can now start focusing on its future.
“I think we want this to be reaching out the olive branch, like, ‘hey, we’re here, we’re ready to hold space for hard conversations and we know we have the capacity for that.’”
The full letter reads:
A New Era at the West Kootenay Women’s Association and the Nelson & District Women’s Centre
The Nelson and District Women’s Centre has been a cornerstone of the Nelson area, proudly supporting and empowering women in the West Kootenays, since 1973. Our organization continues to evolve with the needs of its members and the community it serves. Change can be challenging to navigate and in the last few years, discussions on membership inclusion and diversity were particularly difficult.
These discussions about inclusivity sparked significant reflection and changes to our policy and procedures. Following the annual general meeting in 2019, the Coordinating Collective was tasked by our membership to complete a community engagement process to review our mandate and assess the needs of the entire community. It was based on the results of this process that our membership voted to adopt an inclusive constitution in November 2022 stating that we serve ALL women, gender diverse individuals and their children.
As a society, the West Kootenay Women’s Association would like to formally apologize for the hurt, discomfort and loss of trust that was experienced by those involved with the Centre during this time of transition. As an organization, we were underprepared to navigate the community’s polarized opinions about gender inclusivity. We recognize that women and gender diverse individuals alike are victims of patriarchal systems, as well as the lateral violence that occurs within the feminist movement. We failed to maintain a safe space during the difficult conversations surrounding inclusivity during that time. Although none of the current Directors or Staff were involved with the organization during the height of these challenges in 2019, we want to acknowledge these past challenges in order to move forward with a new era of respect and openness in meeting our community’s needs.
Moving forward, we want the Centre to feel safe and inclusive of all people accessing our services. Our progressive new board and staff are dedicated to dismantling oppressive systems and creating a world in which equality, respect and reciprocity are the foundational principles that guide our activism. We recognize that utilizing intersectional, inclusive, feminist principles and providing barrier-free access to resources is our top priority. We are committed to rebuilding trust and upholding our promise to create a safe space and will continue to make necessary changes to the services we offer to meet the needs of the community.
As a small organization, we are heavily dependent on our volunteers to keep us operational. To ensure all our volunteers understand our values and expectations of maintaining safe space we have updated our code of conduct and our volunteer training program, Rooted in Community (RIC). RIC is a prerequisite for all core Drop-in volunteers. One of the many topics of RIC is to understand our Bullying and Harassment policy, which applies to service users, members, volunteers, board members, and staff. Individuals will be required to uphold our policy standards to be able to access the Centre.
It is our collective duty to ensure everyone is met with compassion and respect at the Women’s Centre and we hope that the community will help us on this journey. To continue our inclusivity work we have formed a Diversity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation Committee. The committee is made up of both members of the Coordinating Collective and the community. We welcome diverse perspectives as we continue dismantling oppressive systems within our organization and strive to create a safe space with a foundation of equality and equity. Our Coordinating Collective is developing a strategic plan that we hope to share with the community illustrating our vision and goals moving forward.
We understand the delicate nature of this situation and would like to hold space for any questions or concerns that may arise now or in the future. Please feel welcome to reach out to our Executive Director, Malia, with any questions or concerns. Malia can be reached by email at malia@nelsonwomenscentre.com or by phone at 250-352-9949. If you prefer to talk in person, our Drop-in hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 11am to 3pm.
Thank you to everyone who helped make these essential changes possible. We are grateful for your support and the time you dedicated. It takes a community to enact sustainable change and we are honoured to be stepping into this new, inclusive era at the Women’s Centre with all the people who have given their time and energy to our cause.
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