What creates a welcoming space for women coming in from the street?

All participants at WISH are welcome to participate in the activities in the Learning Centre. The Learning Centre is a room off the main Drop in area where women eat, get ready for the evening, and obtain clothes and other services. The WISH Drop In Centre is open from 7 pm. to 11 pm. It is a busy and chaotic place. The Learning Centre is a place of refuge. It is a comforting and inviting space where women are given quiet support with no demands placed upon them. Our challenge of creating a safe learning space for women is an on-going activity, not just something we think about when we start a program. It is something we all think about and take into consideration each night we set up the learning centre. We strive to create a space where first and foremost, women can feel accepted as who they are and where they are at in their lives.

The Learning Centre is a place where women can “exhale”. We got this idea from Kate Nonesuch and the Reading and Writing Centre in Duncan, BC. In their centre they have an “inhale” room where students learn new things and take on new challenges. They also have an “exhale” room where the students go to further process their learning in a more relaxing environment. The terms originally come from work ^{Footnote 1} by Sylvia Ashton-Warner, who used them to describe different kinds of learning activities she planned for her classes. Building on that concept of a space to “exhale” we have created a space where women can take a deep, relaxing breath in and a long one out. A cup of tea is at the ready and a state of “being” starts to take over. For some, just being there is enough. Participation takes all forms, some eat their dinner, relax and let down their guard, some join in on some of the activities, others watch from the sidelines. There is always a pot of tea in the Learning Centre. It is a comforting drink for many. We maintain the classroom space as a peaceful and calm area. Disagreements are quickly solved, or moved to another space. We provide as much free materials as we can manage, journals, drawing books, pens, pencils, stickers, and paperbacks. We also offer each other a lot of support. For some women, just entering the room takes courage. Staying there takes more. We make sure that women know their participation is voluntary and we make few demands on women. After a while, the feeling of acceptance and the calm atmosphere takes over.

When you plan activities that help women to “exhale” consider the following:

• Hands on activities such as beading, drawing, colouring, cutting/pasting, knitting, or sewing --anything women can do with their hands is calming.
• Activities that have colourful features in them. These draw women to the Learning Centre.
• Activities that can be done fairly quickly (10 minutes), so newcomers experience success.
• A relaxing activity that allows you to care for yourself or someone else.
• In the following pages we have provided some examples of the kinds of things we do in the WISH Learning Centre.