The Pandemic Pivot
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated October 10 as World Mental Health Day, an opportunity to raise awareness about mental health. To commemorate the day, we’re taking a moment to share what we’ve been doing to support women’s mental health in our little corner of the world at Oasis.
Remember the days of electric typewriters? Well, we actually still have a typed document that describes our founder, Phyllis Ortiz’s hope that one day Oasis would help newcomer women that needed emotional support. This is a picture of the actual letter!
Following her vision, the counselling program at Oasis was launched in 2005 with the help of a Christian Therapist, named Carole Ann Stephens. Carol Ann gave herself to Oasis for several years. She had a heart for women of Latin American descent, and volunteered her time to help design and implement the counselling program for Spanish Speaking Women.
The women's counselling program at Oasis previously offered individual session in person at the center. Women would book 50 minute sessions and come into the center once per week. We also offered group counselling as well, these groups focused on skill development as well as stress reduction.
Then… the pandemic happened. I don’t like the word “pivoted,“ but we pivoted. We pivoted so fast I had whiplash. I kid of course, but we had to make changes quickly as we were facing challenging days. As staff, we certainly understood the sense of urgency. Newcomer women faced many barriers during the onset of the pandemic. These included language barriers that made accessing information regarding the latest news of the pandemic challenging. With children at home and a lack of many resources these women needed support in a timely manner. In a few weeks we revamped the program to provide individual counselling in Spanish — completely remotely.
This meant that women no longer had to pay for TTC or child care to come in person for counselling. This also made counselling more accessible for women with health issues or women with numerous medical or immigration appointments. Not only that, but it allowed for the opportunity to provide this support to women living in shelters who for numerous reasons had not been known to access this program as much prior to the pandemic.
It’s funny to think the vision that began on an electric typewriter is now thriving in the online world. And what started with a small core group of women, connecting face-to-face, has now grown to reach so many more women in need.
We plan to continue offering the program in this format. It is providing much needed support to a population that is considered most vulnerable — and I would add most resilient and determined as well. What a privilege it is to journey with women who face many challenges, and yet are so tenacious and strong.
— Erika Abele, Director of Women's Programs
