This year, Winterlude is sure to be even more exciting than usual! On Sunday February 1, at Ottawa’s Landsdowne Park, an outrageous amount of snowpeople will be built in an effort to break the Guinness World Record for the most snowmen built in one hour – it’s also an opportunity to raise money for mental health charities in the capital.
Our members who work at Amethyst Women’s Addiction Centre will be among the people feverishly building snowpeople; they are raising money to help women struggling with addictions. Best of all: they’ve invited UNE members and their families to join the fun!
“We’re starting to get people to sign up; everyone’s very excited for the event,” said Geneviève Charest, community relations coordinator at Amethyst. “It’s a great family activity. It’s free and you get to raise money for your favourite organization. Hopefully a lot of people will be able to come out and enjoy that with us.”
Amethyst has been an important part of Ottawa’s community since 1979 – a time when addiction services and theories were very much informed by the experience of middle-class white men. Back then, few services took into account the distinct realities of women and how these relate to substance abuse.
“What’s different about Amethyst is that we really talk to the whole person,” explained Charest. “We don’t just treat the addiction directly; we talk about what’s happening in the person’s life, what’s happening at school, at work, with their friends, their partner, their family. We get into the everyday issues that are causing them to turn to alcohol or other substances.”
“That holistic approach is a really important part of recovery, here at Amethyst.”
At different times of the year, the organization also holds workshops that go beyond substance abuse and focus on developing healthy self-esteem. There are workshops on dealing with anger, surviving sexual abuse, and self-assertiveness, among others.
Amethyst’s all-women environment is also an important part of having its participants open up and share – and ultimately heal.
“Women can come here and really feel comfortable talking about issues that they may not feel comfortable talking about in front of men,” said Charest. “A lot of women come to us with a past that includes trauma, sexual abuse or violence – that can be very hard to talk about if there’s a man around. Women can really feel safe talking about issues that affect women.”
“We’re all sisters here; we get to delve into those issues together.”
If you’d like to support the important work of Amethyst – and don’t mind helping to build over 1,500 snowpeople in the process – you can join team Amethyst by getting your free ticket on Eventbrite by clicking this link. You can also get tickets on-site, at 10 a.m. on February 1 (the event starts at 11 a.m.).
If you can’t attend, but would still like to help, you can send a donation via Eventbrite or through Paypal, on Amethyst’s website.