Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

We’ve started up Womyn’s Gym programming. The program is very engaging and promises to help our clients achieve some great goals.
Next week we will be starting yoga classes as well.

We are still looking for more fabric and yarn, sewers and knitters for our stocking drive. Please email info@beautynight.org if you are able to help!

Thank you everyone for your continued support

Beauty Night Stocking Drive 2008

Shot by the wonderful Bill Nevison.
We’re having another stocking cutting session this Sunday for all those interested, please email info@beautynight.org for more information.

It’s a fresh start for Beauty Night Society this week! Last week we held our AGM. It was an opportunity to thank and honor our previous board members and to welcome our new board.

Our  new board members are:

Co- Chair: Gwen Webster
Co-Chair: Sheryl Williamson- Harms
Secretary/Treasurer: Christie Gray

Directors at Large:
Kevin Day
Dave Dickson
Sarah Mah
Fergus McCann
Eileen McDougall
Bill Nevison
Darren Reiter

I am excited to see what the next chapter of Beauty Night Society reveals and am thrilled to be part of it.  This week, we continue on our path to helping marginalized women make positive lifestyle changes.  Starting the week of the 28th, additional programming will make a huge impact in the lives of many.

On September 28th, Womyn’s Gym, led by Tyla Flexman and Miranda Landry runs for 10 weeks twice a week.  Women participating in this program receive one on one personal training through the kinesiologist students that volunteer their time. Under the guidance of Flexman and Landry, the women will focus on goal setting, discover the difference of personal training, and learn healthy nutrition and physical fitness choices.

One of the benefits of this program is that child care is provided for the women who participate.  Beauty Night has extended that benefit to women who participate in our other programs.  Child care led by Alexa Fox and Sophia Hughes will run four nights per week during Beauty Night Society programming hours.

Our fitness class choices for the group fitness classes have taken that into consideration.  In the past six weeks, we have run stroller disco. Originally due to the fact we were not able to have child care on Tuesday nights, we started offering classes that benefitted our participants and their children.  Due to the feed back from participants, mother/child fitness classes are here to stay.  “I like getting to spend more time with my daughter,” said one of our participants,” It’s a great way for us to spend time together – healthy too.” What started off as an experiment has resulted in a way to encourage mothers and children to bond in a healthy way. Encouraging the women and children to take part in active living is beneficial to all.

Our next volunteer training session will be held on Monday, September 28th, please send your resume and cover letter to info@beautynight.org. Volunteer orientation is mandatory before attending a volunteer session.

This week’s volunteer opportunities include:

Makeover Monday: PHS Life Skill’s Centre 412 E Cordova St from 6-9pm. Facilitated by Tiffany Telford.

Skin Care/Makeup volunteers: Ella Bak, Christine Diablo

Nails: Kie, Mami, Denise

Massage: Kerry

Reiki: Amanda

Hair: Garry

We are still looking for more hair dressers.

Tuesday:

Stroller Disco 6:30- 7:30

Womyn’s Gym 7:30-8:30pm

Wednesday:

Blanche MacDonald Downtown Campus: Beauty Night Founder and Acting Executive Director (me) Caroline MacGillivray will be talking about leadership and impacting the community to students enrolled in the hair program.

Board Member orientation: For Current Board Members only. Location TBA

Thursday: Womyn’s Gym

Saturday: Knit Fit Training, Location TBA

We are looking for knitters or volunteers who would like to learn how to knit.

Sunday: Xmas Stocking Fabric Cutting 2pm, please email for directions info@beautynight.org

Thank you for everything that you do to make a huge impact on so many lives.

Sincerely,

Caroline MacGillivray

Founder and Acting Executive Director

On Sunday, August 30th, Beauty Night Xmas Stocking volunteers gathered at designer, Nancy Black’s studio to see  the Beauty Night Xmas Stocking she designed for 2009.  “It’s exciting to see how many volunteers are here,” said Beauty Night founder and president, Caroline MacGillivray.

Volunteers spent the last afternoon in August ironing and cutting fabric in anticipation for Beauty Night’s annual Xmas Stocking Event.  On Xmas Eve, Beauty Night volunteers dress up like Ms. Claus and hand out the 500 Xmas stockings stuffed with goodies to women who live in shelters, hotels and transition homes.  “It’s the high light of my holiday season,” says MacGillivray,” Beauty Night is pretty amazing 365 days of the year.  When I see the women’s eyes light up, I get such a kick out of it.  On our last Beauty Night before the end of the season, we hand out some of the stockings ”

This year, Beauty Night turns 9 on December 15th! The organization which held it’s first event at WISH Drop in Centre to 73 women has grown.  Starting October 2009, Beauty Night programming will run 4 nights per week out of Portland Hotel Society’s Life Skills Centre.  Programming includes the signature makeover program, the award-winning Womyn’s Gym, Mom & Tot Group Fitness Classes, Personal Development and Literacy Programs. 

For more information, please contact Caroline at info@beautynight.org.

From the WISH Drop-In Centre Society
For Immediate Release
August 12, 2009

Vancouver Agreement and Ministry of Public Safety/Solicitor General
Join in Three-Year Funding Agreement for Mobile Access Project (MAP)

Vancouver, BC – The Mobile Access Project (MAP) van will be on the streets of Vancouver again after the successful negotiation of a funding agreement between the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General and the Vancouver Agreement partners (an urban development initiative including the government of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver).

MAP, an overnight van now in its sixth year of providing safety and services for women survival sex workers living and working on the streets of Vancouver, has been off the road since June 13, 2009 due to lack of funding. The partners to the Vancouver Agreement and the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General confirmed their commitment today to a year-to-year contract for MAP, approved for the next three years.

“Allies of MAP have rallied to urge funding for this service, which offers women respite in the overnight hours when they are most vulnerable out on Vancouver streets,” says Kate Gibson, Executive Director of the WISH Drop-In Centre Society. “We are thrilled to have these levels of government come together to support this essential service.”

“Funding provided by the Government of BC and the Vancouver Agreement partners tells women working on the streets of Vancouver that they matter,” adds Jeanne Legare, Chair of the WISH Board of Directors. “It tells them that we must stand up to the violence they face and that we must do everything in our power to stop it and to protect the health and safety of all women in our communities.”

MAP began in 2004 as a partnership between the WISH Drop-In Centre Society, the Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education (PACE) Society and the Vancouver Agreement Women’s Strategy Task Team, responding to a call by current and former sex workers for mobile health and safety services for women working on the streets of Vancouver.

Since 2004, MAP has provided an outreach van from 10:30 pm to 5:30 am, seven nights a week, with a route that takes it as far east as Boundary Road, south to Marine Drive and on through the Broadway, Fraser and Kingsway corridors, Vancouver East industrial areas, the Downtown Eastside and Davie Street. Staffed by a driver, a support worker and a peer-support worker, the van provides resources, health supplies, crisis intervention and important links to shelter, emergency services, support and reporting of ‘bad dates’ or predators.

MAP is scheduled to be back on the road by early September, a welcome presence sorely missed since June. “The van literally saves lives and reduces the environment of violence and high-risk behaviours on the streets at night,” says Gibson. “The loss of Lisa Arlene Francis, whose body was found in the Fraser River July 23, 2009, has been a tragic reminder of the continuing dangers of the survival sex trade. The return of the MAP van is an important step in providing realistic alternatives to some of the most vulnerable women in our society.”

-30-

Media Contact: Kate Gibson, Executive Director, WISH Drop-In Centre Society
(t) 604-669-9474
(e) wishdropincentre@telus.net

From: Christine Turner – ABA Nail Competition Director

To: All Fellow Nail Professionals

I may have written to you in the recent past expressing your need to make your voice heard regarding our Canadian nail competitions. The Allied Beauty Association cancelled all 8 nail competitions across Canada in mid 2008, citing a lack of interest and low registration numbers as the reason. At that time, they conveyed the message that if there was in increase in interest expressed to them that they would consider reinstating them again in 2010.

It has come to light that the ABA board is strongly considering leaving the competitions out of the ABA shows indefinitely as they have not had enough responses to warrant their return and the expense they represent. If you have not already written a letter to the ABA expressing an opinion on this, you must not wait any longer. Even if you do not think that you will compete in the near future, please consider the travesty of losing the option to do so for all Canadian nail professionals. The ABA has numerous hair and makeup competitions but only one nail competition at each show. There has not even been enough interest to expand our competitions to include nail art which many of you would like to enter in – but the ABA’s way of thinking is that if you won’t even compete in the one they offer, they will not offer more. Considering that many nail techs don’t feel that the beauty industry takes our professional seriously, this is just proof to them that we don’t take our own careers serious enough to compete or showcase our skills.

On the flip side of that – if nail professionals do make a point of attending the ABA shows, entering the competitions (or even at least coming to watch to show that there is some interest!), and there is good attendance at the free nail seminar that I offer, then the ABA would consider bringing in more guest speakers and offer more educational classes on nails that would make the show that much more beneficial for you to attend. The more nail techs attending the show, the more nail manufacturers will come to exhibit their products. The step forward has to come from us first though. It is very cost effective for us to attend the show but extremely costly for exhibitors to risk the expense of coming if they don’t see enough interest or sales. Make your voice heard on the show floor – if you want to see more nail products or educational classes or competitions, you have to say something because the word at the ABA board meetings is that nail techs are lazy. They think we don’t care about education, don’t take our careers seriously, and can’t even be bothered to attend the show let alone compete.

I’m going to make this letter situation much easier for you by attaching a form letter that you can simply attach your name to but feel free to use the letter as a basis to expand on your opinions or write one yourself. And to make things even easier, you can just forward the completed document to me and I will forward it on to the ABA director in your appropriate province.

Please don’t fail to take a stand on this matter, if not for yourself, then for other nail professionals who do see the many benefits of competing and for our future nail professionals. If you would like more information on the benefits of competing, please be sure to contact me. Competing remains the best way to improve your salon skills and speed and the most inexpensive and exciting way to educate yourself.

I have your contact information either because you have contacted me in the past or you have competed or expressed interest in doing so. If you would like me to remove you from my contact list, please reply with “remove” in the subject line.

Thank you for your time and I hope that you will take the time to complete the attached letter and forward it to me so that we can help to rebuild our nail industry in Canada. Please be sure to attend your local ABA show this upcoming fall or spring whether you support competitions or not. For more on upcoming show dates, go to www.abacanada.com .

Sincerely,

Christine Turner
ABA Nail Competition Director
Award Winning Nail Competitor
Freelance Educator & Writer
Nail Technician of the Year & Salon of the Year
(Nail’s Magazine’s Artists & Visionaries Awards)

(c) 778-242-Diva
(h) 604-556-2556
info@naildiva.ca
www.naildiva.ca

Thank you Caroline, for inviting me to volunteer with Beauty Night last night, “because dignity is beautiful”.

Those young men who also volunteered, cutting hair and giving neck massages to the downtrodden – wow what bella generous Spirits.

One young man (24 years old) who has worked on the DTES for 4 years now on the front lines, said that he previously thought like the majority, “the homeless were all assholes”, until he began his service and now his heart and eyes were open wide. … Read more

I woke a few hours ago with tears in my eyes. I’m so ashamed to be living here in affluent Vancouver where the Hearts of so many, Canadian, wo/men and children are on the street.

You are truly a miracle Caroline, w/ your 9 years of selfless service to the world family. I’m honour to serve and be an active participant in Beauty Night.

I wanted to extend a huge thank you for those of you who sponsored me in the blogathon this weekend.

The 48 posts can be found on www.sexyinvancity.com.

We raised $381 for Beauty Night!

We will be closed from July 27 – August 9th in Vancouver

Mark your calendars! On September 16th, Beauty Night Society will hold it’s AGM. The AGM will commence at 6:30pm at 412 E Cordova.

We welcome volunteers, participants, donors and sponsors to our AGM