February 28th we escaped from the rain and visited our friends at Elspeth House in Burnaby. Over tea and snacks, services such as hair cuts, foot care, skin care, nail care and relaxation massage were offered to our participants.

Our first monthly event in Burnaby started off slow. The participants came by to greet us. Yet it took a while to connect and build the level of comfort to have programming. By the end of the evening laughter, friendship and fun filled the room. The following day we received a beautiful email from one of our friends on staff:

Dear Caroline,

I wanted to give you and your wonderful volunteers a sincere THANK YOU from Elspeth House. The goodwill and positive energy that you brought to the women through your personal attention and kindness has facilitated a climate of kindness and respect that is evident today between the women. Thank you to you and your volunteers for modeling dignity, respect and compassion in action and passing this along to the women as a powerful tool that they can use in their interpersonal relationships.

I overheard some of the women telling you and your volunteers their personal stories and this is evidence that you were able to create a safe and trusting environment in a very short time that humanizes and validates women wherever they area in their personal history. Leadership has many definitions and leaders have many qualities, the best leaders are the ones that see what needs to be done, organize like minded people, roll up their sleeves and get the job done. These are the people that make a difference in peoples lives and you are one of those people.

The women have signed a thank you card (their idea) to you and your volunteers and I told them that I would send it off to you, could you send me your postal address?

Sincerely,

Marlene