When Dawn Ferris came to Cumberland County seven years ago to run Autumn House she found that while the community was very supportive, there was a lack of real resources for women outside those for victims of domestic or intimate partner violence.
The executive director of Cumberland County Autumn House was pleased Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, to participate in the opening of Lilac Place: Resources for Women at 10 Lawrence St., Amherst. The facility’s programs and services are available to women, girls and gender diverse individuals throughout Cumberland County.
“Empowerment programming for women is key to creating a more equitable an d just society by providing women and girls with the tools, resources and opportunities they need to success,” said Ferris.
She said empowered women tend to have better health outcomes while programming can encourage women to take on leadership roles in various sectors and programming helps address and reduce gender-based discrimination and violence.
Programs, such as those offered at Lilac Place, also break stereotypes and encourage both women and men to pursue careers and interests that align with their passions and skills while also leading to economic equality.
“When women have equal access to education, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities they can contribute more effectively to the economy,” Ferris said.
Autumn House executive director Dawn Ferris (centre) talks to Jill Balser (left), the minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and Nicole Hersey from Nova Scotia Status of Women following the opening of Lilac Place on Thursday, Aug. 29.
Ferris thanked the board of directors for their support of Lilac Place as well Nova Scotia Status of Women.
Cass McCarthy, who joined Lilac Place as its program facilitator from the Moncton YMCA, said Lilac Place intends to be a safe space for all women and girls to explore their authenticity and reclaim their sense of empowerment and with its partners create the roots for social change and equality.
There are currently four clubs and groups individuals can sign up for, including walking, knitting, poetry and a feminist literature group.
“In the short time we’ve existed we’ve successfully facilitated one workshop series, which covered the fundamentals of art and allowed for attendees to explore their own unique worlds of creativity,” McCarthy said. “Our one-on-one supports range from budgeting and interview skills, resource navigation and social advocacy, SMART recovery groups and wraparound sexual violence programming.”
Team lead Cynthia Dyke said Lilac Place gives attendees a chance to come together, learn together and support each other.
“We may each be the pilot of our own life, but it is so much easier to navigate what life throws our way when we have a community to fall back on. Our hope is to be one of these bubbles of community a gentle reminder that we have each other, and the solution is within each other, as a collective,” Dyke said.
Prior to Lilac Place, the closest women’s resources centre was in Truro.
Autumn House executive director Dawn Ferris speaks during the opening of Lilac Place, a women's resource centre for all women in Cumberland County.