The Dragonfly Counselling and Support Centre is spreading the word about who they are and what they do.
On Saturday, May 27, the centre will be hosting a Wellness Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Bonnyville Centennial Centre.
“We really wanted to find a way to feature activities and demonstrations that promote healthy emotional coping strategies and techniques,” said Cheryl Bujold, executive director for the Dragonfly Counselling and Support Centre.
Hosting the event in conjunction with sexual assault awareness month, they'll be featuring activities such as yoga, mini meditation sessions, arts and crafts, calming exercises, and discussions on the importance of eating healthy and being active.
“We've been wanting to do this for a while. May is a big month for our agency because it's sexual assault awareness month, and we wanted to provide an awareness event of Dragonfly, who we are and what we do. We wanted to give a positive spin on those things and show the public some of the emotional coping techniques that we have to offer to anyone,” noted Bujold.
The event is open to the public, and they encourage families to come and take part.
Bujold said, “I think anyone can learn from these strategies and techniques. Children can learn from these techniques at a really young age. There's lots of talk about mindfulness practices in our everyday conversations, and we want to be able to make that tangible for people so they can have a chance to experiment and find out how easy it is to practice this and incorporate it into their daily routine.”
The Dragonfly Counselling and Support Centre has been in Bonnyville for three years. They offer free counselling and support services to those who have been affected by sexual violence.
She added, “We also have an educational program where we provide awareness and prevention education on all issues related to sexual violence,” Bujold noted.
“We feel it's important to create an awareness. We know that the issue of sexual violence has been a prevalent issue in our society and in our communities for some time. We feel that individuals are coming forward now and they're ready to talk about these issues, and we want to be able to provide the support to those we serve.”
The event is one way they're reaching out to the public and letting them know about the services offered by the centre, and how individuals can reach out for help.
“We want to make it easy for people to come forward and start talking about these issues. The prevention of sexual violence starts with talking in a positive way about sexual health, positive emotional coping strategies, and healthy relationships and friendships, and that starts at a young age,” expressed Bujold. “We hope to bring the community together to create an awareness of who we are so we can better serve the people that need that support.”
