Our Vision

The Cowichan region will be healthier if women and girls have their needs met in a safe,
appropriate and effective way.

Who We Serve

The CWHC prioritizes service to people who identify as women and girls, including those who have experienced violence and those who are often considered vulnerable populations: adolescents under the age of 20, newcomers to the region or to Canada, Indigenous peoples, those affected by poverty, substance use and homelessness, people who have no family doctor, those who are socially or economically at risk, and those who identify as LGTBQIA or two spirited, and their families.

Cowichan Women’s Health Collective is located on the unceded and ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish peoples.

Vision

Self-identified women, girls and families in the Cowichan region are healthier through the provision of programs and services that meet their needs in safe, appropriate and effective ways.

Mission

Promoting the health and wellness of self-identified women, girls, and families in the Cowichan Valley.

Aspirations

1. To establish a Women-Centred Community Health Centre that will promote the health of self-identified women and girls and alternatively gendered (non-CIS) people in the Cowichan region by providing health care services, access to health counselling and information, and addressing the social determinants of health

2. To advance education and inform health care service provision through health research and knowledge dissemination in order to promote the health of self-identified women and girls and alternatively gendered (non-CIS) people.

Community of Service

The CWHC prioritizes service to and inclusion of people who identify as women and girls, including those who have experienced violence and those who are often considered vulnerable populations: adolescents under the age of 20, newcomers to the region or to Canada, Indigenous peoples, those affected by poverty, substance use and homelessness, people who have no family doctor, those who are socially or economically at risk, and those who identify as 2SLGTBQIA+, and their families.

Land Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge, with gratitude for their stewardship, that the Cowichan Women’s Health Collective operates on the unceded traditional First Nations territories of the Quw’utsun, Malahat, Halalt, Penelakut, Stz’uminus, Lyackson, Ts’uubaa-asatx, and Ditidaht peoples.

At CWHC, we are grateful to be living and working in this place, and offer our respect and solidarity for the struggles to achieve reconciliation. We take seriously our role in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, which includes advancing our learning about decolonization and seeking to implement the Calls to Action. We also seek to partner with Indigenous organizations and individuals in respectful ways and learn from Indigenous communities and teachings.