Creating Community Partnerships

CWHC and the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society have partnered with the Cowichan Primary Care Network (PCN) to offer healthcare services directly to the residents of Cedar Branches, a low-barrier emergency shelter for self-identified women in Duncan, and other street-involved women. One day each week, a nurse practitioner sees these clients, who might otherwise have difficulty accessing healthcare services.

Through the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres (CACHC), CWHC was able to raise funds to support a “System Navigator” position. This position provides support to the clients, to assist them in overcoming barriers to accessing care, which may include fear based on previous trauma or stigma based on their lived experiences.

Access to on-site healthcare at the shelter, and support for accessing follow-up recommendations from the nurse practitioner has created dramatic change for the women. You can read stories of impact here. CACHC has also featured this project on one of its recent podcasts, which can be found on their website.

Funding for this project, generously provided by the TD Ready philanthropic program, was received in August 2023. The project wraps up in July 2024, but CWHC and CWAV are committed to continue to offer the services beyond this timeframe, because of the positive impacts of both the direct access to trauma-informed healthcare, but also the systems navigation component which supports followup for and with clients to enable better healthcare outcomes.