Segue offers strong connections

Written by Ian Froese | This article originally appeared in The Carillon

IAN FROESE | THE CARILLON
Debra Stockwell, Chantal Ippersiel and Stephan Geissler help people experiencing barriers to employment find fulfillment through steady work at Segue Career Options, located through the back door at 418 Main Street, Steinbach.

Each client visiting Segue Career Options in Steinbach is a new story.

It could be a woman held back by a physical disability, or a young man with a poor work history. They all need help, guidance in finding employment.

That transformation from first conversation to first day on the job is what Stephan Geissler relishes. He helps job-seekers overcome the obstacles preventing them from finding work.

"I enjoy seeing young people coming in, unaware of their barriers, and through the program they start to identify, self-assess and realize, ‘Wow, maybe I have a chip on my shoulder.’"
Nearly 100 people utilize Segue yearly, seeking a smooth transition from unemployment to earning a pay cheque on the regular.

There are two streams. What’s referred to as Segue proper is one-on-one training for people with mental or physical health barriers. After conducting a vocational assessment, Segue seeks the right job opportunity.

The STEP program is geared toward people aged 15 to 30, those who are job-ready but not fully trained. Maybe they’re inexperienced, lacking knowledge or had poor experiences in past jobs. A four week in-class component teaches various skills and then they venture into an eight week work experience, where they are connected with willing employers. The participants are paid for by the government and covered under Workers Compensation.

Although the two programs vary, they centre around mentoring, said program coordinator Chantal Ippersiel.

"It’s a unique opportunity to serve a portion of our community that tend to feel like they’re overlooked—we get the ones that didn’t finish high school or had rockier paths," she said. "They just need to go somewhere where they can learn, not be judged and expand on their skillset."

Director Debra Stockwell manages Segue in Steinbach, where it has operated on 418 Main Street since 2012, and in Winkler, where it has flourished since the 1980s.

Though each client differs in what brings them to Segue, they learn the same lessons.

"[Segue] gives them an opportunity to be themselves and by being themselves Stefan and Chantal are able to draw even more skills out of them," said Stockwell.

The list of businesses accepting Segue’s clients continues to grow. They include Steinbach Family Resource Centre, Rocco’s Pizzeria, Canadian Tire and Let’s Celebrate Rentals.

Segue hopes more businesses become aware of them and give their clients a shot. Stockwell is well-aware of the time involved in teaching new employees, but she hopes employers will consider lending a hand, and maybe train them into becoming the perfect employee.

"These are people in this community, whether they fall under Segue or whether they fall under STEP, that all want to be a part of our community," she said. "Here we can help them do that."

---

Written by Ian Froese | This article originally appeared in The Carillon

Used with Permission

“The Stigma, I Think It's Starting To Go Away”

Written by Rachel Siemens for Pembina Valley Online

James Friesen (file photo)

During the 64th National Mental Health Week, CEO of Eden Health Care Services says he feels the stigma of mental health is starting to go away.

James Friesen adds it's best to not hide behind an issue but find spaces where you can talk and share. Friesen says he's experienced that positive mental health starts with simply having a place to live.

"What we've seen evidence of and that is in terms of being involved in housing programs, is we've seen lives transformed when people simply have housing first. So they get a place to live, then you start building the context of community in there and building relationships, getting connected to resources in the community. Suddenly now a person's life is entirely different. They're contributing in a way that they've never imagined before and it's just because they got housing first before any of the other things were brought to bare."

Friesen adds we tend to put labels on things, so if someone identifies with a mental illness we see them through that lens.  However, he says that's not fair because we would look like quite different people if we all started identifying ourselves by our deficits, struggles and challenges.

---

This article originally appeared on Pembina Valley Online. Used with Permission.

Harmony For Hope -- Eden Health Care Services Concert

Written by Jayme Giesbrecht for Pembina Valley Online

It was billed as a Harmony for Hope. A joint concert featuring the Eastman Male Choir led by Ed Hildebrand, and the Winkler Community Male Choir led by Ray Giesbrecht combined to support Eden Health Care Services. The Choir sang, and the people came. It was a packed house at the Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church, and 800 filled the pews at Steinbach Mennonite Church. The concerts also concluded with a number of songs featuring the combined choirs, and it was after the concert, Bass section singers Al Ens and Peter Dyck shared with Al Friesen, their enjoyment of the evening.

Peter was featured in a solo in the gospel song, Precious Lord Take My Hand.

This article originally appeared on Pembina Valley Online

Iron Man 2015

Iron Man 2015

Come join us.

It’s always a delight to be together with a group of men and women who have a desire to take a step or two just beyond the borders of ‘comfortable’.  IronMan is just such a case.  This event is open to everyone who wants to golf for a purpose and who wants to golf without the focus being on the golf score alone.  The IronMan is for everyone who’d like to give a good part of a day to playing golf and in the process raise the awareness of issues surrounding mental health.

Tuesday June 23^rd is the day you’re invited to take part in an adventure.  This year is the 15^th year that Eden Foundation has hosted a group of golfers on the Winkler Centennial Golf Course.  There is no registration fee to be part of this event but we do ask golfers and caddies to raise pledges in support of the work of Eden Health Care Services.  Here’s the link that will take you to the Registration Page.

Eden Foundation has created a Manual you can download here.  It will give you all the details of what to expect during the course of the day, from the time you arrive for breakfast to supper in the late afternoon.

Try to keep up boys!

The question one might well ask is, “Why would anyone want to golf 100 holes of golf in one day?  That’s an awful lot of golfing for one day.”  The reason why anyone might want to do anything is to challenge oneself and in doing so, recall how someone struggling with issues surrounding mental health is challenged daily.  For someone who is dealing with issues of mental health, not only does that person struggle with the emotional roller-coaster but so very frequently the individual is struggling with the loss of employment.   It is also far too common that in many cases homelessness is part of the package.

Eden Foundation is focusing on all of the components that make up good mental health and there are occasions where a particular area is the focused target for the event.  This year the Foundation is looking to support the work of our Housing and Supports Board and their expansion of housing.  Currently Housing and Supports operates apartment buildings in Winkler, Steinbach and Winnipeg which offer 131 places for people to call home.  There continues to be a real need for more places to be built and the Eden organization is not alone in this realization.  Eden gets involved with building homes where there is a desire for the communities being served, to have those homes built.

No, really!  This is a very serious game.

 Currently, Eden together with a group of people from the city of Steinbach have come together and have identified a prime piece of property in Steinbach to build a new apartment block and have made an official application to the provincial government, inviting them into the partnership as well.  This is a pattern that Eden and other interested groups have worked successfully in previous projects; the last one being the Concordia Village IV project in Winnipeg.  We look forward to the formalization of the relationship and as such can expect that the Eden will be asked to be a financial contributor to the project.

You are invited to be part of the experience.  You can be part of that experience by sponsoring one of the golfers, click here to add your support to their effort.

Harmony for Hope 2015

Winkler Community Male Choir and Eastman Male Choir are again teaming up to sing.  These two choirs will be collaborating to present a message of hope, healing and community.

Eastman Male Choir

 
Ed Hildebrand is the director for the Eastman Male Choir and in addition is an accomplished pianist and music arranger.  Ray Giesbrecht directs the Winkler Community Male Choir and is a performing soloist.  They'll be collaborating on a little something as part of the performances. 

Winkler Community Male Choir

These two choirs are joining to present not one, but two evenings of music.  The first concert is on Saturday April 25th at 7 pm at Winkler Bergthaler Mennonite Church.  The second concert will be on Sunday April 26th at 7 pm at Steinbach Mennonite Church.

The work of Eden Foundation is to engage the community in the work of Eden Health Care Services.  That means in part, that we are asking for financial engagement in order that a particular goal or dream that the community has identified can become a reality.  The needs that we are being reminded of over and over again, is for good affordable housing and the sense of community that results from having a decent place to live.  That's what the goal is for these concerts.

The reason that Eden is in the business of housing, is that to maintain a good mental health balance there is a need for a number of other realities of life to be present, not the least of which is housing.  To have a safe, warm and decent place to go home to everyday is a huge part of having peace of mind and as a result continued good mental health.

There are currently two housing projects that are taking shape.  One project is a collaboration between Eden, a group of partners in Steinbach and then another project that is taking shape which is a collaboration between Eden and a group of partners in Morden.  In both projects, we have the privilege of having the provincial government as one of those collaborating partners.

The government of Manitoba in turn recognizes the value of our contribution to these housing projects in that we as the people who live in these communities are showing in very real and practical terms that we consider these projects to be important and that we are engaged and care.  That does not go unheeded by the government that we have collectively elected.

So when we come together in events like these two Harmony for Hope concerts, we are speaking not only into the lives of those whom we will eventually help find a new place that can be called ‘home’, we are also speaking clearly and loudly to our government. We are telling them that we the citizens living here consider this work important and here is the proof.  Please come work with us.

You are invited you to come to the Harmony for Hope concerts.  You will hear good male choir singing.  You will hear a report on the work of Eden Health Care Services and the further developments of these partnerships. You will have opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people dealing with issues surrounding mental health.