Friday, November 30, 2012

Pushing boundaries. Making cracks.

"There is a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in."
~ Leonard Cohen


This year we celebrated our 40th anniversary of serving the Calgary community. I have had the chance to reflect and reminisce with many of our supporters over the past year at our various celebrations, and I would like to share some of my thoughts.

We began as a grassroots volunteer organization back in 1972, with our work focused on improving access to birth control and increasing support for women facing unplanned pregnancies. Ours was, and continues to be, a leading voice in the city promoting access to choice and advocating on behalf of women.

Our pioneering work to bring sex education into schools began in 1975. Our broad and comprehensive approach, which went beyond anatomical nuts and bolts, and recognized the vital importance of teaching sexuality was a challenge at that time. It is a challenge we have faced ever since.

Our society remains uncomfortable and silent about sex and sexuality, yet it is such an important and encompassing part of our lives. That is why we need community support to continue our essential work.

At the CSHC, we work every day to shine a light on this shame-based culture and the harm that it causes. Our award-winning programming has grown and responded over the past 40 years to the growing and changing needs of our community. We are honoured to work with a variety of Calgarians, providing sexual and reproductive health resources and support to youth, women, the LGBT community, older adults, young men, the disability community, new Canadians, and more.

In our 40 years we have found that the more work we do to educate our community, the more we make cracks into new areas that need support. The cultural shifts necessary to ensure that everyone has access to the non-judgmental services and information they need won't happen overnight. We will continue to face opposition.

We've come a remarkably long way - made a lot of cracks - but we need to keep going.

We invite you to support our work by making a donation today. Your support gives us the freedom and ability to continue to push boundaries, reach new communities and make new cracks.

--> Donate online via Canada Helps    

--> Donations by mail, phone or in person

Thank you for your support of our work promoting healthy sexuality in our community.

Sincerely,

Pam Krause
Executive Director