In 1988 the concept of peer based support groups was unique in Canada. Our attempt to start groups was met with scepticism by professionals and uncertainty by funders. We developed this unique service with volunteers and the meagre funds raised from garage sales. By 1993 the concept of peer support groups was being used extensively through out Canada and the United States.

Organisations usually experience growth in four stages:

CREATION > EXPANSION > STAGNATION > MATURATION

> CREATION STAGE

1985
Formation of the Maggie Street Shelter Committee and discussions as to why women were returning to the shelter again and again, often in worse condition than before.

1986
Began a Pilot Study to investigate the above question. Incorporated under the societies act.

1988
Completed the Pilot Study.

Conducted a public forum to raise awareness about domestic violence, present the findings of the Pilot Study and announce plans for the establishment of the Calgary Society for Women Plus.
Started the first Growth Circle, which was deemed a tremendous success by the participants.

1989
Continued to operate Growth Circles, expanding the concept to include Second Stage and Survivor Groups, one-to-one peer support, referrals and advocacy, while continuing to utilise trained professionals as facilitators, childcare workers and board members.

Began recruiting and training non-professionals to assist with group facilitation and childcare as well as participate on the Board.

1991
Operated 10 Growth Circles in various communities virtually year round.

Launched the first Children's Plus Program, attended by 5 children ages 7-10, which was deemed very beneficial, and very expensive to operate.

Established a small office started by volunteers.

> EXPANSION STAGE

1992
Held a Board Retreat to revisit the vision, mandate, service delivery, resource requirements, and short term and long term plans.

Received our first substantial funding of $25,000 from the United Way, to develop Drop-In Groups in a shelter setting in collaboration with the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, Sheriff King Home, and Family Life Education Council.

Hired our first staff person.

Designed, developed, implemented and operated 2 Drop-In groups in shelter settings and ran 4 Neighbourhood Growth Circles, each co-facilitated by teams of Calgary Society for Women Plus and FLEC facilitators.

Focused on establishing the necessary structure to ensure the highest quality of sustained service delivery.

Established a comprehensive volunteer training program and handbook for facilitators, childcare volunteers and Board members.

Established filing systems, computer systems, accounting systems, information sheets and posters.

Established strong working relationships with collaborative partners.

Moved to larger office space, furnished entirely on donated furniture and equipment.

1993
Expanded funding base to include the United Way, WildRose Foundation, Catholic Charities, and Sponsorship Campaign, raising a total of $75,000 to go toward:

Enhancing the volunteer program

Continuing the shelter Drop-In Group in collaboration with Family Life Education Council and the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter

Continued to operate Drop-In Groups and Growth Circles in 4 Calgary neighbourhoods year round.

Enhanced the volunteer program and actively participated in the Family Violence Prevention Volunteer Co-ordinators Collective.

> STAGNATION STAGE

1994
Completed collaboration with CWES and FLEC.

Began exploring collaborative opportunities with multi-cultural based agencies and a train the trainer project with Family Life Education Council.

Continued to offer groups.

Shared our model of support with other organisations beginning to offer services to abused women.

1995
The number of groups rose dramatically and we decided to eliminate the Drop-In style of support services until further notice.

Our profile and presence in the community grew.

We received the United Way's Award of Excellence in Community Service.

A small grant was given by the Junior League of Calgary to pilot our individual peer support program. We had historically offered individual support informally and staff had taken responsibility for women needing individual support. The grant allowed us to create the beginnings of a training manual and a pilot training was held with a handful of volunteers.

> MATURATION STAGE

1996
We were able to increase our staffing for a short period of time to include Resource Development Position, which allowed for an increase in our funding base and a consequent reprieve from the day-to-day financial stress that had become a part of our history.

Funding from the Calgary Foundation made a generous contribution to enhance and build on our pilot for the individual peer support program and the volunteer co-ordinator position was increase to facilitate these changes. The first training was scheduled for April or May of 1997.

Wild Rose Foundation made a generous contribution to enhance our volunteer base to include training and support for Public Relations and Fund-Raising Committees.

The Growth Circle Program Continued to be our greatest success with 23 groups offered from March 96- March 97.

1997-1998
Following a community consultation, we made the decision to change our name to Peer Support Services for Abused Women. It was felt that our previous name acted as a barrier for clients and that that our new name would make it clearer as to who we are and what we do.

Over these two years we have been able to see progress and a building on the financial foundation created for us in 1996.

We added an Executive Director position to our staffing structure to continue to provide the quality of service we have historically prided ourselves on, and to relieve some of the administrative stress usually placed on the Board.

Our volunteer program continues to grow with our training expanding to include more workshops and skill development sessions for our clients and volunteers.

We are increasingly being called upon to offer training and information to a variety of groups and organisations. We speak regularly to the Contemporary Women's Program; the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association volunteer facilitators and The Calgary Police Service Association's Victim Assistance Unit trainees. We have also offered public education workshops to inmates at the Calgary Young Offenders Centre as well as our ongoing support of the United Way in their annual campaign.

We continue to be active on a variety of committees: The Calgary Coalition on Family Violence, The Family Violence Prevention Program in the Sunrise Communities, The Men's Family Emergency Support Centre, The Volunteer Co-ordinators Collective and The Calgary Domestic Violence Committee. We also sponsor the new Violence and Information Education Centre.

We were able to complete a successful collaborative group with OWLS (The Older Women's Long-term Survival project) and have worked in partnership with the Brenda Stafford Centre to offer our model of support to the women who reside there.

We were able to provide a "modified" Growth Circle with a social worker from the Victorian Order of Nurses and based on feedback from the participants and our facilitator we will likely do this partnership group again.

We are currently very active in a pilot project with 15 other agencies to look at how to develop and integrate outcome measurement into our program.