Care From The Core in Regina
Nurturing the Return to Self, Heart, and Spirit
by Elita Paterson

One cold February night in 2002, a group of people came together to discuss the feasibility of starting an organization that would make complementary and alternative healing available to people from all walks of life. For months we met and pondered many possibilities, developing a vision, a mission, and objectives, and articulating our values. We knew beyond a doubt that there was a need throughout society for a place to nurture the return to self, heart, and spirit. Care From The Core (CFTC) Regina was thus born, and on July 10, 2002, it was incorporated as a non-profit organization, and our work began.

We finished 2002 with a proud record of partnering with two major organizations—Rainbow Youth Centre and the Regina and District Food Bank—as well as having publicity opportunities on the radio and in the print press. We delivered our message that the road to wellness and change begins with spirit, and for healing to be sustained it must be wholistic. That is, it must bring all systems of the body—the physical, emotional, mental, and the energy system—back into a balanced whole.

Throughout 2003, our partnership with Rainbow continued in a program called Personal Acceptance and Change (PAC) and we began presenting classes in “Alternatives” at the Seniors’ Education Centre. Our first true “program” was born that year, a Lifeskills Program presented at the Food Bank. Totally run by volunteers and funded by Care From The Core, the program met and exceeded our expectations and we proudly graduated five participants. The concept of “mini-treatment days” was also born in 2003, and we offered these combined with presentations to many organizations including the Food Bank, the Neil Squire Foundation, the YWCA, and others.

The years from 2004 to present have been a time of building and solidifying what we had already accomplished, maintaining our associations and partnerships, strengthening our organization, as well as expanding our fundraising and our programming. One of our more successful fundraisers was the Crystal Show & Sale in the fall of 2008, which had an amazing turnout! Plans are already underway for this fall (2009). We also had our first Wholistic Health Awareness Day on Sunday, June 21, which was a great success!

Today, our purpose is clear. We value wholeness and balance, and we have a commitment to community in the widest sense of the word. The Mission of CFTC is to provide an affordable, approachable, interactive, and safe gathering place for all who come seeking wholeness and well-being. Our five-year vision is an integrated wellness centre in the “core” area of Regina where people from all walks of life can come to begin their journey to wellness in body, mind, emotions, and spirit. For now we take our “place” out into the wider community, taking our message and programming wherever we are invited or needed.

As a member of Care From The Core you can be a part of a growing organization proud of its past and excited by its future, reaching out to all people to encourage their journey to wholeness and well-being.

Elita Paterson is a member of the CFTC Board of Directors. For more CFTC information, including membership info, call (306) 347-2382, email: carefromthecore@gmail.com, or visit www.carefromthecore.com. CFTC is located at 2054 Broad Street, above Farmer Direct.