camrose resources

Neighbour Aid: The Camrose Community Helping One Another

By KIRANDEEP SINGH

Neighbor Aid is the non-profit volunteer organization meant to help people in need. It is run by the churches in Camrose, providing outreach to the community. Their name stems off the idea that they are helping as neighbours who are there for each other. They help provide services like soup kitchens, specialty medical transportation, food banks, food for kids, emergency housing and feeding, some financial aid to qualifying individuals, and referrals to agencies and services.

The food bank runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. People who require food assistance need to bring the names of all the individuals in the household, source of income, the reason they require food assistance, proof of residence, and personal ID. From there, they are given a hamper per month that will be based on how Neighbor Aid assess those individuals’ needs.

Donations to the Camrose Neighbor Aid Center can be dropped off at 4524 54 Street, behind the museum building. Neighbor Aid also runs a Morning Bread service that runs on Monday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Camrose Community Church. They run breakfast clubs for children at schools as well. They encourage people to volunteer and help others in need of assistance.

They accepts donations of non-perishable foods such as pasta and sauce, canned fish or meat, peanut butter, powdered milk, soup, canned fruit or vegetables, granola bars, and baby food. They also accept non-food items such as baby diapers, feminine hygiene products, toiletries, soap, shampoo, and deodorant. Neighbor Aid can be contacted at 780-679-3220 or through their email nbaid@cable-lynx.net. More information can found on their website www.neighboraid.ca.

Wellness Week Tackles Mental Health Awareness

BY KIRANDEEP SINGH

Each semester, the Augustana Students’ Association (ASA) hosts a week long event referred to as Wellness Week. The goal is to improve the mental health of students and help them destress at the end of the busy semester. Wellness Week is extremely important as it helps students take some time to wind down with the stress of final exams approaching. This year, Wellness Week was run by Alex Ho, the VP of Communications on the ASA.
The ASA advertised Wellness Week through posters, email newsletters, and through the Facebook event page. Students were encouraged to participate and get involved.
Over the week, all sorts of different events took place. Students had the opportunity to grab food and drinks on various days throughout the week. There were fruits, a salad bar, snacks, Norwegian breakfast, and Booster Juice! Volunteers helped hand out the goodies the best they could even though they went quickly.
Events to help students manage adult life also took place. A financial blueprint program helped students manage money and work on budgeting their finances. Other benefits promoted self-care, such as free admission to the Fitness Centre for the whole week.
Practices designed to calm and ease like beading, knitting, and a dog walk also took place. Although there were not many participants for these practices, the people who joined were concentrated and learned new skills that can be forms of peaceful meditation.
The University of Alberta also promotes an app called WellTrack that uses interactive self-help therapy to help students with their mental health. A person needs to sign in with their school email to get full access. The app offers mood assessments, modules to help students get through their mental health issues, and guides students to resources that are available at Augustana or in Camrose where they can seek help. The app is available on the App Store and on Google Play.

Winter Happenings at the Camrose Public Library

SUBMITTED BY THE CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (NICOLE BANNICK)

The geese have flown south, and days are cooler. The snow has begun to fall, and is sticking this time. Night comes earlier, and the Northern Lights are more easily seen in the sky. It will soon be the time of year that children and adults around the world have been waiting for: Winter holiday season!  Whether you observe Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Yule, Diwali, or any number of other winter cultural or religious celebrations, you will be sure to find something at the library and in the community of Camrose this winter.

Camrose Public Library, as laid out in our Plan of Service, values inclusion regardless of heritage, education, beliefs, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental capabilities, or income, and we strive to hold and take part in events that promote this value. You will find on our shelves and in our programming, global celebration stories from many different cultures including Christian, Judaic, African American, Muslim, Indigenous Canadian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions.

Camrose Public Library has a yearly event which brings people together to celebrate the gifts and merry-making of the holiday season. We invite everyone to join us for our annual Family Christmas Party on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. The party is again being planned and facilitated by Community Service Learning students from U of A Augustana Campus, and they have some wonderful things in store for you. We are having a sustainable party again this year, with card making, tree ornaments, and pinecone Christmas tree crafts. Embellish Hand Bell Choir will kick off the event with some performances, and a Jolly Man in Red will make an appearance as well. The event is free of charge and open to all, regardless of age or family structure.

While you are here for the Christmas party, make sure to stop by and have a look at our Giving Tree, which will be set up in the Adult Fiction Section. This is our third year of setting up the tree, which gives library users a simple way to pay it forward this holiday season. Pull a tag off the tree and take it to the circulation desk to pay the fine printed on it. Once it is paid, library staff will phone the cardholder to let them know that they have received a gift from another library user. There will be tags in a wide range of prices, from $0.25 to $50.00 or more, so it is an easy way for library users, even the youngest of patrons, to make someone smile this holiday season!

Nicole Bannick is the Program Coordinator of the Camrose Public Library. Outside of work, she enjoys time with her family, Christmas baking, teasing her Mum about lutefisk, and fighting with her siblings for the last piece of lefse.

Camrose Open Door Offers Support for Camrose and Region Youth

BY ALIZA GRAHAM

The Camrose Open Door is a regional non-profit organization that is funded in various ways including government contracts, government grants, private grants, donations and fundraising. Youth from throughout the central region of Alberta, who are between the ages of 11 and 24, can come to the Open Door in times of need for support and outreach services. A team of passionate and dedicated directors, youth support workers, volunteer workers, and practicum students work to provide support 24/7 to those in need. It also has a 24 hour emergency helpline. Youth support services aim to help youth to grow and transition into successful adults. With the help of the Open Door, youth in need have a chance at a brighter future and the support they need in order to become contributing members of society.

The Open Door offers support, effective services, and a safe place for youth in need. Homeless youth may be couchsurfing, staying in abandoned places, or unsafe environments and the Open Door can help provide them with a safe place to stay. They have an emergency shelter, as well as offering transitional suites to those who need help adjusting to the transition from living in a shelter to living independently in a community. There are many possibilities for why a youth is homeless, such as family violence/abuse, addictions, mental health, or neglect. Sometimes youth come to the Open Door when they need a break from their home life and seek a  safe place.

The services offered are client centered, solution focused, and individualized to meet the specific needs of clients. To the Open Door, there is no specific definition of a youth ‘in need’; there are many reasons why a young person might come to the Open Door for help. The Open Door is there for any youth that requires assistance in any part of their life. Some possibilities of a youth ‘in need’ include those who need help with a place to live, help finding a job, help with transportation, or help dealing with parents/caregivers or family situations. Perhaps they just need someone to talk to, or a place to come to during the day, or they are hungry and need food. In times of need, youth can come by the Open Door office for something to eat. The Open Door outreach services include employment and school support, as well as referrals to assist in all areas of life, these outreach services can be accessed in the community, main office, or through the helpline. Additionally, they have an employment program that provides job coaching, job searches, and referrals to help youth find employment and support them as they cope with difficult situations. They also help support youth staying in school.

The Open Door offers help for those youths who need a referral to a doctor, or mental health assistance. For youths and families, there are counseling services available which are free of charge. A Behavioral Health Consultant from the Camrose Primary Care Network (PCN) is on site to help with mental health, substance abuse and the health needs of youth. With the Youth Hub, the PCN and the Open Door partnered in order to offer help to youth who need healthcare and social support. The services are youth and family oriented, providing easy access to primary care, addiction and mental health support and social services. An outreach navigator can help youth in need to find the right assistance. The Open Door also has a trained therapy dog named Moose, who is at the office and provides support to youth.

In addition, the Open Door has a Library Drop-In group every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., which focuses on encouraging discussion and learning about topics and issues including bullying, self-esteem, and family violence. The group encourages youth to participate in activities and discussions that help develop their self-confidence.

A great way to support the Open Door is with grocery gift cards to help buy food for the shelter and for the outreach at the Open Door office. Clients living independently may come to the Open Door for assistance with purchasing food. Gift cards for clothing, house ware, activity passes, and single serving food items are also helpful.

 

The Plot Matures: A Book Club for 20-Somethings

SUBMITTED BY CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (KELLY HIGGINS)

Libraries and book clubs go together like mac and cheese. It just makes so much sense that one would go with the other and you would be hard pressed to find a public library that does not offer some form of book club to its community. Book clubs do not just happen in the library, of course, and they can be found in living rooms, pubs, cafes, and parks around the world. They are a way for people to get together, enjoy each other’s company, maybe have a few drinks, and if they get around to it, talk about a book.

There are so many great book club ideas out there, and all you really need is a friend or two to start a successful club. Clubs can have a theme, think Jane Austen, graphic novels, Pulitzer Prize winners, harlequin romances, or you can just wing it and read whatever you feel like that month. There are Cookbook Clubs, where members choose a recipe from the same cookbook and bring their dish to the next meeting (or just a bottle of wine if the recipe does not work out). Silent Book Clubs where introverts and wannabe introverts gather to read their own individual books together, but silently; or article clubs, where the books are scrapped and members just read and discuss an interesting published article. The real beauty of book clubs is how fluid they can be, they can be one thing one month, and then something completely different the next. It is really anything your group wants it to be.

A few summers ago 20-something staff at the Camrose Public Library were looking at different extra-curricular groups and activities to do in Camrose. Besides sports groups, very little was offered in the way of free group activities during the summertime, and fewer aimed at younger adults in their 20’s. Even the library, which offers a plethora of adult programming (which you should check out, obviously) slows things down in the summer and only a small handful of these programs are aimed at young adults. From this somewhat dismal discovery The Plot Matures was born, a book club for people in their 20’s. The first meeting was held on a Tuesday night at the library, a couple chairs were set out, and a single plate of cookies was provided, in the hopes that one or two people would come. Instead, 20 people showed up! A wonderful mix of people from different backgrounds who were looking for a way to connect with like-minded people and read some good books while they were at it.                                                                                                                                                                                        

Fast forward a couple of years to the present day, and with the exception of an assortment of different members, the book club has essentially stayed the same, attracting a lovely variety of people to get together once a month to hang out, chat about books (and movies, podcasts, pop culture etc.), and eat delicious treats. Many club members are new to the city and looking to make connections, some want motivation to read, others come because their friends do, and some may just be coming for the free  fro-yo…but, no judgement 😉

A book for the following month is chosen at the end of each meeting, and copies are put on hold at the library so participants can come pick them up at their convenience. There is no theme in choosing titles, but the group has recently delved in to the likes of non-fiction and science fiction with some favourite titles this year being The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, and Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.  New members are always welcome to the club and people are encouraged to come to a meeting even if you have not read the book!

This month’s title is The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. The next meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 p.m. at Twisted Frozen Yogurt. If you would like more information you can join the Facebook group ‘The Plot Matures: A Book Club for 20 Somethings’ or e-mail kelly@prl.ab.ca

 

Public Library Not Just for Tangibles: Online Resources Abound

SUBMITTED BY THE CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (JENNIFER ROZEMA)

Different types of media have made it easier than ever to access material that would otherwise would have been harder to obtain on a day-to-day basis. Ebooks, eaudiobooks, websites dedicated to borrowing music, and movies through your laptop, smart phone, or tablet have changed the many ways that we are able to access different mediums of material. The Camrose Public Library has access to many of these resources, and has made it simple and cost effective for library members to access them!

To access any of our electronic materials, all you need is a valid library card and to visit the Camrose Public Library website. Once there, hover over the “elibrary” tab at the top of the page and select the type of service you would like to access from the drop down menu. Along with each platform, there is an opportunity to learn more about what it offers (click “learn more”) including how to download the app and materials to that app. If you simply want to visit the platform, click on the “visit resource” and get started.

cloudLibrary is an ebook platform with over 3000 titles. It requires an app to be installed on your device to which you will simply transfer anything you borrow from the library. cloudLibrary sorts ebooks into newest items, genres, most popular items in the past month, the best of the year, and more. You can also search the titles if there is a specific title you’re looking for. Ebooks automatically return themselves at the end of three weeks so you never have to worry about overdue fees. Read Alberta eBooks is another collection of ebooks available on the cloudLibrary, which includes over 1,000 Alberta-published books from 24 Alberta Publishers.

RBdigital platform offers magazines (that you never have to return), eaudiobooks, and ebooks. If you download the app to your device, you can skip visiting the platform on your computer and simply search for and download your selections on your device. These items return themselves at the end of three weeks, or you can renew them if someone else does not have a hold on them.

If keeping up with world news is your thing, you can visit either PressReader or Newspaper Source Plus. Between the two platforms, you will have access to millions of newspapers from around the world in hundreds of languages. They allow you to search for specific subjects, images, or read the paper from cover to cover just like a physical newspaper.

CELA and NNELS are formats created specifically for those who are print disabled. The term print disabled means anyone who is unable to read a book, because of failing eyesight, because they have a medical condition that has left them unable to hold a physical book, or any other reason. Contact the library staff to make sure we have noted your print disability on your record so you can borrow seamlessly.

The Alberta Research Portal is your gateway to a world-class collection of primary sources. It allows you to search extensive resources including those related to indigenous peoples, the Associate Press Collections, the Smithsonian Collection online, and more.

Pronunciator is a great tool to use if you are looking to learn another language, or to brush up on some vocab! Simply make an account, and work at your own pace. With flashcards, speech feedback (find out how well you pronounced a said word), videos, and many more resources help you learn at your own space, while meeting your individual learning style needs.

Grant Connect is an online resource that is licensed for in-library use, only, but everyone is allowed to access it. If you work for a charitable organization and are looking for new funding opportunities, search Grant Connect.

Library hours:

The library is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. The library is closed all weekend days of statutory holidays.

Jenny Rozema is one of the smiling faces you see at the front desk at the library. She is also a 5th year student at Augustana where she is finishing up a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English. She can often be found hiding in the Library with Hutch.