2. Guest Speaker – Lisa Wilde from the Emily Murphy Centre “Finding herself professionally” -Lisa outlined the role and services of the Emily Murphy Centre (2nd stage housing). –Supports women and children who have experienced violence -One to one and group counseling with women and children, art therapy, tangible supports (furniture, clothing), full time children’s worker -Outreach program -Run and supervise the ‘caring dads’ program –Lisa does individual counseling with men who have experienced or perpetrated violence -EMC runs the supervised access programs in Huron and Perth counties. –Offer a safe place for kids to change hands Lisa has mostly an administrative role. She likes this role and aims to “make the best program that [she] possibly can.” That said, the finance/budgeting part is her least favourite. She is a Social Worker and that is what she loves to do. Lisa describes her role with EMC as being “Big enough to be meaningful and small enough to be personal” -Started career working in daycare; then worked with young offenders in corrections and eventually ran an open custody facility for young female offenders—she enjoyed working with this population. –Eventually the government pulled their funding. This gave her a push to do something different. She has always been involved with women’s issues This opportunity came up in Stratford and she feels it was the best decision she ever made Taught the Sociology of health and illness at Fanshawe (she is a sociologist) -certified in reality therapy and choice theory -she has worked as a consultant for others -Graduated from Western with a BA in Sociology and continued to upgrade her education throughout her career and continues to do that now EMC 4 different funding streams—United Way, MCSS (for programs), City of Stratford and County of Perth, Ministry of the Attorney General (funds the supervised access program) *Without fundraising, they would run at a 15-17% deficit -A lot of funds go to deficit; a lot goes directly to the women (food, taxi, necessities, x-mas presents). Annually, they raise about $40,000. 1 in 3 Canadian women will have experienced violence in her life before she is 15. 1 in 5 men. Currently looking for board members – relies heavily on her board of directors for guidance and support –specifically legal, accounting, and bookkeeping experience Volunteers do childcare, special events, maintenance, yard work “Sage words of wisdom” -Mentorship –find 2 or 3 mentors, ask questions, follow what they do, watch how they work…but also…be that mentor -Volunteer…you are needed and you will get so much back -Find your passion…you’re going to love what you do if you’re passionate about it. There are appropriate ways to let your opinions be known. The more outspoken you are about the things that mean a lot to you, the more people will listen to you. Take a stand and let people know what you believe in. Be a champion for a cause. -Thanks to Rotaract’s trivia night donation to the Emily Murphy Centre last year, every child got a stocking at Christmas time | 
