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Symposium shares stories of hope and healing

Annual Hope Resource Centre event returned March 30 following one-year hiatus
WES - HRC Annual Symposium
Keynote speaker, Leslie Philips of the Primary Care Network, spoke about healing during the Hope Resource Centre’s Annual Symposium at the Westlock Inn and Conference Centre on March 30.

WESTLOCK – There’s ‘hope’ on the horizon in 2022.

That was a key message behind the Hope Resource Centre’s annual symposium at the Westlock Inn and Conference Centre on March 30.

The event celebrates International Women’s Day — it was held in 2020 but was cancelled in 2021. Organizers were thrilled to see it return in person this year, sharing a meaningful and timely message of hope and healing, following the two-year pandemic. 

“We change the theme every year. Ironically, the theme which we had no idea would be very, very applicable in 2020, was resilience and five days later we were hit with a global pandemic,” said Hope Resource Centre executive director Sylvia Yoder. “This year the theme was hope, healing and heroes.”  

Just over 100 people gathered to hear presentations and keynote speakers including Leslie Phillips from the Primary Care Network, who spoke on the medical benefits and neurological impacts of hope and what it does to our brains and our bodies. Participants also heard from a team of researchers from Humber College in Toronto and local speakers including opening remarks from town councillor, Laura Morie, whose mother Shirley served as mayor for three terms from 1995-2004 and helped pave a path for local women in politics.  

In addition to speakers and hope-filled messages from both adults and children, attendees had an opportunity to network and connect with various community groups and organizations through information tables taking part in the symposium.

“We had invited numerous community agencies and resources to be available at tables,” said Yoder, adding they welcomed the community garden, homeland housing, volunteer resources from Alberta Health Services, Westlock and District FCSS, the Westlock and District Food Bank Association and the Westlock Municipal Library.

Yoder also shared about the centre’s contributions to a research project by a team of researchers from Humber College in Toronto.

“Hope Resource Centre is honoured to be one of eight organizations across Canada, selected to participate in a three-year research project of hope, self-compassion and authenticity to broaden the lens of understanding and response in all that hope brings, despite adversity and trauma,” explained Yoder. “They will be providing the research on hope … then they compile all the data and that will be released to us.”

The half-day event concluded with encouraging words of resilience and a renewed sense of hope for 2022, noted Yoder, adding that she wanted attendees to leave feeling empowered and equipped to continue giving back to their communities, and know the work they are doing is is not only necessary, but is making a difference for many.   

“Hope brings the capacity to ward off anxiety, trauma and depression and we’ve really noticed in the last couple of years that those three factors have really escalated,” said Yoder. “This was a shared, collective understanding that we all survived a monumental pandemic … everybody there was there with a purpose, that people had wanted to continue giving — a simple smile, a simple gesture of kindness can change a life, often it can save a life.

“I think that’s what our group left with, was that sense of we’re not doing this alone, we’re not isolated from this. We all share the game goal – we want to continue giving to this community. I think that’s exactly what they’re doing and I think they left feeling a little bit more encouraged.”

Kristine Jean, TownandCountryToday.com


Kristine Jean

About the Author: Kristine Jean

Kristine Jean joined the Westlock News as a reporter in February 2022. She has worked as a multimedia journalist for several publications in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and enjoys covering community news, breaking news, sports and arts.
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