The North East Outreach and Support Services' (NEOSS) building in Melfort. (File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

NEOSS 40th

NEOSS celebrating 40th anniversary

Feb 27, 2024 | 4:52 PM

A well-known non-profit organization in the northeast is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

North East Outreach and Support Services (NEOSS) started from humble beginnings in 1984. Originally named the Melfort Sexual Assault Centre, the organization was created due to the need for support services for sexual assault victims.

“In the very beginning it was just trying to find a safe place for women fleeing domestic violence and sexual assault, providing counselling services and operating the crisis line for all of this time – that’s a pretty substantial feat, really, in today’s day and age,” executive director Joan Bear told northeastNOW.

Over time, the centre was renamed the North East Crisis Intervention Centre as it expanded its mandate and programs to help victims of interpersonal violence of all types. The North East Outreach and Support Services name came about in 2009.

“The organization shows very strong stability for being around for 40 years,” said Bear. “The mission statement has largely remained unchanged in 40 years. It’s helping people to stay safe and looking at trying to provide that awareness for interpersonal violence, and empowering people.”

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Melfort was approved for a Safe Home project in late 1984, and it was in operation in early 1985. Four full-time staff were hired. By 1987 the Safe Home Program saw 10 homes used in Melfort for women and children fleeing domestic violence. NEOSS now has 44 staff members across northeast Saskatchewan.

NEOSS has launched a new logo honouring its 40th anniversary. (Submitted/NEOSS)

The organization has faced a number of challenges over the years. The organization lobbied for the construction of a domestic violence shelter for a number of years before receiving approval from the provincial government. The shelter on McKendry Avenue West was about 80 per cent complete when it burned to the ground late in 2014. The organization was forced to rebuild and the facility was completed in 2016, running to full capacity for the past eight years.

NEOSS, like all non-profit organizations, also faces the need for funding to be able to offer their services, while donations from individuals, businesses, and others have also been vital to their success.

The organization further expanded in 2017 with their emergency receiving home known as the TreeHouse. NEOSS staff was also busy in 2018 during the Humboldt Broncos bus crash, offering assistance where needed.

Second-stage housing for clients looking to transition out of the domestic violence shelter was built in 2019. The housing helps those clients who may still need supports from the organization. The TreeHouse was also licensed to expand to 12 children instead of five.

That year also saw the creation of a new branch of the NEOSS tree, Melfort Youth Evolution, head by Kathryn Carswell.

The community outreach and support services help provide counselling help for domestic violence victims.

“That seems to be a need that has not stopped. How to find some healing and trying to move forward,” said Bear. “That’s a very important part.”

Nipawin FIRST (Family Intervention Rapid Support Team) was established as a provincial pilot project two years ago. The team “supports children and families in decreasing the amount of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and to help prevent violence in the home.”

Bear said NEOSS is trying to connect with younger people through engagement on social media including Instagram and TikTok. Meanwhile the organization looks to expand and diversify its board of directors to better reflect the needs of the northeast region.

“A lot of our board members do come from the Tisdale area but we would like to reach out and receive representation from the Nipawin area, from further North, from the Aboriginal population,” explained Bear. “We’re looking for people with professional resource background in finance, the legal aspects of law, social work, housing, and Aboriginal relations.”

Bear said with the high numbers of Indigenous people they work with it’s important to have representation on the board.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK