The Rural Voice, 1995-02, Page 41BRUCE
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1 P9
519-364-3050
' The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Farmers by the BCFA.
Queen's Bush Rural Ministries: the need goes on
People's inability to cope with
rapid and often brutal change is the
reason Queen's Bush Rural Ministries
was founded over eight years ago.
The seemingly insurmountable
debts with little or no equity to offset
the crunch in the rural economy took
up a major portion of our energies
during the first few years. Included,
of course, in the high debt cases was
the stress placed on the individuals
going through these crises, and if
looked at logically, there were bound
to be family units that disintegrated,
split and fought during these changes.
We used donations from individuals,
service clubs, churches and
organizations such as the Bruce
County Federation of Agriculture to
assist these victims. In addition, we
called on the expertise of
professionals, government and
county programs as well as
volunteers to help us navigate
through these storms.
At Queen's Bush we are not
surprised at the number of callers
who have coping problems,
especially those revolving around
change.
When we view the national
picture, it is less than reassuring and
to a person who is already feeling
helpless and inadequate, there is a
sense of being totally overwhelmed
by it all. When these pebple call,
they are concerned about the eroding
safety nets that were once accessible.
Now these avenues are blocked by
bureaucratic mayhem and a multitude
of forms that they can't comprehend
let alone fill out properly.
Supporting these callers is not a
short term matter. A lot of them need
constant monitoring, reassurance,
short term financial aid to pay for the
necessities of life and a sense that
better things will eventualy evolve.
They need help making basic
decisions because their sense of self
worth, their faith in God and mankind
in general has taken a tremendous
beating.
It would be nice if we could report
that all callers are grateful for any
advice we are capable of giving and
act upon it, making our job easier.
This is not always the case. Often we
get these callers a few months down
the road when all the wheels have
finally fallen off, and then it is even
harder to restore some semblance of
BRUCE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL TRAINING COURSES
WINTER 1994-1995
Please contact the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Ruural
Affairs, Walkerton, Telephone: 881-301 or 1-800-265-3023 regarding
information on the following courses. The courses are a co-operative
effort between Walkerton, OMAFRA, and the Ontario Agricultural
Training Institute.
COMPUTER COURSES LIVESTOCK MEDICINES COURSES
DAIRY COURSES
NEGOTIATING SKILLS
CUSTOMER SERVICE
WORKING WITH PEOPLE
SECURING YOUR FUTURE
CHAIN SAW OPERATOR CERTIFICATE COURSE
EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS — A DAY FOR FARM WOMEN
ENVIRONMENTAL FARM PLANS
GROWER PESTICIDE SAFETY COURSES
1995 GREY/BRUCE FEEDER SCHOOL
SWINE COURSES
38 THE RURAL VOICE
order to their affairs. They need even
larger doses of reassurance that there
is hope and a future. These are the
people who find change frightening,
threatening and wait until change is
forced upon them, rather than an
option.
Giving callers a sense of self
worth and working to restore their
faith in God, humanity and life in
general is of tantamount importance
to us at Queen's Bush Rural
Ministries. There is no magic
formula to accomplish this. Often
there seems to be nothing but dead
ends and detours for weeks and
months until they finally click with
an advisor or professional and
everything seems to come together
for them. When this happens, they
enthusiastically look forward to
starting something new, feel
confident in their ability to cope and
get back into the mainstream of their
communities where the support has
been all along, but they were unable
to sense it.
At Queen's Bush, we don't
attempt to analyze, categorize or keep
statistics on what happens to what
kinds of people. We are interested in
one thing only and our entire
resources are focused upon the caller
with a problem. When a person calls
392-6090, they can expect
compassionate support, referrals to
places where solutions can be found
for them and total confidentiality.
We make every attempt to restore
something to them that has been
missing for a long time. Faith in
themselves.0
Brian Ireland
Co-ordinator
Queen's Bush Rural Ministries
Phone 392-6090
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture
Directors' Meeting
Monday, February 27, 1995
8:00 p.m.
OMAFRA Boardroom, Walkerton
Members are welcome to attend