A national conference aimed at restoring the hope of victims of abuse has found a way to include the less fortunate in the community.
The Rising Above organization will be hosting its National Healing Conference in Prince Rupert from June 4-7 and Capt. Nancy Sheils of the Salvation Army said it will now be more inclusive.
“Last Thursday, the planning committee came together and we had collectively been hearing an outcry from people who wanted to attend but couldn’t afford to. We sat down, revamped it and can now offer the conference for free with the purchase of the conference handbook,” she said.
Along with $25,000 coming from the Canadian Salvation Army’s Mission Outreach Fund, Sheils said it was the business community that made the complimentary offering possible.
“We have had great support from the business community and have been able to raise more than $10,000 ... the neat thing about that is the donors aren’t getting a lot of recognition because we want the focus to be on Rising Above and the businesses are more than willing to do that,” she said.
“The Rising Above organization has never seen businesses step up to support a conference like this, so they are blown away much like we are.”