Experience Collective Care.
Attending to the spirits of street health, harm reduction, community and social service workers in Ottawa.
What is Soul Space?
Soul Space is a collective of frontline workers, wellness providers, and community members who aim to support the spiritual care needs of frontline street health, harm reduction, community and social service workers in Ottawa, Canada.
We facilitate gatherings to explore reflective practices, such as creative arts, yoga, meditation, forest bathing and more, to prevent and heal from burnout, grief and loss.
Soul Space is more than ‘self-care,’ we offer 'collective care,' or healing within community with others who understand the unique experience of frontline work.
Our Offerings
How we offer support.
Creating with
Clay Workshops
Retreats
Private Offerings for Community Organizations
Why is it needed?
Frontline workers who care for people experiencing poverty, homelessness, mental health and substance use issues deal with trauma in their care of clients, and many have experienced trauma themselves.
They are at high risk of experiencing burn-out, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue - conditions from which it can take months to years to recover.
We intend to be part of the holistic care that can support frontline workers in their journeys as they face these challenges.
Who is Soul Space?
Soul Space is a collective of frontline workers, wellness providers, and community members within Ottawa.
Together, we offer opportunities for collective spiritual (but not religious) care for street health, harm reduction, community and social service workers in Ottawa.
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Soul Space Wellness Providers come from different backgrounds and offer diverse supportive tools that tend to spiritual wholeness, including arts-based and spiritually-focused reflective practices (e.g., yoga, mindfulness, forest bathing, sound and energy healing).
Soul Space Wellness Providers are volunteers who maintain their own perspectives on spirituality, but do not to impose their perspectives on others by maintaining a deep respect for the rights, beliefs, and traditions of others. They seek to offer support with their own areas of expertise and can refer people to resources that provide additional supports.
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The Frontline Worker Advisory Group informs and shapes the activities and offerings of Soul Space, ensuring that the supports and care that is offered is relevant, timely and attentive to the culture, community and personal identity and needs of community workers in Ottawa.
Members:
Nicole Giroux (Co-Chair)
Robert Jamison (Co-Chair & Co-Founder)
Teri-Lynn McLaughlin
Kim Sheldrick
Patricia Descarie
Megan Portt
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The Soul Space Collective Care Board of Directors provides strategic oversight, as well as financial and administrative accountability to to fulfill our mission and maintain legal and ethical responsibility to our participants and the community.
Current Directors:
Myriam Demarquis (Chair)
Ken Hoffman (Treasurer & Secretary)
Brenda Cleary (Vice Chair)
Nicole Giroux
Robert Jamison (Co-Founder)
Ginger McCoy
Danielle Rolfe (Ex-Officio - Director & Co-Founder)
Jenny Sâwanohk
Pam Twagirayezu
Experience Soul Space
Annual Reports
Download our latest Annual Reports for more information about what we have been up to.
Impact & Research
on Soul Space
Soul Space partnered with researchers at the University of Ottawa and Queen's University, and with street health workers at Ottawa Inner City Health to understand the needs, preferences and impact of holistic support on the wellbeing of frontline street health workers at Ottawa Inner City Health.
Impact of Soul Space Retreats 2022
Report on Retreats for Black Women Frontline Workers 2024
Holistic Supports for Street Nurses and Front-line Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic