2015 seems to be the Greater Victoria Citizens’ Counselling Centre’s year. The little powerhouse of an agency that sees over 1,200 people each year from the Greater Victoria area is just about to host its seventh annual gala fundraiser Tip a Fool –and has just been chosen to receive a complete building make-over through HeroWork this coming June.

“The year is starting out very well,” says long-time executive director Brenda Wilson. “We’re always very grateful for the support of the community, but this year it seems that it’s over the top.”

This hasn’t always been the case for this Centre – or many other community counselling agencies in the Capital Region. Not long ago people were able to find affordable counselling services within their own community. Sidney and the Peninsula were serviced by volunteer counsellors through Beacon Community Services, and while they still provide some service on the Peninsula, the number of available counselling spots has diminished greatly over the last ten years.

“When the community was most able there were several agencies that were offering the kind of support that we do, here at the Centre,” says Wilson. Through a series of Vancouver Island Health
Authority (VIHA) cuts the community’s capacity to provide this kind of support dwindled steadily, while the need for it grew.

In 2010, after a couple reprieves, the Centre’s VIHA funding was cut with the Authority saying that it needed to focus its limited resources on higher acuity clients. Wilson says that since that time they have had to rely on their fees for service, grants from the United Way and Victoria Foundation, gaming money, and their own fundraising.  And it hasn’t always covered the bills.

Citizens’ Counselling Centre has been serving Greater Victoria since 1969, with a mandate to provide quality, affordable counselling to all those who request it of them. The Centre provides all its counselling through trained volunteer counselors. The counselling Centre runs a 10-month intensive counselor training program every year (funding permitting) that has created over 750 counselors since its humble beginnings. In exchange for the training the newly-minted counselors are then required to provide 250 counselling sessions to the Centre’s clients over the coming months and sometimes years.  Many volunteers provide much more than the required 250 sessions. Volunteer counsellors as well as UVic and City University Master’s level practicum students provide the Centre with more than 100 active volunteer counselors at any given time.

But even with all that amazing counselling capacity, the demand is greater.

“Right now our waiting list is about six weeks long,” says Wilson. “Certain times of the year are worse than others, but for the most part we’re backlogged over a month at any given time.” Wilson says that over 30 per cent of their clientele are youth, and a growing number are seniors.

“We’re finding that today’s 18-29 year-olds and the over 65s have some very specific issues that they are faced with and are needing a little extra help making sense of it all,” explains Wilson, adding, “We’re just glad that they are reaching out and asking for help, and that we can be here when they do. Our fundraising efforts are vital to keeping that a reality.”

Enter Tip a Fool, the agency’s annual major fundraiser. “Our Tip a Fool event has been a life-ring for the agency,” says Wilson. “And it is really starting to make a name for itself as seen in our repeat table buyers. It’s a crazy-fun event, and people love it.”

The annual gala is held at the Union Club of BC. It sees 12 local celebrities act as waiters and compete for tips by offering the outrageous and the wonderful to their table guests. Past events have seen Pacific Opera’s Timothy Vernon taking advantage of a nearby baby grand and a make-shift tip jar while then-Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe and his trusty side-kick (played by Jack Knox) busk on the corner by the bar.  Knox is back this year along with a whole host of media, political, and business leaders.

“Past waiters’ tips have topped $3200 for the evening [Randy Wilson, 2008], but most range from $400 – $2400,” says Event Chair Kyara Kahakauwila. She says that ticket sales are good this year, but they have more to sell. “We have a great roster of celebrities and we’re working hard to have a sell-out. We like to say that it’s the most fun you’ll have, doing good.”

For more info on Tip a Fool (or to buy a ticket) visit www.tipafool.ca or Facebook

For more information on Citizens’ Counselling Centre: www.citizenscounselling.com or Facebook

Stay tuned for part two of the Centre’s good year story – featuring their HeroWork Radical Renovation – in July’s issue of SVO. You can follow the progress on Heroworks’ Facebook Page