Bishop Edward Cridge has sometimes been referred to as Victoria’s first social worker.
Now the organization that bears his name — the Cridge Centre for the Family on Hillside Avenue — is celebrating its 150th year of serving the community.
Cridge arrived in Victoria in 1855 as a chaplain for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He opened Christ Church, the first Anglican church in sa国际传媒, and later become its dean. He split from the Church of England in 1874 and was elected as a bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church the next year.
Cridge, his wife Mary and others founded the sa国际传媒 Protestant Orphans Home in 1873, which 100 years later changed its name to the Bishop Cridge Centre for the Family as it expanded its operations to become a multi-service organization. That was shortened to simply the Cridge Centre for the Family in the early 1980s.
It’s sa国际传媒’s oldest continuously operating non-profit society and helps more than 2,400 individuals a year.
“We consider ourselves a leader in preventing homelessness in our community — reaching people who are in crisis and providing them with the supports they need before they end up on the streets,” said Adam Richards, CEO of the charity.
He said the organization’s 150th anniversary has been an opportunity for those involved with the organization to step back and reflect on the fruits of their labours.
“Typically [the staff] don’t talk much — we just do the work. But as we reconnected with our clients, we kept hearing: ‘You have made a difference in my life.’ It was a positive affirmation of the work that have done — and continue to do.”
The organization provides childcare and offers assisted and independent living for seniors and support for those who have experienced intimate partner violence or brain injury. It runs a young parent outreach program and operates a transition house for women as well as supportive transitional housing.
“We meet clients where they are at in their lives, to walk with them and provide them with the services that make the most sense in their situation,” said Richard. “Looking back, you can see how the organization has had a long history of seeing the needs of clients — and taking the steps to fill their needs.”
That would not have been possible without the partnerships they have forged with other agencies and funders along the way, he said, including the Victoria Foundation, which has provided grants for Cridge programs over many years.
One of those grants provided seed money for a new initiative called the Second Chance Café, a café at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre run and managed by survivors of brain injury in partnership with the Cridge Centre, he said.
Richards said the Cridge, which recently launched its fall fundraising campaign, relies on the continued support of funders to be able to help those in need.
“The need, unfortunately, is only getting greater,” he said. “As we continue to meet the needs in our community, growing our programs and reaching more people in need, we continue to depend on our community to support the essential work of the Cridge Centre.
“We are inviting everyone to make a generous donation in recognition of the 150 years of service we have provided to our community, and to provide support for the next 150 years.”
For more information or to donate, go to .
