Image: Pearl Life Renewal Society / Pearl Life Renewal Society staff include Cindy Sommerfield (left), program coordinator of the Resource Center, and Lindsey Slykhuis at the Center. Pearl Life Renewal Society is gearing up for its Hope Rising event this Friday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Main Street Church, an event designed to raise awareness of its community initiatives.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Pearl Life Renewal's Hope Rising event Friday

Pearl Life Renewal staff gear up for Hope Rising event this Friday

Apr 18, 2023 | 10:12 AM

CHILLIWACK — Since it opened only six years ago, Pearl Life Renewal Society in Chilliwack has welcomed over 230 women who have come through its doors seeking refuge and assistance.

The front-line ministry in Chilliwack exists to help women who are homeless, struggling with addiction, and have been sexually abused, exploited, and in prostitution.

As it strives to meet the needs of a vulnerable, marginalized population with tangible solutions, Pearl Life is poised to highlight its ministry platform and raise awareness of its community initiatives at its “Hope Rising” event this Friday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Main Street Church, 9325 Main Street, in downtown Chilliwack.

There will be a silent auction that gets underway at 6:30 p.m. before the main program commences at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 each.

“At Pearl Life Renewal, we meet women where they are at, providing them a safe place to land, to explore options to escape their current situations,” said Jessica Kaarsemaker of Pearl Life. “We offer hot meals, coffee, showers, clothing, laundry, and snacks to go, and we connect them with medical support, legal aid, processing ID, accessing social services, recovery, and housing applications.”

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The society emphasizes that practical needs are essential, but the interpersonal relationship it aims to build with each client is even more important.

Image: Pearl Life Renewal / A view of the Center where clients of Pearl Life Renewal gather in a safe setting.

“Yet, all of these practical needs are secondary to the connections that are made. Each woman is not a case to be managed, but a participant that we come alongside, to support from a strengths-based and trauma-informed approach. Our aim is to be ‘love in action’ supporting the immediate needs and always encouraging what the next steps are,” Kaarsemaker said.

As shared by the society, feedback from clients who have participated in Pearl Life programs make reference to feelings of restoration, Pearl as a safe place, and having hope for the future. One participant said, “Pearl has helped me to restore my relationships with women; they have helped me to believe in what is possible for myself.”

“We are privileged to be a part of these women’s lives, and we hope to ultimately point them to the One who cares about them infinitely and who loves them unconditionally, Jesus Christ,” Kaarsemaker said.

Visit pearliferenewal.com or find Pearl Life Renewal Society on Facebook.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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Pearl Life Renewal staff gear up for Hope Rising event this Friday

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