Pembina Counselling Centre (PCC) cut the ribbon on its new digs in Altona last week.
The agency held a grand opening celebration Wednesday for its offices in Unit 127 in the Altona Mall, which it shares with the Pembina Valley Pregnancy Care Centre.
PCC, which also has offices in Winkler and Morden, first expanded into Altona in 2021. They quickly found the need was outpacing the space they had available.
“We were getting more and more clientèle coming to us and what we didn’t want to do was come into the community and not serve them properly,” says executive director Chris Derksen. “It was important for us to communicate to the community that we are here and we are equipped to serve you, that we have the staff and the space to do that.
“We want to convey how grateful we are for the support of the community and those that we’re just becoming acquainted with, whether that’s in the local government or the business community. We’re grateful for their support.”
PCC moved into the newly renovated space in the mall earlier this year. At 1,000 square feet and with two private counselling rooms, the location will allow PCC to meet the Altona area’s needs today and well into the future.
“We just hired another counsellor to serve Altona specifically, and obviously we’re opening up this bigger space so that we can handle the volume,” Derksen says, noting there are three counsellors in total who work out of the office.
The new space will allow them to be open two days a week instead of one.
“And as the demand increases, we have the capacity to increase our presence there further,” Derksen says.
The mall location also lends itself well to a measure of privacy for PCC clients.
“We want to convey how grateful we are for the support of the community.”
“We like the idea of being in a place where there’s traffic,” Derksen says. “A lot of people are concerned about having anonymity and privacy when they’re going for counseling; if you’re going to the mall, no one knows why you’re there. You can be there to shop for groceries or go to the dollar store or go for counselling.
“And it is central to the town,” he adds, “and it’s just such a beautiful space.”
PCC is a not-for-profit counselling centre that operates on a sliding fee scale for clients.
They are a Christian organization, but Derksen stresses they are open to all.
“We are a faith-based counseling centre, but we just want to make it very clear that no matter what a person’s journey is, we’re here to walk with them through it. We provide services to all clients regardless of race, gender, beliefs, status, or sexual orientation.”
