Please note that LINC in person meetings have been suspended due to public health restrictions following the COVID 19 pandemic. LINC is hopeful to resume meetings as soon as we can.
Weekly L.I.N.C. peer support group meetings are held at:
- M2W2 office Suite 208-2825 Clearbrook Rd Abbotsford, BC V2T 6S3 on Friday nights 7:00- 9:30pm
The groups have been running continuously for more than twenty years (since 1992). They create a sense of community, a safe place where a person is not condemned for who they are, but have their thinking errors as well as their good points acknowledged.
It has been said that the weekly groups help individuals “detox” from prison. Every person in the circle – male or female, offender or parolee, support person, family member, staff or community volunteer, is given the opportunity to speak and is asked how their week has been.
There is a high level of disclosure within the meetings and often a topic naturally develops. At the meetings, everyone can give feedback to an individual although often the group facilitator is the person who asks questions in order to focus on a particular issue.
The combination of offenders just starting conditional release along side those individuals who have been out for twenty years, staff and others who have never been in prison serves to break down many barriers and stereotypes. It allows for example, the newly released offender to hear about some of the pitfalls he or she may be facing in the future from others who have made it on the street.