Wheatland FCSS announces 2024 women’s conference

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) have announced their 2024 women’s conference will be taking place April 12 at the Hope Community Covenant Church. 

Boasting a theme of “Nurturing Our Roots,” the conference will feature keynote speaker, Billi Miller, to speak about her work as an author, and her transition from urban to rural life. 

“Over the years, the type of information that was presented changed. We tried to ensure that current information was offered, as well as some historical info for young and old. Though I am fairly new to the planning committee of the Women’s Conference, I have read that some previous speakers included comedians, authors, medical professionals, gardening experts and we always try to have companies who offer specific services,” said Crystal Gaudet, chief administrative officer for FCSS. “We’ve also offered a physical aspect with Tai Chi, yoga, and pole walking. Last year we offered music by the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival members.”

The women’s conference has been an ongoing program since 1993, formed by a coalition of agencies to host an event specifically for women. 

Gaudet explained the goal was to reach women who were isolated from information and education on human and health services.

Following its initial success, the conference has taken place every two years since its inception. In the opposite year from the women’s conference, FCSS hosts a similar conference for seniors. 

In addition to the speakers and presentations, the conference hosts up to 25 vendors from the local community.

Each year the conference is held, FCSS anticipates 100 women to be in attendance. According to Gaudet, the conference generally sees between 50 and 100 people attending.

“The support and feedback from the community has been amazing … some ticket holders’ comments from last year were: ‘I am new to Strathmore so today was an amazing conference in every way,’ ‘The conference was represented very well by a variety of speakers, vendors and concert players,’ ‘the agencies, organizations and business are so supportive,’” said Gaudet. “We hope to get women together networking, learning and just enjoying a day out overall. We hope the information they receive can help them make healthy decisions and we hope they can share their newfound knowledge with family and friends.”

Many of the speakers this year will be discussing local history, gardening, and honouring one’s roots. 

Tickets for the conference are available at the Wheatland FCSS county office, as well as the Vault Cultural Collective. The program will run from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. A full list of topics and event description is available through the Wheatland FCSS website.