(Image Credit: Curtis Goodrum / CFJC Today)

By Curtis Goodrum

KAMLOOPS WOMEN'S CENTRE

Kamloops Women’s Centre Society hopes downtown location unlocks more opportunities for women

Jan 21, 2026 | 5:31 PM

KAMLOOPS – The Interior Women’s Centre Society has been operating in Kamloops since 2023 and last September it received official charity status. The group has been an important resource for many women in the city.

“We’ve become a bit of a first step hub when they’re fleeing a crisis situation or anything like that. They’re contacting us to see where they can go and kind of navigate them in the right direction. We’ve been going for just over a year doing program work and we supported 550 women through the doors and getting them connected to housing and financial aid,” said Kathleen Larose, a founder and executive director at the Interior Women’s Centre Society.

One of the goals of the organization is to provide women in Kamloops with the opportunity to connect. Everything society does is free and helps build confidence.

“Having an activity now that they look forward to — it’s really exciting for them just to see the happiness. You don’t have to ask permission to spend money. They can just come to the centre. Everything is free here and they get to interact with other women,” said Bailey Fujita-Stewart, a founder and director of philanthropy.

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Hadwin’s HVAC recently helped the group acquire a new building and the extra square footage will give it a lot of options — from classrooms to a childcare space. 

The women’s centre says the new building will help offer confidence and skills to any woman who needs it.

“We want to get it a lot into women’s trades and women’s STEM, as well as life skills. Life skills are really big for us, especially for youth. Maybe they’ve graduated out of the foster care system and no one taught them how to cook or how to plan on a budget. That’s the kind of thing we really want to work on, which is helping people to be independent,” said Fujita-Stewart.

The new space will allow for a coffee shop and art studios, hoping to build a path for the non-profit group to be self-sustaining.

“We can actually build our social enterprise, which will help the ultimate sustainability for the work that we want to do. Historically, women’s centres have closed down because there’s no funding. It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of burnout. We want to build a system where we can fund ourselves through profit and not have to be solely reliant on donors,” said Larose.

The Interior Women’s Centre Society plans to keep both of its spaces and hopes to move into its Lorne Street location later this year.

More information about the society can be found on its website.