RANKIN INLET - A number of women in Rankin Inlet have the chance to improve their skill sets, thanks to a new program being launched by the Kataujaq Society.

Kataujaq Society executive director Kwedzo Forson stands beside an industrial sewing machine that will be used in a new home economics program in Rankin Inlet this month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The Kataujaq Society runs both a day care and a regional women's shelter in Rankin.

The new program is being made possible by a $10,000 grant awarded to the society by Mary Kay Inc., a well-known cosmetics company.

Executive director Kwedzo Forson said the Kataujaq Society also received $12,000 from the YWCA to provide initial support for the project.

He said having its 2010 proposal accepted by Mary Kay Inc. was a huge boost for the non-profit organization.

"We had to present the project to Mary Kay to show what the money was going to fund," said Forson.

"So we presented our home economics program to them and explained that, during the winter in our community, many of our households become even more overcrowded than usual because people don't spend much time on the land.

"So there's many, many people stuck in the house with nowhere to go and nothing really productive to do, and that can cause frustration in a household.

"And, unfortunately, that frustration can often lead to violence in the home."

Forson said the society developed its program in such a way that women can come to the safe shelter to improve their skills in things like sewing, or develop new ones.

He said they are also holding cooking classes as part of the program, as well as teaching people how to properly keep a home or family budget.

"The cooking segment has already started and we just received the sewing machines at the shelter.

"We received one industrial-sized machine and two smaller ones.

"Some of our instructors work during the day, so the program - which is for women only - will run three evenings a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 5:30 p.m. until 10 or 11 p.m.

"We will be able to accommodate four women per session throughout the week, and we see the program as having a lot of potential to really meet a need that exists in the community."

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