Organizations supporting children and families at risk attended a two-day forum this week in Williams Lake.
Hosted by Knucwentwecw Society of Williams Lake at the Gibraltar Room, the Together We Can forum was an opportunity for organizations in the region to network.
The back wall was lined with tables and displays from each organization and throughout the two days, spokespersons from each organization took a turn at the microphone.
Sheila Dick, health administrator for the Canim Lake Band, said one of the challenges for her staff is the fact that people “have the right to live at risk.” People might be brought to the hospital, but in a day or two return home and are back to some of the same habits.
“As a staff all we can do is walk this road together and be a really good strong unit and do the best that we can,” Dick said. “I do admire anyone who works in that situation.”
Dick has noticed over the years that it takes time for people to trust workers in the community because they don’t know if that person is going to stay or not.
“We’ve had a nurse in our community for 10 years now and we’re very proud of that,” she said.
Canim Lake also has a Circle of Life HIV-AIDS support group that’s existed for more than 15 years.
“Our people will come home HIV-AIDS infected and if we don’t do something about their situation they could share that infection with others in the community,” Dick said. “It could become an epidemic.”
Volunteers who are part of the group, many of them youth, meet once a month in the community and hold intervention workshops.
“They attend conferences and have been well-trained,” Dick said. “Every few years we have to recruit new volunteers and every year we have an AIDS walk and candlelight ceremony for those people who have passed away because of AIDS.”
RCMP Cst. Kevin Neufeld and Cst. Becky Munro are with First Nations Community Policing.
“There is a tripartite agreement between the federal government, provincial government and the First Nations bands that allows for members to work with the communities on reserves,” Neufeld explained.
In Williams Lake there are four First Nations policing liaisons working in the city and at Soda Creek, Sugar Cane, Alkali Lake and Canoe Creek. Munro is one of three liaisons stationed in Alexis Creek.
A contract is signed between the three parties with responsibilities on all sides.
“The band is responsible to provide a community consultive group that comes up with a list of expectations for the First Nations policing section to use as a general guideline,” Neufeld said.
Examples might include youth engagement, elder engagement, and community engagement, such as attending potlucks.
Sometimes activities will be driven by a police officer’s own interests. For Neufeld it’s fast pitch.
“We have a fast pitch team made up of young men from Sugar Cane, Soda Creek, Dog Creek and Canim Lake and we play at 100 Mile House,” he said. “That interaction with everyone on the ball team is amazing. It lets them see us in a different light, that we are normal people outside the uniform.”
Neufeld also enjoys interacting with young students at the Little Chief primary school at Sugar Cane.
“I’m able to have beneficial talks about stranger safety,” he said, adding it’s about being proactive, which means often the police are encouraging community members to access the organizations attending the forum.
Obviously the police have enforcement responsibilities as well, however, the healing circle restorative justice program is one aspect of his job Neufeld finds rewarding.
“For the most part these young kids are good kids that have made a mistake and are willing to take responsibility for what they’ve done wrong,” he explained. “Through volunteers we’re able to arrange a circle where victims are involved, an elder is involved, and everyone sits down to talk about what’s happened.”
After the discussion the offender receives some sanctions.
“Maybe they will chop wood, help at the rink, or a ball field. It brings some responsibilities to that youth and gives them a sense of pride giving back to their community,” Neufeld said. It’s a route they try to take more and more, although it doesn’t always work.
“If a person is a chronic offender, the judge won’t lean to go that route,” Neufeld added.
Brenda Kennedy, New Beginnings Program manager at Three Corners Health said her organization serves Sugar Cane, Soda Creek and Canoe Creek, and people from those communities living in Williams Lake.
They work very closely with pregnant women, meeting with them twice a month up until the baby is six months old. The moms meet with a dietician, they receive food boxes, learn crafts, and attend a luncheon with other pregnant moms.
“An elder also comes in to support the moms, we have a home visiting program, and we try to provide transportation,” Kennedy said.
When a baby is born, the staff meets with the mom and plans the type of baby celebration she is comfortable with.
Each woman is presented with a blanket made by staff and people in the community.
“A lot of well-wishing goes into the making of the blanket,” Kennedy added.
Focusing on early attachment is also a priority, and if staff notices a baby is not reaching certain milestones, they will put the mom in contact with the Child Development Centre.
There’s also a strong focus on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) prevention with education beginning as early as possible.
“It takes a lot for a birth mom or a grandma to come forward,” Kennedy said. “We walk with our moms and grandmas and help them to get that little child assessed because when they go to school it’s tough and is not a good experience.”
If a child gets assessed, then a “road map” outlining both strengths and areas where they will have difficulty can be developed.
A young girl was not going to graduate, received a late FASD diagnosis, but eventually graduated.
“She has a driver’s license and is doing so well because we figured out what her strengths were and did not focus on what she couldn’t do well,” Kennedy said, adding the most powerful thing was to see her in her grad dress.
Lynn Dunford has been with Three Corners Health for 13 years and said her focus is to have fun with the preventative part of addictions programming.
During the National Addictions Awareness Week campaign they organized 121 youth together for the Amazing Race where they broke them up in teams and sent them out to various resources in the community.
“We hoped they would see for themselves that these kinds of supports are out there and if the need ever arose they would feel more comfortable getting in touch with those services,” Dunford said.
A popular event is the So You Hate Christmas campaign because there are many people who struggle at Christmas time.
“We just want to make them aware of all the resources that are available to help them get through that time of year,” she said.