Thank you for caring, and thank you for giving.
You help people stay in school and find their purpose
“I heard about MYTEAM through a friend who was a participant, and I came because I wanted to feel better about myself. I had no goals for myself and didn’t have a lot of hope for my future. Going to program, I connected with other youth and felt like I had a place to belong and had a purpose. Meeting with my mentor, accomplishing goals, and thinking about my future helped me become more focused, confident, and determined.
I am proud that I went back to school. I now have a vision to go to university and earn a degree as a counsellor so I can go back and support youth who have also been through the child welfare system, like me.
There are a lot of people who say Indigenous youth who are in CFS can’t be successful. My hope is that more of them will find their purpose like I did at Ka Ni Kanichihk.”
Breena, MYTEAM program 2021 graduate
You help people succeed by providing wellness supports alongside training and education
“I am a single mother of 2 children who started my new educational journey at Ka Ni Kanichihk in the Information & Office Administrative Assistant Program. After completing my practicum experience, I was offered a position.
I have learned so much personally and grown in my professional career. I learned about emotions and how to work with them, decolonization, started working on my wellness because I had a lot of pain and hurt that I was carrying for too long on my own, learned about ceremonies, teachings with traditional medicine, started Sundancing, and to love myself and others.
Ka Ni Kanichihk gave me a safe place and a healing journey.”
Jeannine, Information & Office Assistant Program graduate
You help people heal
“At Medicine Bear we get so much support and love from the workers that work there. Throughout the pandemic they never forgot about us and did regular check ins all the time. One thing I like is that I can reach out to them over social media when I need to talk to someone or have any questions and someone always gets back as soon as possible. The care packages that we have been receiving have been amazing from food to crafts and in between. Some of the crafts have been group projects to bead like the strawberries which have been really fun/cool to do especially for our mental health over the long cooped up winter months.
I can say without a doubt that the Medicine Bear Program at Ka Ni Kanichihk has done the most for my family and me since this pandemic started and I am truly grateful for all the wonderful people who have not forgotten about me and my little family. I think my mental health would be way worse if I didn’t have weekly on-line beading to look forward to as well.”
Candace, Medicine Bear Program participant
You help people see a better future
“I remember stumbling onto a post about the Honouring Gifts Program and thinking it was something that could help me gain some skills to add to my resume, while also having my kids close by. From the poster, I knew we would get all these trainings, certificates, the 9 essential skills training for the workplace and some cultural awareness – amazing – this sounds perfect I thought. Honouring Gifts is way more than that!
I learned a lot about myself and the world around me. Some of the teachings we received from all the different workshops, instructors and ceremony, got me thinking, questioning and understanding the life around me and how I was living. Everyone involved brought a new awareness to myself, I understood why my family was the way it was, I learned that I didn’t want to be like that and to break the cycle. As a mom of 3 and having little to no support, Ka Ni Kanichihk and the Honouring Gifts instructors have always been encouraging and supportive and continue to be today. As a current Ka Ni Kanichihk employee, for the past 3 years, I love walking into the building, knowing it is a safe space and everyone here has your back. I’ll forever be grateful to Ka Ni Kanichihk and the Honouring Gifts Program for offering this amazing program and believing in me. The poster said the program was designed to educate and empower women, that’s how I felt and still feel to this day.”
Christine, Honouring Gifts past program participant
“Some journeys take longer than others, but when you finally accomplish something you always wanted to do, the pride you feel in yourself is life changing!”
In memory of my son, Jordan Thomas 1999-2017.
Kathleen, Social Innovation/Community Development graduate