A program run by the Haisla Nation is marking its success in helping members overcome barriers in search of employment.
Graduates of the Active Measures program in Kitimat, B.C. reunited this week to celebrate individuals who’ve been able to overcome health, social and other barriers making it difficult for them to find work.
Nancy Maitland was in the program in 2018 and 2019; she is now over 300 days drug free and credits some of her success to the program.
“For me, it’s just being able to stay sober and to continue dealing with my self-issue,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot of tools here.”
Liz Robinson and Cecil Paul Jr. lead the 5-month program initially funded by Rio Tinto’s Canada Fund but is now fully funded by the Haisla Nation. The program has a goal of graduates being self-sufficient.
“The government-funded five nations to run a pilot program on Active Measures,” Robinson explained. “Our program is targeting our Haisla band membership — the ones that are on social assistance, the ones that can get jobs but can’t keep jobs.”
The Haisla Nation offers additional programs such as cultural and language, driver training and employment programs that all come together to help participants.
This program is key to Our Xhaisla Nation moving forward in a increasingly healthy way. The will of those who have gone through this program is evidenced by their dedication to the program, and their determination to work on their very deep-set personal issues with the objective of improvement of their personal lives and the live of those that they love. This ‘Key’ helps these students to begin to remove the barriers that have held them down in the places that Canadian Colonization has corralled Indigenous Peoples throughout the history of Canada. This program places the ‘Key’ to their personal freedom and their future not only closer to their lives, but more squarely in their hands. To these students I say, the Ancestors stand with you, and you fan the flames of their pride. Keep moving forward. Wuh. Aix Gwellas.