AT-A-GLANCE
Members of the Kwakiutl First Nation community.
Community Counselling Fund
What This Grantee Is Doing for Community Counselling
Clinical counselling is provided by through the Kwakiutl Band Council Health Center, which is a fully equipped health facility on the Kwakiutl Band’s Fort Rupert Reserve. Counselling for both individuals and groups is interwoven with Indigenous approaches to healing, led by an Elder who understands the ways that colonization shows up intergenerationally.
This fund also supports a Cultural Organizer who works towards integrating Kwakiutl culture in all Health Centre programming. Their work includes land-based and experiential activities such as cedar weaving, family cultural events, food and medicine harvesting, retreats and regalia sewing.
Opened in March 2005, the building is centrally located next to the Kwakiutl Big House. In addition to offices for Health staff, there is a fully equipped kitchen for community meals, as well as a lounge area frequently used by Band Elders and other community groups. The Health Centre offers counselling and referral services.
Quote
"The most significant impact of having CAI-funded community counselling is providing community members with further qualified mental health support. We have several counsellors outside of our community that members can connect with, but they do not have the same number of dedicated hours with the community as this counselling program does now. Having a dedicated counsellor for the Kwakiutl community helps many of the Health Centre staff, as our counsellor serves as a mental health support that other health care workers can refer their patients to when they are in need of mental health support."