Youth Life Promotion

The Youth Life Promotion program is founded on the principles of self-determination and cultural reclamation for urban Indigenous youth. A core aspect of the YLP program are youth culture camps. The camps will provide youth with access to water and land-based activities. Another core aspect involved facilitating access to and knowledge exchanges with Elders and knowledge keepers. These knowledges and ways of being are inherently active and will blend learning with being on the land.

Goal:

To support the wholistic development and provide a continuum of care services for youth-at-risk, including addressing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and wellbeing.

Objectives:

1. Gain access to supports to nurture and sustain mental wellbeing
2. Access new ways of knowing, understanding, problem-solving, and decision making
3. Be immersed in Indigenous knowledges and ways of being
4. Gain access to ceremonies, medicines, languages, teachings, and traditional foods
5. Gain access to water and land-based skills and cultural practices

Age group:

The YLP program services youth ages 13-29.

Example of programing:

The YLP program can offer services and actives such as art based camp activities, ceremonies, nutrition/traditional food cooking workshops, historical education, traditional crafts, physical and recreational activities, drumming, singing, dancing, community feasts ect. The program is inclusive to 2SLGBTQ+ supports, one-on-one Supports,

Service Delivery

Direct-Service User Supports:

• Supports individuals through one to one service provision and peer counselling;
• Facilitate a plan of care and if required a case management approach to service delivery;
• Encourage the participation of two-spirit and indigenous LGBTQ+ youth through inclusive and diverse programming.

Participant Based Supports:

• Promoting Indigenous rights moving toward self-determination and leadership development;
• Facilitate sharing circles that include formative teachings and discussion;
• Transmission of cultural knowledge through storytelling and peer-based activities;
• Facilitate knowledge transfer on traditional medicines and food (use, storage, medicine bags. growing\picking, caring for, and preparing); and
• Promote cultural language-reclamation and retention.

Culture Camps

• Culture camps provide community based activities throughout the year including indigenous seasonal calendars (mid-winter, ) seasonal holidays, scheduled breaks and after school; and,
• Facilitating access to and knowledge exchange with Elders and traditional knowledge keepers.