There are a lot of things that are instant debate starters in Canada.
Among them: What do you think of the government? Who do you want to win the Stanley Cup? How can we help the First Nations thrive?
Everyone has his or her opinions. Everyone has an answer. Not everyone can always agree.
Sheri Macaulay and Trina Daniels are working to build something special for First Nations people.
The pair say they’ve both seen the issues that come with the historic pains left after years of abuse of the First Nations people. The cycle of addiction and substandard living conditions for some becomes unbearable.
Macaulay and Daniels are trying to help with the Bearspaw Holistic Education Program comes into play.
“The main goal of our project is to target people whom are ready, willing and able to enter into a trade,” said Daniels.
The program creates workers who, by graduation will be skilled in carpentry, drywall, grout and tile, as well as fabrication.
The group is renovating homes for elders in the Morley and Eden Valley communities, which not only gives the students a chance to gain real life hands on skills, but also change someone’s life for the better.
“Our target is people on income support and what we hope to achieve is that they will become skilled people,” she said, people that no longer rely on anything but their own two hands to make a living. Something they can look back on and be proud of,” said Macaulay.
“Not just skilled tradesmen and women, but skilled people,” added Macaulay.
It’s one thing to give someone a job, but Bearspaw Holistic Education Program is about building up a person, making them whole again, she said, and helping to deal with everything from attitude problems, addiction and interpersonal skills.
“We believe that we all need to be the solution. Instead of looking for outside help and aid, we believe that programs like this can really help people and change their lives,” said Macaulay.
While the program has been running for a few years, Macaulay said they’ve started to have students come back and even help mentor the program, building a family foundation that will hopefully continue to grow.
