A gathering to help those living with addictions will be held tomorrow (June 17) in Boitanio Park in Williams Lake.
Ashley Rankin, Director of Community Services for Xatsull First Nation, said “Calling our People Home” is a community event focused on connection, support, healing, and belonging.
“It was founded by Danny Kennedy and Angela Clark from the Bonaparte First Nation who hosted this event for a couple of years in Kamloops and last year brought it to Williams Lake.” It was at that event event that the Xatsull First Nation attended that we agreed to partner and continue to hosting the event in Williams to build on that momentum.”
Rankin said the aim of the gathering is to bring together community members, service providers, organizations, and support networks in one space.
“It’s about raising awareness of services and supports available in community while creating opportunities for good connections with come of our people who are homeless or experiencing different challenges with addictions and other barriers such as that.”
Rankin added that they want to make it as low barrier as possible and everyone is welcome.
“While it might be especially meaningful to anyone experiencing homeless or substance use, mental health concerns, it’s open to anyone interested in learning about available supports and resources. It’s not necessarily just those who are suffering in the streets right now, it’s people who have regular jobs, it’s your neighbour, it’s your boss, we really want to capture everybody.”
Rankin noted the idea behind the “Calling Our People Home” gathering is to bring as many people together from all walks of life to be able to share different life experiences, different resources and tools and to really be able to connect with everyone.
“Community organizations and service providers will be there throughout the event sharing information about program services whether it be mental health, treatment programs, harm reduction as well as traditional culture and healing. People can connect directly with organizations and learn about resources that might be available to them or their families. It’s intended to be a welcoming environment where people can come as they are.”
Rankin added that last year’s event was very well attended that created a lot of opportunities for people to access services and build connections and relationships.
“The goal of Calling Our People Home is to bring it to as many communities as possible and the Xatsull First Nation is definitely wanting to continue supporting this.”
Everyone is welcome to attend this gathering, tomorrow (June 17) from 9 am to 3 pm in Boitanio Park in Williams Lake.
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