Elder-in-residence program to start in July
By Rick Garrick
Anishinabek Employment and Training Services (AETS) held an Elders Gathering on June 11 to provide information about its upcoming Elder-in-residence program to Elders from the nine AETS communities.
“The Elders seemed very enthusiastic and encouraged that we are going to have them give direction to those that are on a career or an education pathway,” says AETS executive director John DeGiacomo, noting that the Elders decided to have each of the nine AETS communities responsible for providing Elders for a week at a time on a rotating basis with a backup Elder available if required. “So starting in July we will have a rotation for all of the communities to be a part of the Elder-in-residence program.”
The Elder-in-residence program will begin operating once the renovations for the new AETS office are completed in the lower level of the Waverly Resource Library in Thunder Bay. The new office will be about twice the size of the current AETS office on Park Ave.
“We will have Elders from nine communities that will be part of our (office) space moving forward,” DeGiacomo says. “Each of the Elders will be there to support the clients going through training, but also for those patrons of the library that will be walking through the doors and seeing this new entity within the library.”
The Elder-in-residence program will feature one Elder per work day for the next three years, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The AETS communities include Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, Michipicoten, Pays Plat, Pic Mobert and Red Rock Indian Band.
“Our Elders are the anchor to our communities and they are the ones that hold the knowledge and life experience,” says Pic Mobert Chief Johanna Desmoulin. “If I was a student and I saw an Elder sitting in my classroom, that would certainly give me hope or even a sense of pride — here is my Elder supporting me as I move forward from one stage of life in terms of educating myself and getting that training.”
DeGiacomo adds that AETS will also be renovating an office space in the Brodie Resource Library within the next year to serve clients on the southern side of Thunder Bay.
“We are still working with the architects on the design phase, but we know there is going to be a board room there as well as a couple of offices,” DeGiacomo says. “So we will have boardroom tables and workshop areas there as well.”
DeGiacomo says the new office spaces will provide access to other resources available in the two libraries.
“It provides a new opportunity to do things, it is a bigger area and it’s in a library,” DeGiacomo says. “So obviously those clients that didn’t have that opportunity to get into the library, to get a library card, will have that service. It offers the library patrons and those AETS citizens a chance to be in the library and learn and figure out their career pathway with us.”
Maxine Cayenne, finance officer with AETS, says the new office spaces will provide more room for training purposes.
“Overall, it’s going to be a great place for our clients to come and visit,” Cayenne says. “They’re going to have all the opportunities to use the library, to take more training programs. So I think it is a great move.”
DeGiacomo says AETS will also be offering a high school program with land-based courses beginning this fall.