First Nations language-based Mental Health First Aid Program delivers results
NORTH BAY – A two-year agreement between Canadore College in North Bay, Ont. and the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to deliver a First Nations language-based Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program to Aboriginal communities in northern Ontario has yielded positive outcomes.
The project saw the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC) program translated into Mushkegowuk Eastern Cree dialect, which is mainly syllabic, and into Anishnabe-mowin, to be pertinent to the First Nations communities most widely served by Canadore College. The initiative was designed to develop a critical mass of well-trained people who could support Aboriginal learners across Ontario.
“The challenges faced by our people can be crippling to families and their communities,” said Mary Wabano, Director of Canadore College’s First People Centre. “There is a desire to ‘move on’, to better ourselves, but we need to acknowledge and heal from the alarming effects of residential schools, intergenerational trauma, substance abuse and suicide.”
Canadore received approximately $226,000 over the two-year period, and contributed over $227,000 in-kind. Four facilitators were trained to deliver MHCC’s Mental Health First Aid – Youth program. More than 11 training sessions took place in six communities, resulting in 41 unique organizations sending nearly 200 participants to learn about effectively assisting youth in crisis.
“I was humbled by the gracious nature and trust of each community we visited,” said Wabano, who was one of the certified trainers. “Over the course of the program, many personal stories are shared, many of which are painful. Being able to communicate in the communities’ mother tongues was invaluable to the well-being of the participants.”
Nearly 20 percent of Canadore College’s total student population is of Ojibway, Oji-Cree, Cree Algonquin, Mohawk, Inuit or Métis decent from Ontario, Québec and nation-wide, one of the highest representations in Ontario’s college system.
Of the College’s 450 Indigenous learners, 150 remain in their own community to study. In fact, over 20 community-based programs are instructed across Ontario in partnership with five Aboriginal Education Institutes. Training partnerships with Aboriginal education institutions, employment agencies and tribal councils have developed capacity for Canadore to pinpoint real-time training solutions specific to any identified community, leading to economic growth and prosperity.
In February 2015, the College signed the Canada Indigenous Education Protocol in support of improving Indigenous education and better serving Indigenous peoples nation-wide.
Wabano credits the success of the MHFA program to its practical and applied nature.
“We got tangible results because we listened to what was needed in our communities instead of driving a project that we thought would be a solution to their problems,” she said.
Although the project’s funding has ended, Wabano and her colleagues hope to continue providing this much needed resource to new service providers and front line workers.
Canadore College is committed to working with and supporting Indigenous people in the development and delivery of education and training options, identified by First Nation, Métis and Inuit populations, to meet the needs of their community members.
Canadore trains people through applied learning, leadership and innovation. It provides access to over 65 full-time quality programs and has outstanding faculty and student services. Nearly 20 percent of Canadore’s total student population is of Ojibway, Oji-Cree, Cree Algonquin, Mohawk, Inuit or Métis decent from Ontario, Québec and nation-wide, one of the highest representations in the provincial college system. The College and its students add nearly $290 million to the regions of Nipissing and Parry Sound. Approximately 1,000 students graduate from Canadore each year, and they join 41,000 alumni working across the globe.