News Updates from the VI Region
February 7, 2023
Greetings respected Vancouver Island First Nations Leadership;
Welcome to our VI Regional e-newsletter. This newsletter will highlight updates for the Vancouver Island region from the FNHA, Island Health, Government of BC, Government of Canada, alongside many other partners.
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In today's edition you will find:
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VI REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT CALENDAR
FEBRUARY 2023
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Nurturing Our Local Relationships For Climate Resilience
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Dear Health Directors,
We are reaching out to invite you to an action-oriented "Climate Connect” gathering hosted by Island Health, focused on nurturing local relationships for climate resilience.
Addressing the health-related impacts of climate change requires
collaboration. Join us for an action-oriented workshop to explore the
impacts, needs, priorities and opportunities to co-create Island Health's new
Climate Change and Health Unit.
Where:
In-person at Vancouver Island Conference Centre (virtual option available)
When:
March 7th & 8th, 2023
Cost:
FREE (travel bursaries available if needed)
The interconnected and far-reaching effects of climate change require collaboration. Please join us to explore these impacts, priorities and opportunities to co-create a vision for our new team to meet the needs of your community.
If you would like more information, please don't hesitate to contact our contractor, Jade Yehia (EJY Environmental Consulting), who is helping us with the gathering at ejyehia@gmail.com. To register, click here.
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We are pleased to announce that Trevor Day is joining the Island Health team as the Manager of Indigenous Partnerships & Community Engagement
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2023 First Nations Harm Reduction Grants Are Now Open
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With the toxic drug crisis in British Columbia (BC) continuing to disproportionately impact First Nations people, it is crucial to support innovative, community-based and grassroots harm reduction initiatives to curtail the risk of overdose. The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) is committed to supporting community-driven, Nation-based initiatives that seek to improve the health and wellness of First Nations in BC.
Understanding that First Nations organizations and groups situated both in community and in urban centres are well positioned to understand their local community's unique strengths and challenges, they are also able to identify innovative, appropriate and culturally relevant programs and services to address the crisis.
By providing those organizations and groups with funding, the FNHA aims to support and advance innovative practices to meet the needs of community members both at home and those living away from home.
Full story here on the FNHA website.
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FNHA Regional Postings
Community Health Nurse, Resource Team (Travel to Various Communities Across BC)
Lead, Clinical Education and Quality - Term until March 31, 2026 (Hybrid/Remote Anywhere in BC)
Primary Care Nurse, First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day - Term Until May 31, 2026 (Anywhere in BC)
Community Relations Representative (Stz'uminus, Ladysmith) TERM to November 2024
Dental Therapist (Ladysmith, Vancouver Island)
Indigenous Educator, Harm Reduction, Quinsam - Campbell River, Vancouver Island, BC
Manager, Physician Contracts – Term to July 2024 – (Hybrid/Anywhere in BC)
Traditional Wellness Coordinator - (Anywhere in BC)
eHealth Trainer - Term until 2025 (Anywhere in BC)
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FIRST NATIONS HEALTH AUTHORITY CONTACTS
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FNHA COVID-19 Inquiries
If you have general FNHA COVID-19 questions, please email COVID19@fnha.ca
For any requests relating to COVID-19 please email: COVID19needs@fnha.ca |
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Vice President, Vancouver Island
Director, Regional Community Health and Wellness
Director, Regional Engagement
Manager, Regional Operations
Manager, Community Engagement
Community Engagement Coordinators
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Nursing Manager
Community Practice Consultants:
Nurse Navigators:
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Community Relations Representative, Health Benefits
Registered Dental Therapists
- Kim Trottier, Kim.Trottier@fnha.ca (Communities: Stz’uminus, Penelakut, Dzawada’enuxw)
- Janeen Campbell, Janeen.Campbell@fnha.ca (Communities: Cowichan Tribes)
- Melanie Braker, Melanie.Braker@fnha.ca (Communities: Ka;’yu:’k’t’h’/Che;k’tles7et’h’, Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ, Ahousaht, Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht, Hupacasath)
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Regional Manager, Health Emergency Management
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Mental Health, Wellness & Traditional Wellness Support
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Regional Manager, Mental Health and Wellness
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Regional Manager, Maternal Child and Family Health,
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Regional Manager, Primary Care
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Primary Care Project Manager
Traditional Wellnes Specialist
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South Island Director, Indigenous Health
Central & North Island Director, Indigenous Health
Cultural Safety & Humility Director, Indigenous Health
Medical Director, Indigenous Health
Partnerships, Strategy & Engagement Director, Indigenous Health
Medical Health Officers, Indigenous Health
Indigenous Health Managers
- South Island, Meghan Corder, Meghan.Corder@islandhealth.ca
- Centre Island, Jennifer Jones, Jennifer.Jones6@islandhealth.ca
- Comox Valley/Stratchona, Michelle McClain, Irene.McClain@islandhealth.ca
- Mount Waddington, Dean Wilson, Dean.Wilson@islandhealth.ca
- Indigenous Health South Island Community Services, Alena Peters, Alena.Peters@islandhealth.ca
- Partnerships & Community Engagement, Trevor Day, Trevor.Day@islandhealth.ca
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Please join us on February 28 - March 2, 2023, for Gathering Wisdom for a Shared Journey Xll, hosted at the Vancouver Convention Centre on the unceded and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
The Gathering Wisdom forum in 2023 will feature discussions on health and wellness including mental health specifically as we gather in-person for the first time since before the pandemic. This First Nations Health Council (FNHC) -hosted gathering is an opportunity for Chiefs, leaders and Health Directors to hear updates and engage in discussions with the First Nations Health Council (FNHC), First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and the First Nations Health Directors Association (FNHDA) and other health system and government partners.
For more information and registration details click here.
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February's Lunch & Learns are Confirmed!
Topics Listed Below
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The Mental Health and Wellness regional team invites you to join our lunch and learns that will take place bi-weekly on Wednesdays from 12-1pm. We are offering opportunities to come together virtually to learn about health and wellness topics of interest, and highlighting communities and organizations doing good work across the region. Through connection and collaboration, we can share our knowledge and gather information to best support the communities we serve.
These sessions are open to health directors, community staff, and interested health partners within the Vancouver Island region. We hope you will join these conversations to learn and share with other members of our Vancouver Island community.
See poster for upcoming topics and dates.
Contact lunchandlearn@fnha.ca for more information or to request an invite.
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As a partner in health and wellness, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) continues to work with BC First Nations clients to identify COVID-19 needs and offer supports and services to address those needs.
This guide represents areas of support the FNHA has determined are within the scope of our response and within our capacity as an organization to effectively fulfill. This is an evergreen document that captures our current state and will be reviewed regularly as the pandemic evolves to an endemic state where COVID-19 is still present but has a less significant impact on our lives.
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Have you had a baby in the last 2 years? Would you like to have a voice in projects such as updating prenatal education, health promotion materials, and other projects? If yes, Perinatal Services BC (PSBC) Indigenous Patient and Client Voices Circle could be the opportunity for you!
PSBC is looking for Indigenous postpartum patients and clients and/or their family members, who are passionate about improving health outcomes of pregnant individuals and their newborns.
For more details and to RSVP, click here.
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This is a short film documenting Cohort 1 of ɫokʷimas, an 11 week suicide prevention initiative that was delivered in Komoks Territory. In this work we see suicidality as a normal human response to carrying the burdens of 500+ years of attempted and ongoing colonial genocide. We support youth to know that there is nothing broken within themselves. What is broken is the interlocking invisible systems of oppression that drive the world we live in.
We provide youth will land based culturally rooted healing practices to utilize in place of self harm, and to resist the spirit of suicide.
I am deeply humbled by the courage, vulnerability and authenticity of the 4 youth who graduated our program and are leading the way for other young people to step into their power and reclaim all the parts of their identity.
"I had one really good understanding of suicidality that was like the clinical kind of understanding of it and then you kind of give me a different understanding of like the spirit of suicide which kind of it makes a lot more sense in my brain than just like your suicidal you need medication." - Sierra (Metis)
Click here to watch the video.
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Get ready to apply for a Participatory Action Research Grant in 2023. Applications for Convene and Investigate grants are open from January 16 to February 13, 2023, through our online grant management system.
We've made funding more accessible! In the past, we required Investigate research projects to match funds, but in 2023, both Convene and Investigate grants will not require applicants to match their funding request. As part of our commitment to trust-based philanthropy and equitable grant-making, we hope to address and remove barriers to accessing grants.
Short-term (Convene) and multi-year grants (Investigate) are available depending on the stage of your research project.
We appreciate your need to plan your time to work on new proposals. The following key dates may be updated in response to the volume of applications we receive, and we will communicate any changes via email to authors who have applications started and/or submitted in our online system.
For more details, please click here.
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In collaboration with the Province of British Columbia, the Indigenous Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation Council (I·SPARC) is pleased to announce the launch of the RISE Organizational Grants. This Grant has been developed to provide support for communities and not-for-profit organizations delivering programming targeted to increase participation in sport, physical activity, recreation, and cultural activities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Children and Youth in Care who often face unique barriers to participation.
Organizations are eligible to apply for a grant up to $10,000.
The deadline to submit applications is Tuesday, February 13, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. (PST).
To find out more about the RISE Grant for Organizations, click here.
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Applications are open for LEVEL BIPOC grants until February 15, 2023, through our online grant management system. This is the second year we have offered these flexible, general operating grants of $50,000 for BIPOC-led organizations.
What do we mean by ‘BIPOC-led organizations’? We mean charities and nonprofits with at least two-thirds of senior staff and/or board leadership positions held by those who self-identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Colour.
The LEVEL BIPOC Grants Program offers flexible, operating grants of up to $50,000 to BIPOC-led charities and other qualified donees to cover costs that will contribute to their stability and capacity to advance racial equity and racial justice within their communities.
For more information and to apply for the grant, please click here.
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A virtual education series created by patients and families, for patients and families, to help us understand concurrent disorders better.
The Demystifying Concurrent Disorders Webinar series is a quarterly education series to help patients and families better understand topics relating to mental health and substance use issues, or concurrent disorders. Participants will learn about things like trauma-informed practice, the Mental Health Act, the forensics system, medications and more.
The webinar series is free and open to anyone interested in learning about these topics. Each session will be led by an expert in mental health and substance use and will include a live Q&A, facilitated by our webinar series host, Victoria Maxwell, a recognized international keynote speaker for mental health and Strategic Advisor at BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services.
For more information about the two-part webinar series or to register, click here.
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I am contacting you today to extend an invitation for you to attend our pilot ɫokʷimas : Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention Train the Trainer Workshop. Please feel free to share with your contacts
This online, two-day trainer offers folks a framework for addressing the epidemic of suicidality in Indigenous communities through a social justice lens. We aim to equip participants with the tools, knowledge and confidence to bring this work to life in their respective communities. We see suicidality as a normal human response to carrying the burdens of attempted and ongoing colonial genocide. Folks will learn how to create safe containers for this work to take place. There will also be a tool-kit provided to support community in resisting the spirit of suicide and self harm through utilizing the land, Indigenous Culture, our breath and bodies as tools for wellness and self regulation.
This training is open to any Indigenous person and is free of charge to attend.
The training will be delivered live and online.
Dates: Saturday April.15 & 29th, 2023 from 10:00am - 4:00pm.
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Join us for the 2023 Indigenous Health Administration and Leadership Program information session! Learn about the IHALP certificate program that is designed to support Indigenous organizations and communities to build strength-based, holistic programming that promotes health and wellbeing. Learn about Indigenous communities and their own measures for success and unique cultural and geographical needs. Ask questions, hear about alumni experiences, and chat directly with course instructors so see if this program is right for you. This session will be recorded. Please sign up even if you can’t make it so that we can email you the link to the recording at a later time. This is a collaboration event with UBC Extended Learning. Learn more about iHALP here: CEIH website.
For more information and to register for the webinar, click here.
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An invitation and opportunity for Indigenous Elders and Adults, Residential
and Day School Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors, to learn literacy skills in a supportive and safe environment. The program offers group learning and individual education plans in a classroom setting.
Classes are currently offered in Snuneymuxw territory (Nanaimo BC) on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30am to 3:30pm at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. Donated lunches and school supplies are provided. Enrollment is Free.
New students can enrol at any time! Please sign up on the Join Us page, or
call (250) 924 - 3314 to register.
For more information, please check out their website here.
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Representation agreements and enduring powers of attorney are two types of legal documents which allow individuals to plan for the possibility of future incapability. These are tools that allow an individual to name another person to manage their personal and health care needs and financial matters in the event they are not able to do so on their own.
The standard forms published by the Ministry of Attorney General are intended to assist individuals to plan for possible future incapability. The use of these forms is optional. An individual who wants to make a representation agreement or an enduring power of attorney does not need to use these standard forms, but still must make sure that their document complies with the requirements of the legislation.
For more details and to access the appropriate forms, please click here.
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