We’re excited to introduce a new section in our newsletter: Community Voices. This is a space dedicated to stories from community members—celebrating wellness, resilience, culture, and connection.

Have a story to tell? Whether it’s a personal journey, a community initiative, or a moment that moved you, we want to hear it. Click into the section below to learn how you can connect with us and share your story.

Click the link below to send me an email. I’ll follow up with you directly to learn more and explore how we can help bring your story to life. Whether you’d like to write it yourself or prefer support in shaping and sharing it, I’m here to help.

Hope, resilience and unity; these themes highlighted the transformative power of cultural heritage in recovery at the Revitalizing Indigenous Heritage to Combat the Toxic Drug Crisis Gathering on March 22 and 23.

Held at Thunderbird Hall and the Kwanwatsi Big House in the Wei Wai Kum Territory, also known as Campbell River, on Vancouver Island, the event created a sacred space to listen deeply, share experiences, and construct pathways to healing.

Hosted by Namwayut Society, Puguma Consulting, and local grassroots leaders, participants engaged in dialogue while listening to emotional storytelling and witnessing inspirational leadership. Keynote speakers such as Dr. Chief Robert Joseph, James Harry Sr., Ernest Puglas, and Rachel Plamondon instilled in the crowd a renewed sense of hope, resilience, and unity, highlighting the transformative power of cultural heritage in recovery.

The power of storytelling and community collaboration took center stage at Health Quality BC's annual Quality Forum, where the First Nation Health Authority's (FNHA) Diabetes Curriculum Project was selected as a storyboard winner. The two-day event, which highlights efforts to improve health systems across BC, saw over 135 submissions, with FNHA's project standing out for its commitment to culturally safe diabetes education.

At the heart of the project are the voices and experiences of First Nations people living with diabetes. Over the past two years, FNHA's project team listened to the personal stories of community members, shaping a curriculum that prioritizes wholistic care, emotional and spiritual well-being, and connection to land and culture; elements that are missing from Westernized diabetes resources and services.

Over 100 people gathered at Vancouver Island University's Deep Bay Marine Field Station in late November 2024 to celebrate the conclusion of the We All Take Care of the Harvest (WATCH) pilot project and consider next steps.

The WATCH project began in early 2021 when four First Nations communities, in collaboration with the FNHA, began designing the seafood and climate change pilot project. 

At the opening ceremonies of the 2025 Junior All-Native Basketball Tournament (JANT) in Kelowna, a song in the Nsyilxcən language of the Syilx-Okanagan Nation welcomed spectators to the event. The words translate to: “we are beautiful because our lands are beautiful."

“That's our Syilx-Okanagan anthem," says Pauline Terbasket, a Syilx Matriarch and Executive Director of the Okanagan Nation Alliance.

“We want to promote wellness," says Terbasket, about being a part of the host Nation. “JANT is about wellness. It's about enjoying community through sport."

On March 20, the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) celebrates Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ Awareness Day, a time to honour the rich diversity of Two-Spirit identities and expressions. This day serves as a platform to raise awareness about the unique experiences of Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ individuals, acknowledging their resilience and contributions to our communities.

"Two-Spirit" is an Indigenous-specific term that is used to self-identify with expressions of gender or sexuality through a pre-colonial lens. Two-Spirit identities exist separately from Western constructs of sexuality and gender and are not equivalent to an LGBTQQIA+ identity. However, an Indigenous person may choose to self-identify as either Two-Spirit, LGBTQQIA+, or both.

Team FN Rx, who developed a prototype of an app to help First Nations people access over-the-counter (OTC) medication through B.C.’s Plan W, won top prize at the fifth Code Hack. 

Clarmont, who is Teme-Augama Anishnabai and works in cultural safety at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, brought this challenge to Code Hack, after witnessing community members paying of out of pocket for eligible OTC items, despite Plan W in place. 

Read about this and the other winning innovative ideas participants developed over the two day challenge. 

The new Quw’utsun Youth Health Centre, inside the new Quw’utsun Secondary School in Duncan, is now open offering free, confidential, non-judgemental and culturally safe care. Public health nursing services are for Quw’utsun Secondary students, all youth in the Cowichan area aged 13 to 24, and VIU students up to 24 years old. Youth up to 25 may access sexually transmitted infection (STI) services.  
 
Click the link below to read the announcement and see the drop-in times.

The PharmaCare Newsletter is a monthly publication from the British Columbia Ministry of Health that provides information about PharmaCare programs and policies. The newsletter is intended for pharmacists and other health professionals.

• What's in the newsletter?
• Drug listings
• PharmaCare policy
• PharmaNet procedures
• Information about PharmaCare programs, plans, and coverage
• News about PharmaCare trends
• Updates on drug administration fees
• Information about scope expansions for pharmacists
  

• Primary Care Registered Nurse - Tseycum (North Saanich) and Esquimalt (Victoria)
• Clinical Counsellor - Mental Health & Wellness Outreach (Vancouver Island, BC)
• Community Coordinator, Child and Youth Care - Kwakwaka’wakw (Quinsam or Port Hardy, BC)
• Community Coordinator, Crisis Response - Nuu-Chah-Nulth (Tseshaht/Port Alberni, BC)
• Community Dietitian (Vancouver Island, BC)
• Community Engagement Coordinator - Nuu-chah-nulth (Tseshaht/Port Alberni, BC)