By Jennifer Cupello
The Circle of Healing program Outreach worker position has provided ongoing assistance and support to the Brothers in the community. We provide the Brothers with assistance with everyday tasks, for example, obtaining Identification. However, we do not limit our assistance and have been able to provide support in many different areas of their release.
We have attended cultural activities with the Brothers, and it has been a fun learning experience. We have gone to Pow Wows in the community, cultural nights at the Friendship Center, and participated in different cultural ceremonies with them. We have even had Brothers who have participated in the cultural event. For example, dancing in the Pow Wows. Attending cultural activities with the Brothers provides them with the opportunity to strengthen their connection to the cultural aspect of their community release.
We have been working on assisting the Brothers get connected to community resources. This includes referring them to employment programs, housing support, Elder Support, Substance abuse programs and different life skills programs. We work closely with the COEL HASP program, pre employment program and the Peer Support Worker for COEL. Furthermore, we have been working with Bladerunners employment program. The Brothers have had success with these programs and have benefited from the support of each of these programs.
We are planning on attending upcoming cultural events in the community with the Brothers in the next couple of months. We already have Brothers who are talking about attending Camp Potlatch in May and are excited about the opportunity.
The next cultural event we are attending with the Brothers is Hoobiyee on February 28, 29th, 2020. In addition, we also have some Brothers who have signed up for the Sun Run in April with staff. Overall, being part of the progress that the Brothers are making on their release has been rewarding. They have demonstrated that with some assistance they can complete their goals.
We are looking forward to continuing our work with the Brothers and working on finding new ways that we can assist them.
