Tribal council hosts open house

While most people may be aware of the existence of the Yorkton Tribal Council (YTC), many are surprised to find out just how many services the organization has to offer.

There are seven departments and three non-profit incorporated entities that offer everything from youth and sport programs to family home support to employment help to a full range of health services, pretty much the full range of services any regional government would provide.

Terri-Ann Lepowick, YTC justice facilitator, said staff within the various departments noticed that there was little awareness among their clients of the other Council's other services.

"We thought, let's do something to try to bring community together," Lepowick said.

On November 21, they did just that with a YTC open house and meet and greet at Gallagher Centre.

"This was our first one, so we were a little scared, but we have been steady all morning," she said. "We'll probably keep doing it."

The other thing people don't know about YTC, Lepowick said, is that while their mission is to serve the six First Nations that are members of the Council, the services extend beyond the reserves.

"We also provide urban services, as well, like our justice department, we're a status-blind program," she said. "A lot of our services, like our alternative measures program, it's status-blind, but a lot of people have the idea we only help First Nations people."

Jamie Desjarlais, a youth outreach worker with the Suicide Prevention and Awareness program said the open house was a very important awareness-raising event.

"A lot of times, a lot of the problem is people aren't accessing the resources that are available," he said. "People need to access what's out there; they say we have a lot of problems, but we also do have a lot of resources. A lot of people, they fall through the cracks because they're unaware of what's available to them."

Desjarlais also sees benefits of the event for the Council internally.

"Coming together as different working professionals, we're all in it together," he said. "We're all chasing towards the same path and that's to create safer communities and to create more impact in our communities. Together we can do great things."