Winter 2020 Newsletter
The past couple of newsletters emphasized the realities of racial oppression in Canada, and explored ways we can work towards changing this destructive problem. In this newsletter, we want to highlight how Inner Hope is supporting leadership development in our community, and some remarkable individuals who have overcome significant barriers. They are now dynamic community leaders who are impacting change in their families and communities!
My maternal grandmother was Ojibwe from the Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba, and I grew up in the Native community in East Vancouver. I’ve known many of the families in the Inner Hope community since I was a kid. Growing up, I didn’t have a father around and my mom was not able to care for me. I went into the foster care system at 11. I had an uncle who stepped up and fostered me until age 16, when I started living independently.
A goal I clung to in childhood was to be different than my family. I wanted to be the first one to graduate mainstream high school and not party. But I wasn’t on a great trajectory—I wasn’t keeping up with school and I was getting into the party scene. That changed in 2005 at Camp Qwanoes. The speaker that summer talked about God being a good Father, and the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. This really shook things up for me. I realized I was trying to do things all on my own, but I needed help to get onto a better path. I finished camp a new believer, and right away wanted to work there. The camp director told me I needed to grow in my faith first. I spent the next year digging into church and the youth programs at New Beginnings Church, where I had first met Carla and Jenny. The next summer I got a job at Qwanoes. I wanted to keep growing in my faith after camp, so I applied for Qwanoes’s one-year leadership program, Kaleo. My high school transcripts weren’t great, but I got into the program. This put me on a path to higher education. The next year, Trinity Western University accepted me based on my Kaleo courses, and I started a degree. I’m now the first person in my family to graduate from not only mainstream high school, but also from university. During university, I did a survey about the number of supports people have in their lives as they overcome educational challenges. I realized just how many people helped me get to where I was. This inspired me to support other youth and families in my community. Because of Residential Schools and ongoing systemic inequalities, our education system has failed many First Nations students, who often fall through the cracks. I have benefited from the support of people pushing me to believe in myself, to stick with it, and to aim higher. I want to give that kind of encouragement to other young people; they’re capable of achieving way more than they or other people might think. Mark has had many roles at Inner Hope over the years, and was recently promoted to the position of Manager of Youth and Community Programs. |
Larissa is Cree from Saskatchewan and was fortunate to grow up with her grandmother, who lived a traditional Cree way of life. Most of her relatives attended residential school; many were sent to Gordon, Canada’s last residential school which closed in 1996. The lingering effects of these schools continue to impact her extended family today. She moved to Vancouver as a teen and left school in grade 12 when she had her first child.
Larissa was a part of Inner Hope from the very beginning. With our encouragement and childcare support, she completed her high-school diploma. Larissa was also part of our Boundless mentorship pilot group when we launched the program in 2010. As a mom, she wasn’t sure that she was a good fit for the program. Her mentor, a grandmother, didn’t know if she could connect well with a young person. Despite their misgivings, their first month of weekly meetings had some exciting results. After returning to school, Larissa realized she excelled in sciences. They discussed some careers in the science field and determined that nursing was a good career fit. With Larissa working the computer and her mentor providing the credit card, she enrolled in an LPN program that started a few weeks later! Larissa went on to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is now working at Burnaby General Hospital, where her last rotation was on a COVID ward. Larissa’s main focus is raising her three children and supporting her extended family. With her stable income, and a driver’s license and vehicle through Inner Hope’s support, Larissa organized an extended family holiday at a cabin outside Mission last summer. This was a first for her family. Larissa is an inspiring role model in our community. She gives back to Inner Hope annually, providing health care training for our staff. |
I am from the Mohawk territory of Akwasasne in Ontario; I am also Ojibwe on my mom’s side. I moved to BC with my family in 2008 and started a Bachelor degree at Trinity Western University in 2014. As an Indigenous student, funding for a private school education can be a challenge, as band funding usually isn’t enough to cover full tuition (each community has their own post-secondary funding protocols). In my first year, I received a scholarship that Jenny and Carla created. When I completed my degree, I was the first Trinity graduate to walk the stage in traditional regalia instead of a gown.
The summer after my first year at Trinity, I worked as an intern at Inner Hope (not knowing the connection to my scholarship!). Inner Hope was the first place where I felt God’s love for my people. The kids in the community reminded me of my cousins and felt like family. It was so contradictory to what the church had shown my people in the past. I am now a full-time ministry support worker at Union Gospel Mission in a stabilization program for women called The Sanctuary. I still volunteer at Inner Hope, and since 2018 I have been a mentor to a teen girl through the Boundless program. |
I am from the Lil’wat Nation outside of Whistler, BC, and grew up in Vancouver with my parents and 4 siblings. My family wasn’t very good at dealing with problems in healthy ways. When I was young, my mom sent me to a summer camp. I became friends with one of the counselors, and I noticed that he was able to deal with issues in much healthier ways than I saw in my family. That stuck with me.
During my teen years, a lot of youth in my neighbourhood were part of the Inner Hope Boundless program. The coordinator invited my sister to join, and since there wasn’t much else going on for young people, I went too. I’ve always been a natural leader with my siblings and peers, but I didn’t really have a place to lead people. I found out about the Camp Qwanoes leadership programs through Inner Hope, and it took me back to that summer at camp and the counselor who impacted me. I went through their leadership programs, and then worked there for 2 summers. No one in my family has ever attended post secondary school. My parents thought it was a waste of time, and that I should just find a trade. Inner Hope helped me find my gifts and passions for youth ministry, and pointed me to the right programs to grow as a leader. Last year, I did a one-year Bible School Program at Torch Bearers International, and in January I’m starting a 2-year diploma in Youth Ministry at Pacific Life Bible College. I’m now the first person in my family to ever get a post secondary education. I’m also the first to quit smoking. As someone who started in one place and ended up somewhere completely different, I know the kind of support youth need as they break out of harmful cycles. This fall I’m interning at Inner Hope as a Youth Support Worker. I’m happy to grow more as a leader, and to use my gifts and experience to give back to this community. |