Indigenous
Mentor
Program Description
To provide support and services for gender and sexuality diverse people within Friendship Centre communities; to utilize existing Indigenous community capacity to support self-defined youth needs from a culture-based framework; and to support a Trauma Informed approach to community-building and inclusion.
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Findings and activities generated through this project will help to improve Friendship Centre and community capacity regarding service provision for Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ young people
The Indigenous Mentor - with support from the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centre’s (OFIFC) Research team - will support Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ young people by increasing access to supports and activities through the Friendship Centre in support of overall wellbeing. They will work both one-on-one with participants and with groups, engaging Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ young people in a community-driven research process to self-define wellbeing and explore ways that Friendship Centres and surrounding communities can support sense of belonging.
The key learnings and wise practices of the work carried out by the Indigenous Mentor will be shared with the OFIFC to inform the development and expansion of positive spaces for all gender identities, gender expressions, sexualities, as well as roles and responsibilities within Friendship Centres. The project will be part of a collaboration between the Dryden Native Friendship Centre and the OFIFC to identify and share effective practices and strategies to support Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ young people in Friendship Centre communities.
