MANDATE
The mandate of the Eagle’s Nest, an intervention service, is to help individuals find inner peace and new hope through a holistic approach. This initiative makes assistance to homeless Aboriginal individuals living in an urban environment possible by offering psychosocial intervention services.
OBJECTIVES
• Provide a service that is culturally adapted and which offers help, accompaniment, social support, promotion of awareness and prevention.
• Provide prevention and awareness-raising services to vagrants and those likely to become vagrants.
• Transmit Aboriginal heritage, with its beliefs, values, tools, lifestyles to the individual as well as to the community (relationship between Mother-Earth and the individual).
• Meet Aboriginals’ need for belonging by offering activities that are entertaining and that foster better mental and physical health.
• Favour personal and collective management of physical and mental health.
• Support the individual as the main actor of his personal healing process by having a culturally adapted holistic approach.
ACTIVITIES
• Psychosocial assistance service.
• Appraisal/request support for therapy.
• Accompanying service for personal tasks.
• Home visits.
• Assistance service.
• Group activities.
TARGETED CLIENTELE
Aboriginal people living in an urban environment in Val-d’Or.
FUNDING
Funded by Service Canada through the Homelessness Partnership Initiative.
BACKGROUND
For several years, the Friendship Centre has provided support and referral services to the urban Aboriginal population. Due to an increase in demand and clientele, the Friendship Centre, with the help of the National Homelessness Initiative, implemented in October 2001 a psychosocial intervention service that employs three full-time support workers who can assist a growing clientele in several languages and that still receive a growing number of requests.
SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES
• Help services are limited in number and frequency.
• The Eagle’s Nest does not provide services for the mentally disabled.
• Support workers offer short-term assistance only (maximum of 20 encounters).
• The Eagle’s Nest does not replace community services that already exist, and when necessary, will refer the clientele to these services.
