DOH, DCSS CELEBRATE STAFF GRADUATING FROM GATHERING OUR MEDICINE TRAINING
The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne’s Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Community and Social Services (DCSS) held a celebration for staff members that completed the “Gathering Our Medicine” training program.
Staff members working in the fields of addictions, social services, health, and staff who work directly with community youth were able to participate in the program. Gathering Our Medicine is a cross-cultural model intended to facilitate the restoration of care of indigenous youth to the kinship circle, led by traditional indigenous wisdom while being informed by the attachment theory, restores the kinship circle as the answer in the lives of indigenous youth, and restores dignity to the role of caring most naturally situated within families and communities.
Eleven MCA staff members participated and completed the Gathering Our Medicines Training, which was held via Zoom sessions beginning in February, and finishing in May. Staff members who completed the training will be encouraged to work together as a unit, addressing and assisting community members dealing with addictions/substance abuse issues, assisting community members and families to access services that meet their needs, and encouraging healing from trauma for the entire family unit.
Congratulations to the staff members that completed the Gathering Our Medicines training program! We look forward to the good work and collaborations that will develop in the near future.
Pictured: Bonnie Bradley, Eddie Cajigas, Joey David, Allen Smoke., and Brandon David.
