Long Lake #58 youth come together to support one another – Anishinabek News

September 11, 2023

LONG LAKE #58 — Long Lake #58 recently held a 10-day detox and alcohol program for about 42 youth at the Best Western Plus NorWester Hotel and Conference Centre in Thunder Bay that included a trip to Toronto. The program was developed based on the community’s Better Together Wellness Strategy for adults.

“Treatment for youth is quite different than treatment for adults, so we designed a 10-day program for our youth,” says Long Lake #58 Chief Judy Desmoulin. “It’s more self awareness as to why they’re getting into drugs and alcohol so early in their lives. We created this 10-day program and it was a really good eye-opener for us and it was a really good learning experience for the youth who signed up.”

Desmoulin says the strategy for both adults and youth involves having a core group of participants who can support one another and slowly gather others into their circle to continue to make the community healthier.

“One of the things we did was we continued with an incentive,” Desmoulin says. “[For] all the youth that stayed in the program, completed the program, there was a follow-up trip. We just got back from Toronto yesterday [Aug. 28].”

Desmoulin says the youth loved the program.

Read More: https://anishinabeknews.ca/2023/09/11/long-lake-58-youth-come-together-to-support-one-another/