What we offer?

Volunteer Info

Kikino Metis Children & Family Services Society is currently seeking Volunteers for various areas:

Administration/Clerical Being a Board Member
Child Minding
Community Outreach
Fundraising
Kitchen Duties
Maintenance
Mentoring
Organizing Special Events
Serving
Singing/Music/Dancing
Teaching Arts & Crafts
Volunteer Driver
and much more...

If you would like to Volunteer for Kikino please fill out the
»Application Form: volunteer_app.pdf

*Please note all volunteers must provide a current criminal record check.

Programs


The Circle of Life: Honouring The Spirit Of The Family

wheel

Family Preservation Program:
Referrals can be made by Ministry of Children & Family Development Social Workers, community partners, the Métis community or through self referral.  The program includes discussion and liaison with local Elders and healers, interviews with program candidates and pre and post program honoring ceremonies and celebrations. Our program addresses a range of needs and interests, and is facilitated through an Aboriginal framework.

Topics include:  Culture Based Parenting,Teachings from the Medicine Wheel, Loss and Grief, Courage to be Heard, Understanding Violence, Nutrition, Healing and Spiritual Growth, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Life Skills, Understanding Addictions.

Program overview:

The Circle of Life – Family Preservation Program is a holistic model that provides goal oriented, intensive support services to Métis, First Nations and non-Aboriginal families.

The program consists of both facilitated group work as well as one on one support to families.  We engage with frequent contact with families from two to 15 hours per week. This program has been developed around an Aboriginal approach to healing.

All program materials are facilitated from strengths based perspective, through a Métis lens, recognizing that the cultures of the families we work with are diverse, and acknowledging that all cultures and traditions will be respected in our program. Our service delivery model is child centered, and family oriented.

 

parent

Effective Parenting In The Metis Community Program

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM:

1. To educate Metis parents about the history and culture of the Metis in Canada.
2. To define the meaning of Metis Culture and to provide an overview of the difference between mainstream and traditional culture and values, to give an overview of Metis culture.
3. To provide parents with effective parenting literature and resources and to assist them with effective parenting skills by working through a series of "hands on" case studies that require resolution.

PARENTING

Parenting is all about communication skills and intuition on when your child needs help, love and advice, and when you might need to stand back. Obviously this call becomes tougher to make as children get older and begin to assert their independence. Raising children to adulthood is the most important and challenging task that most of us will ever undertake. And it is a lifelong experience.

CULTURE

Culture is the whole of our everyday life. It is the sum total of the way we act and react within our living and working environment. Culture is something that all individuals learn from birth. Culture is comprised of values and behaviors.

Values are ideas, attitudes, assumptions and beliefs to which strong feelings are attached. Values are the invisible and often unconscious elements, which underlie cultural behavior.

Behavior is the expression of these values. Values are communicated by individuals in behaviors such as language, signs, gestures, actions, customs and styles.

 

ROOTS PROGRAM: A Child’s Roots are Forever!

rootsThe Roots Program was developed as a response to the fact that almost half of the children and youth in care of the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) are Aboriginal. In Prince George according to MCFD’s statistics the second most children in care are of Métis heritage.

It is a collaborative initiative involving MCFD, First Nations, and the Métis. The Métis Roots Program also works in conjunction with other services and programs within Kikino Metis Children & Family Services Society in order to facilitate increased connections between Métis children and their families, community, and culture.

The Purpose of Roots is to ensure that each Aboriginal child and youth in care of MCFD has a plan to respect and preserve their Métis identity and ties to his or her family, community, and heritage.

Roots is Committed to ensuring the best possible placement plans are explored for Métis children and youth in care, and will:

  • Identify children for whom a return to family and community may be appropriate
  • Where children can be returned to their family or community, assist MCFD workers
  • Where a move does not appear to be in the child’s best interest, identify and implement strategies to strengthen the child’s connection to their community and culture, as well as the community’s involvement in planning for the child

 

 

WARRIOR CAREGIVERS:
A FATHER’S PERSPECTIVE ON PARENTINGwarrior

In Métis and/or First Nations’ culture the warrior was the protector, provider and caregiver for the entire family.  The Warrior Caregivers group was designed with this concept in mind. 

A need was recognized in the community that there were no parenting programs exclusive to a father’s needs and there are also few resources that work from a Métis lens with the Medicine Wheel as a training tool. 

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Warrior Caregivers group was developed with a holistic healing model in mind.  There is an introduction phase followed by four modules designed in a specific order:

  1. Personal Growth & Healing:  In this module we assist fathers with developing as individuals.  (4 weeks in length)
  2. Relationship Building with Their Partner and/or the Child(ren)s Caregivers:  In this section we work with fathers on communication, conflict resolution and working together for the best interests of the child(ren) (4 weeks in length).
  3. Relationship Building with Their Child(ren):  Education is supplied in the areas of child development, healthy communication and culture based parenting (4 weeks in length).
  4. Development of Community Connections:  Working with fathers to identify needed supports for after completion of the program is necessary to increase their potential success as a role model and parent to their children.  This will culminate in a closing ceremony with the gifting of a Métis sash (4 weeks in length).

Using the Medicine Wheel model we are working in all four quadrants (mental, spiritual, emotional and physical) during the modules in order to build on father’s parenting capacity.

© 2008 Kikino Metis Children & Family Services Society