CEO finds work rewarding

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As the CEO of Nechi Training, Research and Health Promotions Institute, on the forefront of holistic healing and addictions-free lifestyles, you might think Ruth Morin would be too busy doing her job to talk about it. But she took time out anyway, to share with Windspeaker how she got into her role and the future of Nechi.

Morin was employed at Saddle Lake Counselling Services, in the NAADAP program, when she enrolled as a trainee in Nechi's pilot program management series, around 1983. A couple of years later, the Institute hired her as a trainer.

"I've been associated with Nechi for a total of about seven-and-a-half years," Morin said.

"I was a trainer for about four years, and then I went back to work in the community - Saddle Lake, Alta. And then went on to become the director of the adolescent treatment centre at St. Paul, Alta., before I came back to Nechi as assistant director to Maggie Hodgson, who was the director in 1995. Almost three years ago, in January, Maggie Hodgson left and I became the chief executive officer of Nechi. But I've worked in the field of addictions for 18 years - it's been my life's work."

Morin said it's the most challenging position that she's held in addictions in the past 18 years.

"I really need to pace myself, because it's overwhelming sometimes, but I love it. It's a position of great responsibility. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that in this position I'm serving a lot of people, not just the trainees or the staff here, but keeping the needs and wants of Aboriginal people in mind all the time."

Nechi has been exploring accredited courses in the last few years and will continue to pursue accreditation for the training in as far as colleges and universities are concerned, Morin said.

"Our partnerships are being developed with them, and we'll continue to work along those lines so that people who have taken our training can apply that to different faculties... in certificate programs, in diploma programs, and a long-term plan would be to pursue a partnership for a degree program."

Currently, Grant MacEwan and Keyano colleges in Alberta both grant credit for Nechi Training.

Another area Nechi plans to enhance, said Morin, is its summer school program, which already attracts trainees from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.

"We offer the community addictions training series during the summer, and have for the last three years," Morin said. "One summer we offered the advanced counsellor training course at the same time as the community addictions training course; but this next summer we're thinking about doing the community addictions training course and then having several one-week modules on popular subjects."