More than just a place to work

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Judy Blackburn, executive assistant to Nechi's CEO, Ruth Morin, is an enthusiastic spokeswoman for the institute, both its people and programs.

She says the glue that holds Nechi together is the bonding that occurs between staff and students, volunteers, board members and everyone else who comes into the mix, which results in friendships and professional relationships continuing long after people complete their training programs.

"Maggie [Hodgson, a former CEO who still consults with Nechi] used to say the word Nechi is a Cree word that means friend or companion. But even more than that, a broader translation would be 'our spirit touches yours,' and in that framework, it seems to be more appropriate in that so many people stay in touch - we never, ever really lose them," Blackburn explained.

But it is not just personal attachments that keep people coming back to Nechi.

"I think they believe in Nechi," Blackburn said; "I think they believe in the philosophy and the goals and what we're working for. I think that Nechi is unique. It's unique in what we do - not as unique as we used to be, because we were the first, but I think because of the scope, it's kind of an exciting place to be. ... Plus, the people that started - they were going out against all odds. When you're working, you develop a different kind of relationship; it isn't just an ordinary working relationship, and it isn't just a friendship, and there's an investment that people make emotionally as well."

She added that Nechi Institute opened in its present location within a year of Poundmaker's Lodge Treatment Centre, when it became apparent there were too few Aboriginal people working in the field. After running its programs for several years in makeshift accommodations, Nechi entered into an agreement with Poundmaker's to share a joint facility that was built in St. Albert, north of Edmonton, in 1984.

"When you think that in '74, the problem of alcoholism in the Native community was so astronomical ... they found out there was a definite shortage of sober, Native people to counsel anybody else trying to change their life - and the philosophy was that Natives could help Natives, right, and incorporate their culture and spirituality. So then they had to find some way to train these people and that's when Nechi was founded, based on the same philosophy that Natives' cultures, traditional values and spirituality are incorporated into our curriculum," Blackburn said.

"Nechi delivers all of its programs off-site by contract in communities all over Canada. We've trained in Davis Inlet [Labrador]; we've trained in Eel River [New Brunswick]; we've trained in Mayo, Yukon; Darcy, B.C., which is just outside Whistler. All of our training programs, plus customized programs, will go off-site.

"We have a permanent, employed training staff as well as have consultants who work with us - a lot of them are past trainers who were employed full-time; some are therapists and that type of resource people, but generally speaking, people who were associated with Nechi in the early days are still around - in contact, either through work or through personal friendships," Blackburn concludes.