We at Xyólheméylh are privileged to work in a time when we can walk alongside communities on their journey to take care of children and families, and we have the ability to support them in a way we have not ever been able to before. These are exciting times, and yet this landscape is rapidly changing and requires incredible flexibility, openness, and continuous learning for our staff.

As we spring into a new and beautiful season, we have paused to recognize our hardworking and dedicated staff.  We were able to show our appreciation at an event on April 25 at Shxwhá:y Cultural Centre. We celebrated milestones within Xyólheméylh, shared a meal and played Slahal. It was a wonderful event and so good to be able to bring everyone together. You can view the photos further down in the newsletter.

Since the closure of Building 1 in Chilliwack, our staff have been dispersed in multiple smaller office locations. We are excited to share news about a new office that will bring our Family Services, Guardianship, FDR and Resource workers back together and we believe this will improve collaboration and accessibility for families and caregivers. We are grateful for everyone’s patience while we have been doing our best to maneuver this change.

We were very honored to be nominated for a Fraser Valley Cultural Diversity Award for Effective Human Resource Practices in April. Xyólheméylh has long embraced support from our Elders to share teachings, wisdom, experience, and traditions with our children, youth, and families, but in recent years we have offered these same practices to our employees in a variety of ways. This has included offering traditional medicines to employees facing challenges, including smudging, brushings, nourishing the body and spirit before doing important work, and ongoing access to Elders to support their personal and professional wellbeing.

Xyólheméylh is now working on interview practices and our HR policies to acknowledge that the typical processes are very colonial, and our goal is to create cultural safety. Through this work we have looked to traditional teachings to remove barriers and allow potential employees to bring their whole self to the process.

While we continue to have a long journey ahead of us, we look forward to continuing to walk this path with our employees, Elders, communities, and partners. We are very proud of all the good work our staff continue to do during these changing times.  We’re very proud of the progress our Human Resources team has made! This is just one example of the great work being done by staff.

ELT – Rhea Del Vecchio, Rod Spitzig and Laura-Dawn Wilkin