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News & Events
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 19, 2012
Two new Friendship Centres brings the total to 25 in the BC Region
Lkwungen Territory / Victoria, BC – The BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) is pleased to announce two (2) new member Friendship Centres to the BC region; the Sacred Wolf Friendship Centre in Port Hardy and the Kla-How-Eya Aboriginal Centre in Surrey. The addition of these 2 Friendship Centres brings the total for the BC region to 25.
National Senator Marge White was happy to welcome the new members to the BCAAFC. “We extend our hands of welcome and we hope they will be successful in their new role as a Friendship Centre in serving their communities. Always remember the philosophy of the Friendship Centres is to have an open door, welcoming Aboriginal People.”
Janet Hanuse, Executive Director for Sacred Wolf Friendship Centre, feels for her organization that, “Isolation is one of our most frequent and significant barriers living in North Vancouver Island, so it has been a tremendous honour, to be welcomed into this province- wide family.”
The history of Friendship Centres in BC dates back to 1954 when a group of concerned Aboriginal people in Vancouver, including Senator Marge White, formed the Coqualeetza Fellowship Club to provide support to Aboriginal students moving to the city. Over the next few years the organizers found themselves responding to ever increasing requests for services, and similar organizations opened in other urban areas like Prince Rupert and Prince George.
“We are extremely excited to be part of the Friendship Centre Movement and look forward to many more years of serving the urban Aboriginal community and building pride, strength and a better future,” stated June Laitar, President and Founding member of Kla-How-Eya Aboriginal Centre.
Both new Friendship Centres will participate as voting members in their first provincial Board of Directors Meeting in Victoria, BC on February 24-26, 2012.
For more information contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Executive Director, BCAAFC
250-388-5522
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
November 17, 2011
Off-Reserve Aboriginal People ready to act on Throne Speech promises
Songhees & Esquimalt Territory/Victoria, BC – Aboriginal people living off-reserve in British Columbia are ready to turn words into action and the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) is poised to lead the way. Challenged by extreme economic barriers and social risks, and buoyed by promises to improve conditions for 70% of Aboriginal people as laid out in last month’s Throne Speech, they are eager to help build a plan with government.
This week, Aboriginal leaders and the BCAAFC will meet with Cabinet Ministers, Liberal, and NDP members to press for an investment that supports implementation of an off-reserve Aboriginal Action Plan for more than two-thirds of the Aboriginal population who now live in cities or rural areas.
Although Aboriginal people are BC’s fastest growing population group and fare the lowest on almost every social and economic wellness measure, the province currently lacks a coordinated strategy to address the needs of Aboriginal people who live off-reserve.
“Hearing Lieutenant Governor Steven L. Point commit to developing an Off-Reserve Aboriginal Action Plan last month was a ray of hope for BC’s 145,000 Aboriginal people living off of the reserve, and an historic moment for the organizations that support them,” says Annette Morgan, President of the BCAAFC.
“But with some of the highest rates of suicide, addictions, unemployment, poverty, victimization and incarceration,” continues Morgan, “there is no time to waste. We must put words into action today.”
In the Throne Speech, the BC Government said they would work with Aboriginal partners, the federal government and local governments to develop the Off-Reserve Aboriginal Action Plan (ORAAP) to achieve outcomes such as better education and job training, healthier family life, and strengthened cultures and traditions. Additionally, an official recommendation was made in the Government’s 2012 Budget Consultation Report to develop a coordinated strategy for off-reserve Aboriginal people as well as a long-term capacity fund for Aboriginal Friendship Centres, in conjunction with the BCAAFC.
Implementing the ORAAP would only be possible through an investment in the capacity of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, BC’s largest service delivery infrastructure for Aboriginal people living off-reserve. Friendship Centres provide a range of resources for Aboriginal people who move from reserves into cities – a population that has more than tripled in a ten-year period. With the support of Friendship Centres, the ORAAP can close the social and economic gaps between Aboriginal people and other British Columbians.
“BC’s 23 Aboriginal Friendship Centres are one of the main supports for our people living off-reserve, and central to an action plan” explains Morgan. “But they are stretched to capacity. In the past 10 years, demand for services has more than doubled, and people continue to migrate into cities at an unprecedented rate. An investment in an off-reserve action plan needs to include an investment in the capacity of Friendship Centres. Together we believe this will drastically improve social and economic conditions within our communities.”
“Investing in an Off-Reserve Aboriginal Action Plan is a winning proposition,” says Paul Lacerte, Executive Director of the BCAAFC. “When we improve economic activity and social stability for Aboriginal peoples living off-reserve, we lower costs for government and create a brighter future for our People and the economy of BC.”
The BCAAFC is an umbrella organization for BC’s 23 Aboriginal Friendship Centres that offer a wide range of culturally relevant services and supports to Aboriginal people residing in urban and rural communities. These include job training and skills development programs, mental health and addictions counseling, literacy and early childhood education programs, and cultural support services for youth, families and elders.
For more information contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Executive Director, BCAAFC
250-388-5522
MEDIA ADVISORY, Oct. 19, 2011
An important step toward improving services to B.C.’s Aboriginal children and families will be marked Friday at the University of Victoria’s First Peoples House.
In a historic first, the Federation of Community Social Services of B.C. (FCSS) and the B.C. Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) are signing a collaboration agreement aimed at increasing opportunities for cross-cultural understanding and improved access for off-reserve Aboriginal families needing community services and support.
“In the past, many of our people have felt misunderstood when they walk through the doors of a non-Aboriginal social service agency,” says BCAAFC president Annette Morgan. “On Friday night, we will make a commitment to work together with the Federation of Community Social Services for the betterment of all children and families in B.C., no matter where they go to for support.”
Decades of poor social indicators continue to prevent Aboriginal families in BC from attaining a quality of life comparable to the non-Aboriginal population. One in 20 Aboriginal children are in government care, compared to one in 100 non-Aboriginal children. Youth unemployment is 60 per cent higher for Aboriginal youth, whose graduation rates lag significantly behind non-Aboriginal rates.
Poverty rates for off-reserve Aboriginal families are almost double that of non-Aboriginal families. Aboriginal people continue to rank at the bottom of almost every measure used to gauge well-being and economic potential. They have shorter life expectancies and disproportionately high chronic disease rates. To affect the type of change necessary to reverse these trends, collaborative working relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations will be critical.
The Federation represents 132 community social service agencies in B.C. that provide a diverse array of services including child care, early learning and family support in 150 communities. The BCAAFC works on behalf of 23 B.C. Friendship Centres serving more than 145,000 Aboriginals living off reserve, and offer a broad range of services including early childhood, family support, counselling, and employment readiness.
“We hold BC’s Aboriginal Friendship Centre movement in very high regard, and believe our collective work together will improve the lives of children and families in hundreds of communities across the province”, remarks FCSS president, Shane Picken. The memorandum of understanding the two organizations will sign at the Oct. 21 ceremony at UVic’s First Peoples House provides a formal mechanism for sharing information, expertise and strategies to build strength, resilience and opportunities for children and families throughout B.C.
The signing ceremony begins at 6 p.m. at the University of Victoria’s First Peoples House. The Unity drummers will perform first at 6:30 pm and again at the end of the ceremony an hour later. Federation executive director Jennifer Charlesworth and BCAAFC executive director Paul Lacerte are available for interviews; contact information is included below.
For more information:
FCSSBC executive director Jennifer Charlesworth, 250.480.7387
BCAAFC executive director Paul Lacerte, 250.388.5522
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BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres |
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 5th, 2011
BC Government Announces Commitment to Develop Off-Reserve Aboriginal Action Plan
Songhees & Esquimalt Territory/ Victoria, BC – The BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC) is pleased with the official Speech from the Throne, where the Honourable Steven L. Point, British Columbia’s 28th Lieutenant Governor announced that the BC Government is committed to the development of an off-reserve Aboriginal action plan. The Lieutenant Governor stated that “the government will work with Aboriginal partners, the federal government and local governments to develop an off-reserve Aboriginal action plan to achieve better education and job training, healthier family life, and strengthened cultures and traditions.”
“Over 70% of Aboriginal people now live off of the reserve” explains Annette Morgan, President of the BCAAFC. “As Aboriginal Friendship Centres, we have witnessed the continual migration of our people into off-reserve communities, including a doubling of the youth population in the past 10 years. We are pleased to hear today’s unprecedented announcement in the Speech from the Throne and we look forward to working with the government to ensure that Aboriginal people living off reserve are receiving the supports they need to become self sufficient and to improve their social and economic conditions, putting us on equal footing with other British Columbians”.
The announcement of a commitment to develop an off-reserve Aboriginal action plan follows intensive lobbying by BC’s Friendship Centre movement over the past 18 months. Friendship Centres across the province have undertaken a coordinated effort to raise the profile of off reserve Aboriginal communities and highlight the fact that the province currently lacks any coordinated strategy to address the poor socio-economic conditions for well over two-thirds of the Aboriginal population who now live off-reserve in BC.
Aboriginal people face disproportionate risks and barriers to living long healthy lives, including the lowest life expectancy and graduation rates, and some of the highest rates of suicide, addictions, unemployment, poverty, victimization and incarceration. An off-reserve Aboriginal action plan will seek to close these gaps, and help to address the structural barriers that have precluded Aboriginal people from fully participating in BC’s economy.
“Our people are the province’s fastest growing demographic” continues President Morgan. “As the second largest source of labour for the future workforce, we play a key role in BC’s Jobs Plan; and with an off-reserve Aboriginal action plan, we will improve the quality of life for many of our people as well as make a significant contribution to BC’s economic future.”
“Investing in an off-reserve Aboriginal action plan is a winning proposition” states Paul Lacerte, Executive Director of the BCAAFC. “Our communities know what they need to address the social and economic barriers they face. This commitment from the BC Government to work with us around the development of an action plan will enable us to make significant improvement in socio-economic outcomes for Aboriginal peoples living off-reserve. Together, we will lower costs for this government and create a brighter future for our People.”
The BCAAFC is an umbrella organization for BC’s 23 Aboriginal Friendship Centres whom offer a wide range of culturally relevant services and supports to Aboriginal people residing in urban and rural communities including: job training & skills development programs, mental health and addictions counseling, literacy and early childhood education programs, and cultural support services for youth, families, and elders.
For more information contact:
Paul Lacerte
Executive Director, BCAAFC
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
250-388-5522
Voice of BC - Special report on Aboriginal Youth in Care in BCAired - July 8, 2010 Click the link to watch the entire Voice of BC interview on ShawCable TV with Paul Lacerte and Grand Chief Ed John Media stream |
Bookmark this page for important Aboriginal Press releases. To stay up-to-date with the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres current news and events please click on any of the following:
- Please see Member Events for listings of major events from our 23 Friendship Centres which BCAAFC represents
- To find out more information about the Aboriginal newsletter within the BCAAFC please click on Newsletters
- Feel free to contact the Webmaster Alisa Denduyf ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to send member events to be posted or press releases.
For more information please contact the BCAAFC at:
BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres
#200 - 506 Fort Street
Victoria, BC
V8W 1E6
Phone: 250 388-5522
Fax: 250 388-5502
