A tipi is now set up in Park Place Mall to launch a new organization in southern Alberta.
Mark Brave Rock with the Sage Clan Patrol said the tipi is a symbol of home.
“This tipi is for hope and this is our home and so let’s create a better home — not that it is bad but it can be improved.”
The non-profit organization We Will Recover offers addiction support services to the community. Lori Vrebosch is the founding director of the Lethbridge-based and Indigenous-led organization and said it’s a much-needed service for the area.
Part of the launch is hosting its first big event, Napi’s Gift, a campaign focusing on bringing organizations together to offer education and awareness to the surrounding community.
“We are here to help bring support and recovery in these dark times in an area that’s been hit so incredibly hard and that is extending right from Piikani Nation, the Blood Tribe, through to the Lethbridge community,” added Vrebosch.
Shannon Eagle Speaker knows the deadly effects of opioid addiction first hand. Her lesson in loss due to opioids began in 2019.
“I lost two children, 14 and 19, my mother in December and we are in 2021 and still dealing with the opioids. I have a 16 year old who got into them.”
Eagle Speaker hopes more awareness like Napi’s Gift will help continue to build the recovery supports for the communities and families who need it most.
“I cannot go through this again. I cannot bury a third child. I don’t want to bury a third child.”
Napi’s Gift will run for 18 days at Park Place Mall. It will include educational and awareness displays, recovery support services and fundraising activities.
A number of organizations are making the event possible, including Piikani Nation Band Council, Sage Clan Patrol, the Lethbridge Chapter of the Crazy Indian Brotherhood, the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society, Mom Stop the Harm and McMan Youth & Family Community Services Association.
For more information you can visit the We Will Recover website.
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