In the wake of a disturbing number of suicides among Sto:lo youth, Aboriginal youth care and service providers throughout the region have joined forces to form the Fraser Region Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention Collaborative (FRC).
Building on that group’s work, Fraser Health, the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), Seabird Island First Nation and Sto:lo Nation have formed a partnership that has received a $99,000 grant from Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), Pathways to Health Equity for Aboriginal Peoples.
The new collaborative will use the funds to support a project aimed at building a suicide resilience strategy for Fraser Valley First Nations youth, with the pilot set to launch in Seabird Island.
“What we’re going to do in the research process is to work with Sto:lo youth and ask them their opinions,” said Adrienne Chan, lead researcher of project and associate vice-president of research, engagement, and graduate studies at UFV. “And we’re going to work with the elders and the grandmothers and people in that community.
The above is an excerpt from a story by Greg Laychak in the Sept 10 edition of the Chilliwack Times. See here for full story.