Communities are different. Wherever we go, communities are different.
I hear lots of, “Well, we're indigenous-friendly” or we're this-friendly or we're that-friendly. Even with indigenous communities, elders have different ways of doing things. Everybody has different ways of doing things, and the people receiving the service have different ways of doing things, but we need to be asking the kids or the people in those communities.
I'm working with this kid. She's 17. She's involved in a gang, and I'm trying to help her get out of the gang. She has actually been asked not to be involved in the gang because she's working with a white guy who works for a community-based organization, so it brings heat on her. I asked her today what is going to keep her out of an institution. I said, “I'm going to do this presentation for some nice people today. What do I tell them? What do I tell them to keep you from going into an institution in the future?”
She said, “Don, you have to make sure I have a good place to live and that I'm safe. You need to make sure my mental health issues are dealt with, and you need to continue to fight for me to get proper services”—because she has been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, and depression—“and you need to believe in me, and you need to make sure that I have a proper opportunity for an education.”
When we're asking the people, why don't we lay off our committees and institutions in asking the women what they need?