MISSIONThe Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre is a hub of urban services, a living environment and a cultural anchor for the First Peoples, dedicated to the well-being, justice and social inclusion, it promotes harmonious coexistence in the community.
VISIONLeader of a committed indigenous civil society, the Val-d’Or Native Friendship Centre actively contributes to the social, , communal, economical and cultural development of the community through innovative and proactive strategies.
VAluesAt the Friendship Centre, programming and service provision is based on human values of commitment, respect, integrity, solidarity.
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ABORIGINAL PEOPLE IN VAL-D'OR
In Québec, over one third of Aboriginal people live in a city…
To protect their identity and preserve their culture, while developing services adapted to their many different needs and help each other face the challenges of city life, urban Aboriginal people came together and created gathering places that contribute to strengthen their identity and culture as well as their social, economical and political situation. These places are the Native Friendship Centres and they offer frontline services in urban centres. This is how the broad Native Friendship Centre movement was born in Québec and Canada. Urban Aboriginal people are beginning to invest public spaces in various ways and in several respects. The fast growing youth population is changing the cityscape. A collective Aboriginal movement is developing; a new civic identity is emerging that is neither that of the Québécois, nor that of cultural communities or Aboriginal communities. To know more about Aboriginal people in the city: The ODENA survey is aimed at drawing the first comprehensive profile of the social, economical, cultural, political and legal situation of Québec’s urban Aboriginal people. The survey’s first results, consisting in a social and economic mapping, as well as many recent publications on Aboriginal people and the city are available on the ODENA Research Alliance website. (www.odena.ca) |
OUR APPROACH
On a daily basis, the Native Friendship Centre’s team promotes a context of proximity with the community members, with a view to maintaining and strengthening its reciprocal relationships with them. Our team also promotes empowerment, which allows individuals to develop their capacities and recognise their skills, as well as a holistic approach, which allows creating a balance between the body, the soul, the spirit and the heart.
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