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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Our Guiding Principles
AGENCY Agency is a concept used in social sciences to mark the capacity of each individual or of a collectivity to act upon their own destiny, in response to social, political, economic, environmental or institutional conditions or structures that they have not necessarily determined or wanted, in a way that transforms the situation to their advantage and in keeping with their own priorities. CULTURAL SAFETY A culturally safe approach consists of creating trust with Aboriginal people. It is a result which is defined and lived by the ones receiving a service in an environment where they feel safe and secure, and where they become partners in the decision-making process. ECOSYSTEMIC APPROACH The ecosystemic approach proposes that a person not be isolated from the environment (family and community) with which this person interacts. It suggests a frame of reference that places emphasis on the positive relationships the individual maintains with his environment. SOCIAL INNOVATION Social innovation suggests a change in existing practices in ways that will produce a new and lasting response to key social issues. |
Our Key Issues
SOCIAL JUSTICE Social justice is based on the equality of rights, the promotion of just and equal relationships and the participation of all, without discrimination, to the building of an inclusive society: the right to equality, equity, egalitarian relationships, safety and stability, basic needs, communalization. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Equal opportunity means equal access to rights and opportunities, the free exercise of these rights and the full and effective contribution to society: rights and freedoms, skills development, participation and inclusion, access to services, employability. IDENTITY Pride in Aboriginal identity is based on the expression, transmission and promotion of the culture, language, heritage and history of Aboriginal Peoples, and on the commitment to reconciliation: solidarity and mutual assistance, mobilization of knowledge, regeneration and edification, healing and reparation, equality in differences. |
OUR APPROACHHOLISM
Holism is based on an integrated conception of human health that considers all the aspects of a person’s life in its global environment. It creates a balance between the four dimensions of human nature: physical (body), mental (mind), emotional (heart) and spiritual (soul), giving them equal importance. EMPOWERMENT Empowerment embodies the individual and collective power to act, and is based on participation, skills development, self-esteem, critical awareness, creation of networks and civic action. PROXIMITY Giving preference to a context of proximity with the members of the community allows to maintain and reinforce reciprocal relationships with them. Because the Native Friendship Centre is also the manifestation of a living and dynamic community. And because the members of the community bring as much to us as we bring to them when we open up to relationships. |
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