NAN marks success of Choose Life program; calls for further funding

A program that supportsyouth mental health in Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities is saving lives, the organization says, and should be funded permanently.

On Friday Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), which represents 49 First Nations communities, held a virtual event and launched a video celebrating the success of the Choose Life initiative.

The program, launched in 2017, fast-tracks funding for suicide prevention and youth mental health programs.

It's making a huge difference, said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Walter Naveau.

"What the program has done is to basically give the youth, and their communities, though [the] Choose Life program a reinvigoration, a pride in themselves," he stated.

"It's one of the greatest programs I've seen so far."

Choose Life is funding programs that get young people out on the land, he explained, where they learn traditional skills and teachings, "in order to learn who they are."

It's vital that the program continue, Naveau said.

The Choose Life program is in its final year of a three-year funding extension, NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler stated in the virtual event on Friday, adding that their aim is to secure a permanent funding commitment from the federal government.

Two reports have been submitted to Indigenous Services Canada highlighting the value of the program, and recommending that it be expanded and continue long-term, NAN said in a release issued Friday.