COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
From Country and Connection to Reconciliation
Work2Give participants build gifts by hand for First Nations communities — from tiny houses to ceremonial hand drums.
If you want to know how Work2Give changes men’s lives, one participant believes it can’t be fully appreciated. That is, unless you’ve been an inmate trying to right past wrongs. But we'll try to do the work justice - because what is achieved through Work2Give makes authentic reconciliation possible. And thanks to your support, it’s funded by Movember.
WHAT IS WORK 2 GIVE?
Work2Give helps put incarcerated Indigenous men on the path to rehabilitation and reintegration back into their respective communities. It’s a program delivered in partnership with the Correctional Service of Canada and True North Aid. And its unique strength comes from the knowledge and guidance, and cultural grounding, of Indigenous communities and Elders involved.
For the participants, taking part offers a chance to give back to communities they feel they’ve taken from. Within the Work2Give program, participants are taught carpentry skills and craftsmanship to build items requested by First Nation communities which are presented as gifts. Essentials such as tiny houses, bunkies, dog kennels, ceremonial hand drums, floating docks and more items, all made to be passed down. Elders also instill traditional ways of knowing and being, in the men.
And what comes back to the men is life-changing: purpose, self-respect, and the start of a reciprocal cycle which sets the table for deeper connection to community, healing, identity and belonging; not to mention firmer ground for relationships to be rebuilt. Work2Give staff even say men who go through their program have a different look in their eyes – with hurt, pain and struggle replaced with pride, joy and inspiration.
WATCH THE VIDEO
See it for yourself. For everyone “on the outside”, it may be the closest thing to fully understanding and appreciating the impact of Work2Give and its life-changing work.
