From Bracebridge Examiner

Aboriginal women helpline celebrates one year

TALK4HEALING -Mary Ann Lachnette, Jennifer Wright, and Bonnie Wilson celebrate during the launch of Talk4Healing last year

By Laura Finney - Nov 7, 2013

MUSKOKA - For aboriginal women living in remote communities, seeking help can be a difficult thing.

But now, there is a phone help line called Talk4Healing that is designed for aboriginal women.

"Simply put, we help women and their families who need support," said Robin Haliuk, a Talk4Healing co-ordinator.

It's been a year since Talk4Healing took its first call, and it has since helped over 1,500 people.

"It's exciting to be part of such a new project and to see it at the one year anniversary is really exciting and I think we're just going to get bigger and better," said Haliuk.

She said the help line is about helping aboriginal women, and making services accessible to native women, especially those living in remote or isolated areas.

So far, she said the response has been good.

"The women who are using the services are thankful for it. We get a lot of people who are repeat callers, so people using the services are finding it helpful and calling back," she said.

Trained female aboriginal counsellors, who Haliuk said understand the issues, and can provide support in a non-judgmental way, answer the calls.

"We typically hear a great sense of relief when our callers realize they are talking to an aboriginal woman," she said. "For some women it's being able to tell their story in their language, it's being able to be culturally responsive."

The non-judgmental atmosphere is important. Haliuk said some native women might be hesitant to ask for help in their community because they can feel judged.

"There is judgement often when aboriginal women are seeking services, and seeking support," explained Haliuk. "I can't say that it's across the board, but it does happen."

She said callers talk about a variety of topics, including parenting problems, addiction issues, and lateral violence.

"Often it's emotional support, women calling to talk about what's going on in their life," she explained, but said sometimes things are more serious like violence against women.

"We might need to do some safety planning or talk to them about available resources for them in their communities, or even outside their communities," she said and added they have had to call police.

There are other advantages of using aboriginal women for the call centre, such as an understanding of culture.

"As we have been taught through our traditional teachings, the medicine wheel provides powerful guidance in the four key areas: spiritual, emotional, physical and mental," Haliuk said. "Talk4Healing follows in the traditional footsteps of our grandmothers and grandfathers by incorporating these teachings into our services."

The help line is run out of Beendigen Inc., a native healing agency in Thunder Bay, in partnership with the Ontario Native Women's Association and is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Community Social Services, who began the project after doing consultations in the area a few years ago.

"It came from the community speaking out and saying we need some services, we need some assistance, we need help for our women," said Haliuk.

And it's not just women with problems who call. Haliuk said concerned family members have called looking for guidance, and a few men have reached out as well.

"We have had male callers looking for services, and we do our best to try and connect them to resources within their community or within the area," she said.

The call centre's service area reaches all of northern Ontario, starting in Muskoka and stretching all the way to the Manitoba border.

It runs 24 hours, seven days a week and services are offered in English, Ojibway, Oji-Cree and Cree.

Haliuk said it has been exciting and humbling, being a part of the project.

"When you get stressed and overwhelmed, you take a call and you see that you're making progress or you're assisting someone, it reminds you why you do what you do," she said.

Along with the call centre, Talk4Healing also offers counselling and telephone appointments can be booked in advance.

For more information about Talk4Healing, visit talk4healing.com or call 1-855-554-HEAL (4325).