Nekinan Home for Aboriginal Youth

Nekinan Home for Aboriginal Youth believes that there is a strong need for our community to provide unique home environments for our Aboriginal youth.

Nekinan Home, predominantly staffed by Aboriginal people, is a home in which our young people have an opportunity to pursue their future in a supportive and culturally appropriate environment.

Our purpose is to provide culturally appropriate, community based programs that offer substitute care and group living to Aboriginal children from 12 to 18 years of age who are in the care of the Director of Child and Family Services. These young people will be from Indian, Metis and Inuit backgrounds.

Our program is child centred, community based and focuses on the four areas of the medicine wheel: Emotional, Mental, Physical and Spiritual. The medicine wheel is used in the Aboriginal community to promote wellness, a holistic balance and healthy living. The wheel has no beginning, no end, and is always in motion to meet the changing needs of each individual.

Nekinan Home is managed by Kiseniw Asini Napesis (Old Man Rock Boy), a community based Aboriginal organization designed to meet the needs and requests of the Native community. The basis from which the organization operates is that, with people of Aboriginal descent and formal educational backgrounds in the social sciences, we have an understanding of the traditions and customs of First Nations people and the professional approaches to help them regain power, strength and health. With this knowledge base we can offer services that are culturally appropriate, respectful to the individual’s own traditions and customs, and designed to empower people to restore the honour of the ancestors and relearn to take care of themselves. Kiseniw Asini Napesis adheres to the philosophy that the cultural component is important to managing a native person’s needs and can help them feel comfortable and establish trust. We have a strong commitment to promoting wellness, self-reliance and independence in the Aboriginal community. In addition, we are dedicated to assisting people in bridging the gap between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities.