Cowessess First Nation to begin construction on transition home for girls in social services' care

Cowessess First Nation has begun construction on a new transition home for young girls in long term care with social services.

The Cowessess First Nation has about 4,000 band members and more than 100 youth in care.

"One of the most challenging people to be in this country is an Aboriginal," Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme told CBC Saskatchewan's Afternoon Edition on Wednesday.

Delorme said his community wants to support some of these children and help them understand who they are and where they come from.

"And to be a very proud Cowessess citizen," he said.

The home is intended for ten girls between the ages of 14 and 17. It will focus on girls who are in long-term care with the Ministry of Social Services or First Nations' child welfare agencies.

On Thursday, Cowessess will break ground on the project with a sod turning ceremony. Basement construction will begin on May 13. The purchased home is scheduled to be moved onto the site in June and girls will begin moving in on August 1, 2019.

Watching a child meet his cousin or his auntie for the first time ... it's very emotional.- Chief Cadmus Delorme

Cowessess First Nation has also created a 'Big Brother, Big Sister' position, as part of the project.

"Her mandate is to identify the children, contact them, to get better relationships with the children, with the foster families," Delorme said. "We can keep it simple and make our errors small and our successes big."

Cowessess First Nation decided to create a home specifically for girls after conducting research, including looking into Indian Child Family Services' files, Delorme said.

"It really pulls at your heartstrings, some of these stories that these youth have," Delorme said. "And even some that are aged out and are adults and they tell you the story of what they went through."

"Watching a child meet his cousin or his auntie for the first time ... it's very emotional, especially when you are very family-orientated," he said.

His goal for Cowessess children is for all of them to be completely out of care within 10 years. Instead, Cowessess prefers that children from the community, who need help, live with relatives or are adopted by another family in the community.

Delorme and his wife have raised two children who are not their biological kin but who have become family.

To play a more direct role in our youth, is a better future for everybody, Indigenous or not.- Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme

"In our kinship ways as Indigenous people, sometimes you get adopted into families as auntie and uncle but to be raised in a home that is education-focused, is culturally appropriate — that's the whole goal," he said.

Because of his personal experience, Delorme said he wants to help build stronger relationships between youth and community members.

"To play a more direct role with our youth, is a better future for everybody, Indigenous or not," Delorme said.

"We all have to take part in this role of making a better today and tomorrow for the first people — for our new Canadians and for Canadians at large."

In the end, his hope is to give every child equal opportunity.

"We want to make every one of our children walk with their chin up, their head high and to be very proud," he said. "This is just the beginning."

The Cowessess First Nation is located 137 kilometres east of Regina.