stsailes.com/ccp Sherylynn: Ey Swayel, my name is Sherylynn. Ne’omot is my traditional name. I’m a huge CCP fan! So this week I’m at my very own comic con! Kandice: Hi everyone, my name is Kandice Charlie, I am the Sts’ailes CCP Coordinator, and this is a story about the Sts’ailes CCP - a journey that began for us over two years ago.

“The Beating Heart” Harrison Lake Sts’ailes Chilliwack Sherylynn: The Sts’ailes name refers to the “beating heart” and it comes from an ancient story about a battle between an Indian Doctor and Xa:ls – the Great Transformer who walked this earth in the distant past to make things right. The Doctor was defeated and Xa:ls ripped his heart out and threw it downriver; where it landed is our current village of Sts’ailes. Sts’ailes Harrison Hot Springs Chilliwack

ONE HEART, ONE MIND, ONE SPIRIT Sherylynn: We have overcome so many hardships, but we have survived. It is our time to thrive as letsemot which means one heart, one mind, and one spirit. This doesn’t necessarily mean we are all the same. We are all unique, and have different skills. When we acknowledge and utilize each other’s gifts we are truly letsemot.

Kandice: Our CCP journey started off with the capacity within our own community. Our people have the heart, the passion and commitment to blaze trails to create community driven planning. The Mentorship program is a good example of nation building. We were fortunate to have a mentor Anona of Penticton Indian Band. It proves that we can do this with and for each other!

Kandice: Buuuuuttt, we must admit, there were DEFINITELY times where things were hard. We cried and felt like screaming and we were wondering how the heck are we going to do this?!?!

Sherylynn: Well, it turns out we didn’t have to do it alone. Everyone has a voice and everyone has a choice. CCP opened the doors for us to come together, take off our hats, and have meaningful conversations.

Kan: It was important to create an open, accessible and welcoming space. A key message from the 2014 CCP workshop became our mantra: What time we start is when we were meant to start. Whoever shows up was meant to be there. Whatever the outcome is, it is meant to be. And later, an elder reminded us and said, “Well, yeah, that’s called Indian Time”

Sherylynn: Even our future leaders had something to say. For instance, when asked what would they like to see in Sts’ailes, one said to turn off all the lights for an hour a day to conserve energy Others said more supervision at the hall to prevent bullying, while others just want to see a deer or a sasquatch. Also, the community learned about CCP from their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews through a video that they created.

Selfie Kandice: And as a result, after some major engagement and planning, we accomplished our first living CCP document. Whoop whoop!

Council Member Kandice: But of course that was just the beginning – now the real work starts. We are currently developing an implementation strategy document. As part of this strategy Chief & Council and Management spent time prioritizing goals and objectives from the CCP and incorporated them into five-year workplans. We are exploring more ideas to keep our CCP alive. Council Member

Sherylynn: Some of our achievements thus far include: School playground expansion Youth council More housing options And Dogwood diploma at our community school But a really cool example is the story of one of our managers that attended CCP and learned from the people that the daycare caps out at 5 years, and the school program starts at 7 years, meaning there was a gap in services for our 6 year olds. So she created a 7 & under summer program. And it was hit!

Kan: And we’re just getting started. There are more places and programs that will be impacted by CCP. Some of our main goals include: Community playground with an outdoor covered picnic area A Composting & recycling program Covered bus stops Adequate speed bumps Better community signs Hall renovations And community language programs

Sherylynn: But our biggest dream is to have a centre for our entire community – a place for our youth and elders, a turf field and track for our canoe pullers and soccer players. We want a community gathering place that will actually fit our growing population. We dream of a multi-purpose centre that we can take pride in.

Kandice: With that being said there’s an open road for endless possibilities and many opportunities to come!

Sc We will do what our elders always knew and what CCP taught us: kan Xwelam te letsemot Sts’ailes - one heart, one mind, one spirit, we are Sts’ailes. Kwashoy!

stsailes.com/ccp End.