DRYDEN – Recovery Day is coming back to the region this month to spark conversation in healing and recovery as the Empower 2 Recover Foundation stops in Dryden, Kenora and Fort Frances.
Travelling across Canada each year since 2022, Empower 2 Recover puts on live trauma, mental health and addiction recovery events, each featuring local speakers with lived-experiences.
Having just held an event on Aug. 29 in Thunder Bay, the next stop is in Dryden on Sept. 11 at the Dryden Regional Training and Cultural Centre.
After that, the foundation will head over to Kenora on Sept. 19 at the Seven Generations Education Institute, and Fort Frances on Sept. 23 at La Place Rendez-Vous.
“We’ve got to have lived experience and living experiences at the forefront of that because we truly know what individuals need, because we understand,” said foundation executive director Jay Barnard.
Empower 2 Recover’s events have had speakers who have survived PTSD, sex trafficking, alcohol and drug use, anxiety and depression, cancer, grief, and a loved one’s suicide or overdose, he explained.
Dryden’s event will have magician Tyler Biloski as the keynote speaker, as well as Jody Loos from Howl at the Moon and Rae Mosher, Winter Lapish, and Sue Vaccher.
For the Kenora and Fort Frances events, the keynote speaker will be Indigenous hip-hop artist Biz Niko.
In Kenora, attendees will also hear from Chief of the Ojibway of Onigaming Jeffrey Copenace, as well as Becky Shorrock, and Salvator Traina.
In Fort Frances, Samantha Boy Kabatay, Chelsea Susan, and Matt Doran will accompany Biz Niko.
“I think the way to shine hope is to really shine the hope that’s in your community,” said Barnard.
Empower 2 Recover has held events in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, and next year will also begin holding events in Prince Edward Island.
The tickets for each event are pay-what-you-can and have a light breakfast and a catered lunch. Barnard added that they give any extra funds back to local organizations with a similar cause.
“When I moved back home (to Kenora) in 2015 I was like, wow there really is a lack of resources for all kinds of individuals, or there are long waitlists, or you can’t talk to anybody, you kind of get direction but there’s no real direction,” said Barnard.
He added that along with a lack of resources, there is often only focus on services like treatment, hospitalization or therapy, when there are alternative ways to heal like sweat lodges, animal, light or water therapy, and active lifestyle and nutrition.
“We’re just really trying to bring the community together because that’s where it starts, and then it’s the communication and then the collaboration,” he said.
“So, if we’re able to do that then we’re able to show hope, and if we’re able to do that then we’re able to show people that they can get the help they need.”
Tickets and more information can be found on their website.
