Youth-led House of Hope in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., sparks healing, friendships and connection
CBC
There's a pleasant buzz of noise as youths, elders and other community members bustle around the House of Hope in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.
Some of them are baking and cooking in the kitchen. Others sew, play cards, strum guitars and chat with each other.
For Nathan Kuptana, it's a world of difference from where he was two years ago, when his father asked him to open his eyes to the damage alcohol use was doing to his life.
"Growing up, seeing alcohol and seeing what it did, I didn't like the outcome of it," he said.
He took his father's advice.
Kuptana is one of the people who helped establish the House of Hope, after four young people in Tuktoyaktuk died by suicide last year. The project grew out of an emergency meeting where youth came together with community members to talk about what should be done.
"I kind of got upset. I started crying because I was still taking it hard, because I was close to my buddy that [died by] suicide," Kuptana said.
"I told them, I don't want history to repeat itself. I want the next two generations to know what to do and I want them to have a strong mindset of what to do — not to turn towards alcohol."
The House of Hope is now a place where youth can go to hang out, laugh, heal and learn — something the community didn't have.
A new father himself, Kuptana says he hopes the House of Hope is still there when his son grows up.
"I want this to go for a while ... I want him and his friends to be hanging out at the House of Hope when they're older," he said.
CBC's Trailbreaker guest host Marc Winkler and reporter Jenna Dulewich visited Kuptana, Marcus Kimiksana and many others at Kitti Hall this week, where the House of Hope program takes place.
For Kimiksana, it's a place for youth to go — an important development in the hamlet of about 940 people, where it can sometimes be hard for youth to find something to do.
"Tonight, I'm just hanging out with people and baking, and I dunno, just spending quality time with people," Kimiksana said Tuesday.