Beating a path to spiritual health

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This article was published 14/11/2014 (3443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jackie Jerome used to turn to alcohol when she was stressed. Now she turns to drumming.

Since 2012, Jerome has been part of Buffalo Gals, an aboriginal drumming group that meets each Tuesday evening at the North End Women’s Centre. Women gather to drum, sing and celebrate the aboriginal culture.

“You can go there in the most foul mood, but being around other women there and singing, and being in that circle, you leave just feeling good,” said Jerome, 37.

More than 50 women and girls of all ages participate in Buffalo Gals. They learn traditional songs and drumming techniques, and meet others who are on a similar spiritual path.

Many are looking for healing from domestic violence, racism, low self-esteem and substance abuse.

When she was growing up, Jerome saw her mother being abused, and she has also been a victim of domestic violence. As an adult, she turned to drinking to escape the pain.

She has now been sober for more than seven years.

In 2012, she enrolled in the North End Women’s Centre’s Red Road to Healing program, a 10-week course that equips participants with the resources they need to overcome past trauma, as well as build self-esteem and a better future.

“It’s really good because it gets people talking and sharing their stories, and you know you’re not the only one going through the difficulties and everything,” Jerome said.

She joined Buffalo Gals after completing the program, and continues to draw strength from a supportive community of women who face many of the same challenges she faces.

Jerome, who is Métis, has also learned more about her aboriginal heritage at Buffalo Gals, and she tries to pass on what she has learned to the aboriginal youth she works with at a North End group home.

“They need to have a sense of identity,” Jerome said. “They need to know who their people were and (have) a sense of pride.”

Buffalo Gals is one of a number of health and wellness programs that the North End Women’s Centre offers.

Jaki Skye, the centre’s health and wellness co-ordinator, says the goal of these programs is to help women who are struggling to learn new skills to live better lives.

The centre also aims to help aboriginal women feel proud of their heritage.

“A lot of aboriginal women aren’t connected to their culture and can be quite embarrassed by that,” Skye said. “(The centre) is a safe place for them to come and sort of put their toes in the water.”

‘You can go there in the most foul mood, but being around other women there and singing, and being in that circle, you leave just feeling good’ — Jackie Jerome, on the drumming program at the North End Women’s Centre

Cynthia Drebot, the centre’s executive director, adds that in addition to community economic development programs such as Buffalo Gals, the centre also offers counselling and addictions programs. Last year, the centre received more than 8,900 visits.

The centre receives more than $150,000, or 15 per cent of its annual budget, each year from United Way.

The United Way is a sustainable funder, Drebot explains, meaning the centre knows three years at a time it will be receiving money from the United Way. Most funding sources operate on a year-to-year basis.

“(Non-profits) need reliable, consistent and sustained funding, and the United Way is one of the few funding opportunities like that in Winnipeg,” Drebot said. “It’s huge for us.”

It’s also huge for Jerome.

“I continue to grow (from) being a part of the centre into a better person,” she said.

“It has taught me that what has happened in the past is done and not to dwell on it, but to look forward to a good future.”

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