Guest Speaker Jacquie Adams

Jacquie was born on Vancouver Island and spent 5 years in residential school which was mandatory at the time.  She came from a home where she felt loved and had good support and went to a place where she was beaten and sexually abused.  She has gone through a lot of healing to be able to talk about her past.  After school she was married to someone who was physically abusive and after 10 years she left with her kids and moved to Victoria to get a post secondary education.  She realized that to stay alive she would have to quit drinking; all of her past reconcilliations with her husband had been when she was drinking.  At rehab she was taught about the effects of the residential school on her - it had squashed her spirit.  She finished her education with a degree in Social work and she is dedicated to helping aboriginal people.  She is currently the assistant Executive Director of the Aboriginal Mother Centre - located at Wall and Dundas in the Downtown Eastside.  At the center they help single parents on welfare that are very vulnerable.  The third floor has 16 suites of transformational housing for parents at risk of homlessness.  In some cases the mom needs to have housing to be able to get her kids back with her.  They teach moms how to be moms.  The center also has a full kitchen that twice a week is a food bank for the community, a day care for the community and Mamas Wall Street Studio where they sell knit bags, scarfs and other items made at the center.  Jacquie feels the most important job they do is keeping families together and teaching them their culture.