Nine teenagers from the Tsuut’ina First Nation are getting their first work experience in the hospitality industry this summer through an Indigenous youth program designed to spark their careers with paid internship programs.
The Indigenous Youth Success Story started when the two founders met at a Calgary art show and shared what they do for a living. One works with CAREERS: The Next Generation, an Alberta non-profit that partners with schools to connect youth with employers for paid internships. The other, a guest services manager with Grey Eagle Resort and Casino.
“This opportunity could change the trajectory of their lives. It’s been so inspiring to watch them gain confidence, learn life skills and see a future for themselves,” says co-creator of the program and Grey Eagle Resort and Casino guest services manager Colleen Waskewitch Runner.
“I tell them they should be running this place one day, and they are starting to believe it.”
Through the partnership with CAREERS, the Grey Eagle and Many Horses High School, the youth in the current program spent the summer learning valuable skills getting paid, and they also earned credits towards graduation.
Stacey Rischaug, marketing and communications director with CAREERS, says it’s all about just giving the youth a chance to get their foot in the door.
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“If you ask any successful person what got you to where you are, so many times they will point back to one time in their life where somebody just gave them a chance that opened the door for them and gave them a chance to succeed,” says Colleen Waskewitch Runner.
“It benefits the employers, and it benefits the youth in so many ways.”
The youth will rotate through several different jobs in the hospitality industry. To mitigate barriers related to transportation, education and family dynamics, the resort is providing an Elder on-site, transportation to and from work and daily meals.
The teens say the experience isn’t just about earning a paycheque for them, it’s about giving Indigenous youth living on the reserve hope for the future.
Aurora Big Plume heard about the program through her sister and has been working in the kitchen this summer – and the experience has actually made her think about going into hospitality in the future.
“I love working in the kitchen. I definitely see a future in it now,” she says, adding she is learning about food contamination, knife skills, food temperatures, managing money and more life skills.
She believes the experience saved her life and says youth living on the reserve need a reason like this to have hope for the future.
“Coming from a reservation, there’s a lot of struggles there. Having this opportunity made me turn my thinking around and made me think there is a bright future for us, and we are all supported to do this.”
Marcus Manymoons, 17, worked in guest services at the Grey Eagle through the program this summer and says it was a great opportunity to gain life skills and experience. He’s always wanted to become an engineer or physicist.
“I find it really important that we got this opportunity,” he says, adding a lot of his peers are feeling optimistic about the program.
Along with hospitality, there will be future opportunities in skilled trades, health care, agriculture and business. Those in the program must be registered in an Alberta high school.
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