CRUW (CAI Funded Project) from SPARC BC on Vimeo.

The Culturally Relevant Urban Wellness (CRUW) program targets Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth at risk, and seeks to empower these youth through strength-based programming grounded in both evidence-based research and the wisdom and lived experience of Aboriginal elders and knowledge keepers.  The program has received funding through both the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at Earth Institute, Columbia University, and through the Province of British Columbia’s Community Action Initiative (CAI).  CRUW also receives contributions, in kind, from VACFSS, IAH and PCRS and has been developed through a partnership between Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS), the UBC Institute for Aboriginal Health (IAH), and Pacific Community Resources Society (PCRS). 

The CRUW program provides youth ages 12-15 with the opportunity to engage in 16 sessions in the IAH’s Teaching and Research Garden at the UBC farm.  Sessions occur every second Saturday from late March to late October, annually.  Across this eight-month timespan, each cohort has the opportunity to witness and engage with the garden throughout its entire annual growth cycle.  CRUW youth manage plots inside the garden, as well as engaging in a variety of activities with program elders and personnel around a youth driven curriculum addressing the four program objectives.   CRUW program objectives include: (1) historical knowledge; (2) Holistic Wellness (with an emphasis on healthy life transitions and the prevention/reduction of substance misuse); (3) Emotional and Cultural Competence (with an emphasis on reducing discrimination and promoting cross-cultural respect among diverse youth); and (4) mentorship (with an emphasis on youth empowerment and peer support towards the development of skills for collaboration and conflict resolution).

Please address any inquiries regarding CRUW to Jeff Schiffer, VACFSS Special Projects Officer, at jeff_schiffer@vacfss.com.