(Photo courtesy Indigenous Recovery Coach Program - Aapai'tsi'taappii'saam on Facebook)

By Justin Goulet

New leader for Indigenous Recovery Coach Program hoping to make a difference

May 23, 2021 | 8:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Indigenous Recovery Coach Program (IRC) has a new leader.

Germain Wells joins the fold of the IRC as its program director after completing her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Lethbridge and her Master of Education in Indigenous Land Based Knowledge at the University of Saskatchewan.

The IRC is set up to help Indigenous people recover from addiction.

Wells said that, “our program is specifically designed for the Indigenous population, taking into account cultural components – our staff is 100 per cent Indigenous.”

“We take our clients through coaching of every stage of recovery. We monitor, we network, advocate, liaison right through the entire process.”

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

She noted that the IRC’s focus is recovery, not harm reduction.

On joining the fold as the new program director, Wells, who is from the Blood Tribe, said she’s “super excited.”

“I believe in the work. I’ve been affected personally, with friends and family being from the Blood Tribe. Working with the program really comes from working from the heart, so it’s been really great.”

The IRC’s offices are based out of Lethbridge, at 1206 6 Avenue S.

Wells noted that she “started working in the building we run out of with HIV Connection back in 2013, I believe, and I was the only Indigenous liaison working at the time.”

In her new position, she’s actually the first Indigenous person to take on the program director role with the IRC, which she called “amazing.”

“I remember in 2013 when I worked under HIV Connection, I really felt like I wanted to make a difference in policy, in procedures and really focus around the Indigenous community as we are so affected and I actually went back to school to get my Masters and it’s just so full circle coming back to the program.”

The IRC is in its fourth year of a federally-funded pilot project, which is supported by Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIP) – designed to assist First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples in transitioning to urban centres with unique supports.

Well added that she is excited to start recovery-focused partnerships on the Blood Tribe, while teaming with the Opioid Task Force. She said the work with the task force is especially important, considering the issues surrounding opioid overdoses on the Blood Tribe.

READ MORE: Blood Tribe raises alarm on overdose deaths

“The connections are being made…they’re [Opioid Task Force] just as excited as I am and we are actually hitting the ground running to partner up with the programming they have going on there and then to help them when the clients transition from urban to back on to the Reserve, because it’s such a close proximity and that’s where we’re losing touch with clients when they go for services and they’re losing touch when they come back for recovery – back into the city.”

You can find out more about the IRC by visiting its Facebook page or its website.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.