The ribbon cutting ceremony for the Piikani Child and Family Services office in Lethbridge. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Piikani Child and Family Services celebrates grand opening of Lethbridge office

Dec 1, 2021 | 11:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Piikani community came together Wednesday morning for the ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony of the new Piikani Child and Family Services (PCFS) office.

It is located at the former Paramount theatre building in downtown Lethbridge on 4 Ave and 7 Street South.

Elder Peter Strikes With A Gun gave a blessing to the space and bestowed upon it the Blackfoot name, IItaa’stoowatsaa’tsimm’op, or “raising our children.”

Director Kelly Provost explains that they had actually opened the office last December, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, they were unable to hold an event at that time.

A PCFS office has already existed in Brocket for years, but Provost said the expansion to Lethbridge was a great opportunity to reach more youths.

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The agency puts a strong focus on Indigenous culture and heritage.

“For children in care, the most success is them learning their identity, learning where they come from, and from there, they have a foundation. From there, that’s where they can become successful and they have connections for support, they have connections to build on from whatever they’re doing.”

Provost told LNN that community members from across the region have been volunteering with PCFS, offering whatever supports they can to the youths the group works with.

Elders, such as Strikes With A Gun, serve as advisors and provide guidance.

“Kids are starting to learn about their identity, they’re learning about their family, they’re learning about cultural connections. That’s one of the positive things that we’ve seen, just in the last year, that kids have made more connections to cultural learning, understanding where they come from. The social workers, the caseworkers here have connected them to the community, so that’s one of the things that’s been really successful with this.”

When the Lethbridge location first opened, they had 16 case files. They are now up to 22.

Next year, Provost hopes to continue the PCFS expansion with a new satellite office in Calgary.