Nicole Semenoff, President, Board of Directors, Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services, and Ross Chilton, CLBC CEO, sign a formal Collaboration Agreement.
Kamloops-area Métis adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities will have enhanced access to culturally-safe support and community inclusion directly from Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services (LMOFCS) as a result of today’s signing of a formal Collaboration Agreement with Community Living BC (CLBC).
LMOFCS will develop and oversee community inclusion and related programs for eligible individuals who are part of the community and will collaborate with CLBC facilitators and other staff on referrals and supports as needed.
“This agreement marks a significant step forward in affirming LMOFCS’s right to support Métis adults in ways that are culturally safe, respectful, and grounded in community,” said Colleen Lucier, Executive Director of LMOFCS. “It also reinforces our role as a Government Agency—not a service provider—reflecting our responsibility to govern and advocate for our people. As we expand our support for adults, we are also strengthening the bridge for Métis youth transitioning into adulthood, ensuring continuity of care and connection.”
(left to right) Shane Simpson, CLBC Board Chair, Grant Huffman, CLBC Regional Director, Colleen Lucier, LMOFCS Executive Director, and Ross Chilton, CLBC CEO with a Métis sash presented to CLBC by LMOFCS.
LMOFCS is a not-for-profit delegated Métis child and family services agency that provides a wide range of culturally safe and trauma-informed services to the Métis population residing in the unceded Tk’emlups te Secwépemc territory. LMOFCS also created and operates Kikékyelc: A Place of Belonging, a unique, fully-supported housing development that is home to Indigenous youth, including those supported by Community Living BC, who have had experience in the child welfare system.
Recognition of Indigenous community rights was an important part of the agreement signed between the Secwépemc Child & Family Services Agency and CLBC in September 2023. This initial agreement between a First Nation-based organization and CLBC was the first to support community inclusion programs for members of the seven Indigenous bands of nations of the Secwépemc Nation.
“Collaborating with Indigenous partners through agreements like these to implement culturally safe and respectful relationships is part of our evolution as an agency that supports British Columbia’s diverse populations in their home communities,” said Ross Chilton, CEO of CLBC.
“I want to thank our Indigenous Relations Team, our Indigenous Advisory Committee, including Elders, for their thoughtful guidance and hard work in building and sustaining practical, meaningful relationships.”
Shane Simpson, CLBC Board Chair, and Nicole Semenoff, President, LMOFCS Board of Directors, display a shawl CLBC’s Indigenous Advisory Committee logo.
The formal Collaboration Agreement with Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services is not time-limited and will be reviewed by both LMOFCS and CLBC leadership annually to ensure collaboration, roles and funding agreements are effective and appropriate. The contract value of today’s agreement is expected to grow as more eligible adults in the region choose to access services through LMOFCS.
“We all want people to get the care they need in their own home communities, supported and surrounded by their cultural teachings,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, “And today’s agreement makes that possible. This agreement between Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services and Community Living BC is the first of its kind in B.C., for Metis adults with developmental disabilities.”
LIi Michif Otipemisiwak Family and Community Services has worked with CLBC in the past to provide programs for eligible individuals in their community.
Read this backgrounder to learn more.
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Contacts:
- Colleen Lucier, Executive Director, LMOFCS, 250-554-9486
- Patricia Hall, CLBC Manager, Communications, 604-833-8444