Services

Big Water Society fulfills its mandate of "community wellness and healthy youth activities" in three significant ways:

• we maintain a contract with a well-qualified professional who provides counselling services to anyone in the community
• we provide a local liaison and justice worker to provide consistent court followup and support in the community
• we maintain a welcoming and safe gathering centre for teens and provide supervised youth activities

Counselling Services

Confidential, professional counselling services are available to anyone in the community of Atlin, at no charge.  For an appointment, call 250-651-2189.

Our Community Counsellor, Rick Newberry, MSW, has over 13 years experience as a psychotherapist and has a broad range of skills to bring to each client’s situation. 

Mr. Newberry’s expertise includes treating emotional, physical, sexual, and residential school trauma.  He also provides treatment for depression, anxiety, substance abuse and addictions, and abusive relationships. 

The Counsellor’s Office has recently relocated to the Taku River Tlingit Social Programs building next to the TRT band office at the south end of town. The office is the first room on the left as you enter from the East door (entrance on the Slough side of the building).  Confidential phone: 250-651-2189.

This full-time position is funded via the Northern Health Authority and complies with BC's Northern Health Authority requirements regarding service standards and professional certification.

In addition to the local full-time counselling services, NHA sponsors a professional psychiatrist's consulting visits two times during the school year. Dr. Ainsworth has many years' experience in his own private practice and is also a part of the Health Care Team at BC Children's Hospital. He is a certified Child Psychiatrist and provides consulting services via Atlin School. For more information on Dr. Ainsworth's visits to Atlin, contact the Atlin School office at 250-651-7525.

Liaison & Justice Services

We have recently added Probations Liaison/Aboriginal Justice Worker services. This contract will provide consistent local probation support and liaison with BC's Community Corrections Branch. The goal is to assist in ensuring the best achievable outcomes for both those on probation and for the health of the community. Messages for the Probations Liaison person,
Stephen Badhwar, can be left at 250-651-2460.

Youth Services

Big Water Society’s mandate includes “healthy youth activities”.  With no designated Teen activity site outside of school, this was difficult to fulfill.  In 1998, BWS began mobilizing resources to remedy this situation.  The resulting Atlin Teen Centre opened in 2003.  The 30X50 foot building includes an office, washrooms, utility room, the open Hall and storage for activity-related materials and supplies.

We are very proud of our Teen Centre Activities Program, which operated on a volunteer basis until Fall 2005.  "Teens" are youth 12-18, and the majority of activities are geared to this age group.  Although the BWS administers the building and the Program, it was only in 2005 that we were able to implement a year-round youth program.

Vancouver Foundation in 2005/2006 and BC Gaming Commission since 2006 have generously contributed funding to staff our Activities Program.  Our Activities Program Coordinators share responsibilities for indoor, outdoor, winter and summer activities and excursions. The contact number at the Teen Centre office is 250-651-2178.

We add a special thanks to the Mounted Police Fund for the new equipment grant. We plan to purchase snowshoes and archery equipment this year to enhance our program.

To create a warm and welcoming atmosphere, many items of furniture, along with games and puzzles, were donated by the community.  There are cozy couches, fragrant house plants, a fridge and stovetop for snack preparation, a music system, facilities for Movie Night, tables and chairs for conversations or meetings, and reference books.  A unique mix of donated magazines include National Geographic, Snowboarder, New Scientist, Time, outdoor-oriented articles, and teen health information.  Whether a teen is looking for quiet personal time, challenging games or exciting excursions, Atlin Teen Centre has something to offer. 

Youth activities include Cross Country skiing, Batik, clay crafts and creations, PingPong and table games, puzzles, nature walk, reading, Movie Night, Teen Dances, Cake Decoration, boating excursions, recycling bottle-drives for fundraising, bake sales, chair repair and artwork.

The Teen Centre hall is available as a rental venue for community events as well as youth activities.  Rate: $10 per hour.  Minimum-$10, Maximum per day-$80. The revenue from hall rentals is used to pay for heating, water and septic services, cleaning and maintenance.The barrier-free access ramp is now completed. We appreciate the care Bob's Contracting took to work around our Teen Program schedule and still complete the ramp in time for this year's Festival. We are very pleased to offer a space that is as convenient as possible for community meetings and events.

Big Water Society provides the space for Recycling Day. This important program accepts recycling one day a month and ships it out the next day. We are pleased to support this program, which employs several youth workers and provides valuable information about the recycling process.

Big Water Society also assists in promoting, funding and presenting an annual award for civic leadership, the Brett Milos Memorial Award.  This award includes a modest bursary and a plaque with the names of all recipients which is displayed at the Teen Centre.  The Memorial Award celebrates the life of Brett Milos, who died tragically at age 19.  He was a good friend, a good leader and model for other youth.  The award emphasizes modeling good personal standards, community spirit and civic responsibility rather than focusing only on academic achievement.  The eighth award was presented to this year's recipient on July 22, 2008 at the Atlin Teen Centre. We extend our appreciation to Mrs. Milos and the trustees for making this positive contribution to our young community leaders.

Glacier trip, June 2006. Photos by Eugene Hoyano

©2006 Big Water Societybanner photo by Diana Thayerdesigned by Aerobic Design