Bear Clan marks 9 years of building trust

Brandon Bear Clan recently celebrated its nine-year anniversary of providing Indigenous-led community outreach to those most at risk.

The local chapter was formed in June 2017 and gathered to celebrate last week.

The volunteer-driven group has an average of 10 to 15 members who patrol the city — with a focus on parks and downtown — to restore safety, build trust and provide compassionate support in a non-judgmental way.

Cyndi Price, who has been volunteering with Brandon Bear Clan for more than seven years, says the group has made a positive difference in people’s lives by listening and showing the community that someone cares about them.

“The most important things that we built there is trust, and we’ve done that through relationships. We’ve done that with spending time listening, hugging, drying tears, laughing through some, you know, difficult times, and celebrating with them,” she said.

“We believe that meeting people where they are and how they are is our job, and it’s not our job to change it.”

Brandon Bear Clan’s role is to keep people safe by offering a community-based solution to crime prevention and act as a bridge to social services as needed, Price said.

During patrols, the group uses Indigenous teachings and community-driven principles to provide front-line supports by distributing food, clothing, blankets, hygiene kits and harm reduction and safe sex supplies.

The group also cleans up drug paraphernalia, sharp objects and responds to community concerns such as missing persons reports or transporting people to a medical facility.

“We try to be that front-line group that helps solve situations right where we are without any, you know, law enforcement intervention,” she said.

Price said volunteering has had a positive impact on her life as well.

“I actually came to Bear Clan needing some healing myself, emotionally, and I learned that there’s so much goodness out there — the people that we see, the people that we patrol with — and I see the humanity in all of our struggles and all of our trauma. I love this work,” she said.

Price said she likes knowing people’s names in the community, and that people know hers.

Patrols happen on Thursdays and Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and once per month on Sunday afternoon with a youth group, Price said. When the group isn’t patrolling on Sundays, they distribute food that’s prepared by the staff.

Volunteers typically hand out juice, water, sandwiches and other items to between 85 to 95 people on each patrol.

“Lots of our patrollers come with lived experience,” she said.

Most of the volunteers are trained in first aid, administering Narcan and suicide intervention and alertness education, Price said.

Bear Clan has evolved over the years by responding to the demands of what’s needed on the ground.

“Some days we’ll make food, which we think is enough, and there’s not enough, so we’re always changing that. We’re always asking the community what they want,” Price said.

The group was also able to secure a bus about three years ago to transport people to and from places, she said.

If the group is unable to meet someone’s needs, then they co-ordinate with other outreach groups to make that happen, Price said. Right now, Bear Clan is hearing from the community about the need for safe, affordable housing.

“A lot of the places they live in the community aren’t acceptable. No running water, no heat, no locks in the door … all the windows are broken,” she said.

Price said there’s also a need for more sustainable funding and wraparound supports in Brandon to ensure there’s no gaps in service for folks in need of help outside the regular hours of operation for most local organizations.

Paul Palidwar, who has been volunteering with Brandon Bear Clan for the past five years, said his passion for social justice influenced him to join the group.

“The people that we serve are more often than not dealing with issues of poverty, addictions and mental health, and those are complex problems,” he said.

“I don’t see our role as solving those big, broad, brush-stroke problems. I see us as being there to offer, you know, kindness, compassion.”

For some folks Bear Clan interacts with, it may be the first time they’ve been acknowledged in a way that makes them feel they belong and are treated with dignity and respect, he said. Palidwar said volunteering with the group has given him perspective, gratitude and patience.

“The problems in your own life seem often smaller after you spend two hours walking, meeting with people who have nothing, who have certainly not had the benefits of the stable, loving childhood that I had,” he said.

He encourages anyone interested in becoming a volunteer to contact the Brandon Friendship Centre.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com