The Facilitators

Marjorie White – Elder
Marjorie (Marge) was born in Port Alberni to the Huu-ay-aht First Nation.  Marge married in 1957 and has two daughters and four grandchildren.  In 1957 she began her volunteer work with the Coqualeetza Fellowship and was President for three terms.  The organization was the first social oriented service agency in Vancouver and one of its' goals was to establish an Indian Centre in Vancouver that would provide services and referrals to address the needs of Aboriginal people migrating to the city.  Marge worked as the Executive Director of the Centre in Vancouver and identified many gaps in services where more organizations had to be established. Over the past 50 years, Marge has volunteered her time and services to almost every Aboriginal organization in the Vancouver area, many on which she participated as a founding member. Her first passion was always with the Friendship Centre movement and she was elected to the first Executive committee of the National Association of Friendship Centres. She later founded the Pacific Association Communication in Friendship Indian Centres that was the first provincial organization for Friendship Centres.

Marge is the founding President of Allied Indian and Metis Society that opened its doors in 1970.  The organization took a name change at its 25th anniversary to Circle of Eagles Lodge Society the agency provides care and custody to Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters conditionally released into the community.  Marge has worked in many capacities in her life time first as a berry picker in her early teens, Nurses helper, Practical Nurse, Citizenship Court Judge the first Aboriginal person appointed to this position, Investigator in the Office of the Ombudsman, Airline Customer Service agent, temporary Elementary Principal, managed Urban Images for Native Indian Women, Executive Director, Vancouver Indian Centre.

Marge has spent all of her adult life in Urban Vancouver but maintains close ties with her home territory attending and participating in cultural events.  She has hosted two naming Potlatches in honour of her daughters and later for her grandchildren.  Because of the diverse cultures in the urban area she has attended cultural events in Coast Salish bighouses and through her work in Corrections learned some traditional customs from Elders from the Prairie regions.

In the fall of 2005, she retired as the Executive Director of Circle of Eagles Lodge a position she enjoyed for fifteen years.  Despite her 'retirement', Marge continues to be a very busy lady, continuing to volunteer her time on many Boards.  She is a Senator for the National Association of Friendship Centres and is honored to be a founding member of the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres Elders Council.  Her most recent appointment is to the Ministry of Child and Family Services Elder Advisory Council.

Sylvia Isaac – Counselor/Outreach Trauma Counselor and Outreach Worker Sylvia Isaac is a forty-seven year old woman from the Nak'az'dli First Nations community in Fort St. James, British Columbia. Isaac was a street kid by the age of eleven, a chronic alcoholic by the age of twelve and a severe drug addict for most of her life.

In 1998, Sylvia kicked drugs and alcohol "cold turkey" and has been clean and sober for eleven years. It was the compassion of one woman who brought her a sandwich and coffee every Saturday that started Sylvia on her remarkable road to recovery.

She continues her healing journey through her own counselling and by counselling others. Sylvia has dedicated her life to helping other women heal by sharing her story and encouraging other women to share theirs. She is a Residential School Healing Facilitator and a certified Wellness Counsellor/LifeSkills Instructor. She credits education for much of the healing that has occurred in her life and is one of the first graduates of the Humanities 101 program at the University of British Columbia. With only a Grade 3 education when she began, the UBC program changed her life. "It's where I found my voice," says Isaac. "I found that the way to healing, not only for me but for thousands like me, is education."

As part of her education, Syliva travelled across the country and to 40 U.S. states to explore why First Nation's people end up in places like Vancouver's downtown eastside. After interviewing and talking to more than five thousand people, she found that 99% came from sexually abused childhoods and says there is a link between childhood trauma and addiction.

Sylvia believes that by conquering the core of their addiction - their childhood trauma - they can conquer their addiction. The only way to do that, Sylvia contends, is to "talk about it, share it and allow people to be heard." And for Sylvia, that is what the Street Sisters project is all about - "allowing the women to talk, be heard and to heal." She is excited to be walking with the street sisters on their healing journey.

Dr. Gabor Maté
Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1944, Gabor Maté emigrated to Canada with his family in 1957. After graduating with a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and a few years as a high school English and literature teacher, he returned to school to pursue his childhood dream of being a doctor.

Dr. Maté ran a private family practice in East Vancouver for over twenty years. He was also the Medical Co-ordinator of the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital for seven years.

Currently he is the staff physician at the Portland Hotel, a residence and resource centre for the people of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Many of his patients suffer from mental illness, drug addiction and HIV, or all three.

Dr. Maté has had regular medical columns in The Vancouver Sun and the national Globe and Mail.

Widely recognized for his unique perspective on Attention Deficit Disorder, and his firmly held belief in the connection between mind and body health, he is a sought-after speaker and seminar leader on these topics.

He is the author of four books -- When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, and Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder. The third book, Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, he co-authored with developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld. Most recently published is In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction.