SYDNEY, N.S. — The Jane Paul Resource Centre for Indigenous women has recently added a murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls prevention worker.
Kennedy Marshall is filling that role and she says she just wants to help.
“I want to be able to make a difference in my community,” said the 23-year-old.
“I always wanted to work with Indigenous people because it's at the root of who I am.”
Marshall is Mi’kmaq from Membertou First Nation and knows her focus at the centre is ending violence against Indigenous women. And part of that is creating a safe place to be vulnerable, where the women feel comfortable to ask for help and know staff members won’t gossip about them.
Marshall says the LOVE (Leave Out Violence) program provides her with that space when she needed it. When she was 14-years-old, she lost her great-grandfather, Anthony (Auwten) Marshall. He was her best friend and one of the only adults she trusted to be vulnerable with. After his death, Marshall became closed off.
One day, a friend invited her to the LOVE youth group, then run by Graham Marshall. She finally found a place she could express herself. Kennedy Marshall says she was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety at an early age and the group went a long way in helping her become healthier.
"It gave me the opportunity (to open up) and I want to do that for someone who wasn’t given that chance,” she said.
The Jane Paul Centre services vulnerable Indigenous women who may come with a variety of challenges and the centre is trying to meet those needs. Marshall is aware the people she's helping may not trust her at first but she's hoping to build that rapport. Her goals range from helping women drink more water a day to helping them find the right resources to get gainful employment.
“I just want to be able to help,” said Marshall.
She's also a student at NSCC in the therapeutic recreation program. Marshall fell in love with the field while volunteering at a senior care home. Therapeutic recreation is typically in the health-care field and Marshall said one example is a stroke victim may want to work back to using their hand again, so they start with colouring.
She wants to use that same concept by helping the women relieve some stress.
“I don’t think a lot of these women just relax and have fun," said Marshall.
She has experience in social services and worked at a group home. Marshall started Nov. 5 and hopes to teach the women to unpack all of their burdens and not to take on everyone's problems.
She’s also hoping to continue to build on the sense of community the centre brings to the women. Marshall says living off-reserve can be quite the adjustment for Indigenous people, their home communities are where their families and friends are and the women feel like they lose that sense of community.
“I want to help people become the best versions of themselves,” said Marshall.
