Our past is our future again

Impact Report 2023

Indigenous-Led at Every Level

A majority of decisions every day at every level are made by Indigenous peoples. That is our definition of Indigenous-led, and we stick to it. 90% of staff at Tea Creek in 2023 were Indigenous people.

Being truly Indigenous-led and authentically Indigenous is part of our manifesto:

“We will always be Indigenous-led. This means Indigenous people will have the final decision-making say, and will make a majority of the decisions in the Tea Creek Model. When lacking in Indigenous leadership, we will create realistic plans to groom Indigenous people into leadership positions. This also means that Tea Creek will always be majority Indigenous staffed. This also means that we will interpret things through an Indigenous lens as much as possible.”

292 Indigenous Enrolments

From April to October, we had 292 Indigenous people enroll in our award-winning training programs. 100 people enrolled in the first 30 days! The most popular training enrollments were:

  1. Building trades such as Carpentry

  2. Growing trades such as Agriculture

  3. Nutrition and hosting training

  4. Administrative training

Enrolments continued to increase year-over-year and exceeded our projections. With the support of our funders, we were able to train significantly more people than last year. Unfortunately demand was higher than we could meet given support levels, and we ended the year with a lengthy wait-list for training and services.

Over 140 Indigenous Graduates

Our amazing team worked with over 200 trainees and over 140 graduated from at least 1 training program. We’ve come a long way since our first cohorts in 2021!

Tea Creek provided the following training programs in 2023:

  • Introduction to Carpentry, Professional Cook, Indigenous Agriculture, and Heavy Machine Operation

  • Cannabis for Medicine workshops - from growing to processing

  • “Wild Wednesdays” with Gitxsan Bushgirl Skyla Lattie - wild foods and medicine harvesting and processing every Wednesday

  • Safety Tickets such as First Aid, Food Safe, Chainsaw Safety, and Naloxone were offered multiple times over the year

  • Direct Apprenticeship programs on-site with mentorship

30,000+ Work Experience Hours

With the support of funders, especially the Province of BC through PSEFS, the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Assn (IFSA), and WorkBC we were able to hire and directly support Indigenous Apprentices and work experience trainees. Projects completed in 2023 included:

  • Five training blocks, each with multiple Indigenous-led cohorts

  • Active farming which produced tonnes of free produce for the local communities

  • A new bridge over Tea Creek (built with the support of NorthPac Forestry and the Gitsegukla Hereditary Chiefs)

  • A new traditional smokehouse, garden shed, and cabin

  • New roads and irrigation ponds

11,000+ Free Meals Served

Our kitchen staff and Apprentices were pushed to the limit in our outdoor kitchen this year, serving on average 100 hot meals per day to hungry trainees, guests, and staff. The kitchen meals were prepared with local ingredients whenever possible including vegetables from the farm and local ranched and wild meats.

A shout-out to Sodexo and their Stop Hunger campaign for contributing to our kitchen and meals this year!

93% of Indigenous youth who participated on-site reported improvements to their physical health and nutrition as a result of Tea Creek in 2023.

40,000+ Kms Driven... and More

With the support of our main funder this year, the BC Ministry of PSFS, we drove over 40,000km in 2023 to pick up trainees, bring them to Tea Creek, and bring them home. Vehicle maintenance was done on-site by apprentices.

In addition to transportation, Tea Creek provided to trainees:

  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

  • Living Allowances

  • Free meals and take-home veggies

  • Mental health supports

Over 80% of registered trainees self-disclosed at least 1 barrier to training or employment.

Free Mental Health Supports

With the support of our main funder, we were able to provide regular on-site mental health support for trainees, staff, and all participants. Support was provided by peer counselors and trained therapists. 93% of Indigenous youth self-reported mental health challenges on intake.

The result:

  • 86% of all trainees reported improvements to their mental health

  • 100% of youth (30 and under) reported improvements to their mental health

The mental health benefit and impact cannot be understated. To date, we have not lost an active client to preventable death.

As one of our graduates said: #TeaCreekSavesLives

20,000lb Grown and Given

We practice our culture in many ways at Tea Creek. One is in the giving of our food production to Indigenous families and communities. This year we:

  • Held 12 Free Farmstand Fridays

  • Distributed 20,000lb of fresh mixed vegetable produce

    • 13,000lb Potatoes

    • 6,000lb Mixed Veg

    • 2,000lb~ harvested off the fields by school groups, elders, students, and other community members

Trainees were deeply involved in the growing, washing, packing, and distribution of all the food.

In addition, we also provided free nutrition information, cooked samples, and recipes with some veggies.

1,000+ Additional Indigenous Guests

Demand is heavy for award-winning land-based, Indigenous-led, and culturally-safe programs. This year we again hosted many groups on top of our formal trainees. These groups included:

  • Classes from the local High School

  • Elementary school classes

  • College students and classes

  • Traditional groups such as chiefs and elders

  • Drop-in visitors and guests

Visiting Tea Creek is a highlight for many, and some have started to return regularly. Pre-planned visits are designed as 1-day training experiences for all guests.

BC’s First Indigenous Designated Horticulture Centre

In 2023 Tea Creek passed our final inspection and we received our Landscape Horticulture 1 designation from SkilledTrades BC. This makes Tea Creek one of a handful of Hort 1 providers in BC, the only one in the North, and the only Indigenous one in BC and possibly Canada.

SkilledTrades BC created an excellent profile on Tea Creek in 2022 that you can view by clicking here:

There are a lot more videos on our video and media pages.

Gender Balance: Bucking the Trend

Indigenous people and women are under-represented in the Trades in BC. At Tea Creek, 100% of our trainees and 90% of our leadership and staff are Indigenous. Culturally, in our languages, we did not have genders. Perhaps that is why there is a much higher participation of women in trades at Tea Creek. We are required to ask for people’s pronouns when they enrol. Here’s the breakdown:

  • 51% “he”

  • 46% “she”

  • 3% “they”

No Serious Workplace Injuries

Lets all knock on wood - because 2023 is the third year in a row where we’ve not had a single serious injury despite all the trainees, guests, and traffic on-site.

We start each and every day with a compulsory and comprehensive safety meeting. Safety orientations are mandatory for all guests, including children. Safety meetings include not only orientations but also training in the use of PPE, tools, emergency procedures, and site communication.

We take safety very seriously, and this is a cultural ethic that is strengthened in all our trainees.

Major CBC Documentary Feature

CBC green-lit a feature documentary on Tea Creek that was in filming all year. The director and producer were on-site for each season from winter to fall. The documentary is currently in editing and is anticipated to air on TV, on CBC Gem, and at film festivals in summer/ fall 2024.

The production was inspired by the Tea Creek model and they actually ran an apprenticeship program during filming, hiring aspiring local Indigenous storytellers and training them in film production.

Keep an eye on our socials for major announcements around this production in 2024!

Indigenous Direct Apprentices

Tea Creek and IFSA, through our relationship with SkilledTrades BC, sponsored a number of new Indigenous apprentices this year at Tea Creek. Apprentices were sponsored in Carpentry, Heavy Machine Operation, Professional Cook, and Automotive Mechanic, and Heavy Duty Mechanic.

We also recognized thousands of hours, helping those apprentices towards their tickets and Red Seals.

Many apprentices were bridged into trades programs and trainings with other institutions as well as employment opportunities.

Our direct apprenticeship program was one of our most popular and sought-after with our trainees.

First Nation participation from across Canada

Over 60 First Nations have reached out to Tea Creek wanting to partner and benefit from the Tea Creek Model. In 2023, Tea Creek hosted First Nations representatives from around BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario.

In 2022 and 2023, with the support of the BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAF), Tea Creek surveyed Indigenous food producers in BC. We found that Indigenous Food Sovereignty is a top priority for Nations and Indigenous people.

We also found that the top barriers to Food Sovereignty for Nations is access to land, money, and training. Tea Creek Model provides an important key for reconciliACTION.

Free Seeds Distributed

Thanks to very generous donations from West Coast Seeds and Good Earth Farms, IFSA and Tea Creek were able to distribute free seeds to Indigenous families and operations all year.

We also purchased and donated over 1,500lb of organic seed potato to Indigenous families and Food Sovereignty projects in BC.

Seed sovereignty is a key part of Indigenous Food Sovereignty. It is great to have partners who support us to restore seeds to Indigenous peoples.

Some seeds were also planted at Tea Creek in our gardens and fields, and helped feed a lot of people.

New Cabin, Toolshed, and Smokehouse

Thanks to a grant from the BC Ministry of JEDI, the REDIP grant, through the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Assn (IFSA), we were able to add new buildings to our site to support our Indigenous programs and services.

A traditional smokehouse was designed by one of our apprentices together with elders, and then was built 100% by trainees and apprentices.

A cabin was built in similar fashion over the season, with trainees having a hand in every aspect of the construction.

Tea Creek is now home to one of the nicest tool sheds you’ve ever seen - build with the support of IFSA and the Martin Family Initiative.

Revitalizing Historic Crossing

Tea Creek was a vital meeting place pre-colonization. It is a place where three different Gitxsan “grease trails” or roads met.

With the support, guidance, and blessings of chiefs, we re-built a bridge over the creek, in the location where we found evidence of the previous crossing.

Many thanks to our supports for this project: IFSA, BC Ministry of JEDI, Northpac Forestry, and Gitsegukla Hereditary Chiefs.

We are building all kinds of bridges - literal and metaphorical!

You can view a video of the bridge inauguration here:

https://www.facebook.com/teacreekfarm/videos/295221956553671

Team Work Makes the Dream Work!

Tea Creek wouldn’t succeed without community and team work. In 2023 we had 25+ staff working every day to provide transportation, meals, support trainees and apprentices, instruct multiple cohorts, repair broken things, create beautiful gardens, keep the site clean and operational, and much more.

We also had a wide range of supporters, some through our social enterprise, and others supported through our non-profit society.

Many thanks to ALL our staff, work experience, apprentices, and funders who helped deliver all the impact results you’ve seen on this page!