Wachiay Friendship Centre

10/06/2026

We are excited to announce our membership with the Coast Waste Management Association (CWMA) ♻

With the development of our new Environmental Program, we have been working hard to reduce our waste internally, introducing a comprehensive recycling and compost program to our Centre and finding ways to reduce all waste streams.

Being part of CWMA is a great step in being part of the incredible environmental movement happening both locally and in BC - connecting with the larger waste management industry and collaborating, learning and being part of creating best practices to manage and reduce waste here in the Comox Valley and beyond.

10/05/2026

Yesterday was Sisters in Spirit Day. Let's carry it forward. 🤍❤️

On October 4th, we honoured missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people, and held space for grieving families and for healing.

The violence Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people experience in Canada is unacceptable. Naming it is part of how we honour them, and part of how we move toward change.

If you missed the day, or marked it quietly and want to keep going, you're right on time. Remembrance doesn't belong to one date on the calendar. Here are some ways to bring it into your everyday:

- Light a candle in your home, classroom or office window, today or any evening you feel called to.
- Take a moment of silence with your team, your class or your family. Even a minute together matters.
- Write a message on a heart. Print red and white hearts, add words of strength, hope and memory for Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people, and create a display where others can see it and add their own.
- Gather in whatever way fits your community. A vigil can be a rally, a shared meal or a quiet circle. What matters is that you make the time.

Grief, justice and healing are ongoing work, and none of it is meant to be carried alone. Let's keep showing up for our sisters, today and all year long.

Sisters in Spirit. Always remembered.

10/02/2026

The learning doesn't end with September 30. 🧡

Comox Valley MIKI'SIW Métis Association has partnerd with the Comox Valley Art Gallery to celebrate Métis culture and support Métis language revitalization in the Comox Valley region. Visit their exhibition "The Words of Our Ancestors" at the Comox Valley Art Gallery. We invite you to read their post and go see it in person.

On view until November 7. Admission is free or by donation.

Take your time and let the conversation keep going.

Métis Elders, Knowledge Keepers, community, + youth create a powerful visual context for words, phrases + traditional teachings.

09/30/2026

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation invites us all to honour the survivors of residential schools and to take active part in every effort toward repair and allyship. It brings us together to hold not only the possibility of change and healing, but also the difficult truths of this territory's history.

We are here to keep gathering, to hold the grief, ideas, and the possibilities of change side by side. This work is better when we do it together.🧡

We are incredibly grateful to Comox Valley MIKI'SIW Métis Association for organizing this year's walk with such intention. It was heartwarming to see a great turnout with multigenerational voices.

The commitment is to education, reconciliation, and the desire to carry these values with us 365 days a year, hand in hand with the K'ómoks First Nation and relatives from the other 49 Nations on Vancouver Island.

09/29/2026

Our office will be closed on Wednesday, September 30th in observance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. 🧡

It is a day for reflection, learning, listening, and for reaffirming our commitment to walking together in a good way.

We will reopen on Thursday, October 1st. Thank you for your understanding.

09/29/2026

Today, on the eve of September 30, members of the K'ómoks First Nation, Comox Valley MIKI'SIW Métis Association, Wachiay Friendship Centre Society and Courtenay council raised the flag in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

This is a day to reflect on the tragic legacy of the residential school system and the ongoing impacts it continues to have on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. It is a time to remember the children who never returned home, honour Survivors and their families, and recognize the strength, resilience and contributions of Indigenous communities.

🧡 Comox Valley Spirit Walk 🧡

Everyone is welcome to participate in the Comox Valley Spirit Walk on September 30 as an act of remembrance, reflection and solidarity. The Spirit Walk begins at 10 a.m. at Lewis Park, proceeding along 5th Street, across England Avenue, down 6th Street, across Duncan Avenue, before returning down 5th Street to Lewis Park. The Comox Valley Art Council's Art Wagon will be at Lewis Park, where participants can listen to Ancestral Echoes, a series of conversations between Elders and youth from across the Valley.

Comox Valley Spirit Walk
📍 Starts at Lewis Park, Courtenay
🕙 10 a.m.
🧡 Participants are encouraged to wear orange

This free, all-ages event is organized by the Comox Valley MIKI'SIW Métis Association, Indigenous Women's Sharing Society, K'ómoks First Nation and Wachiay Friendship Centre.

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/events/1974737819878023

09/29/2026

Last Friday, the Wachiay Wellness program hosted an evening for women to craft, talk and connect in community. 🧡

We hand-sewed mini orange shirt pins to honour Every Child Matters, painted river stones with messages of hope and kindness, and shared a nacho bar. Between the crafts personal stories, we made space to listen, reflect and to prepare our hearts for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30.

Thank you to everyone who came, created and connected. Reconciliation is a journey we walk together, one conversation at a time.

To be added to the email list for more wellness events please email Christine at [email protected]

09/23/2026

We are going to miss you so much at the Wachiay Friendship Centre, Meranda F!

Thank you for all your hard work, dedication, and the amazing energy you brought to our team and community every day. While we are sad to see you go, we are so excited for everything ahead of you.

Wishing you all the very best on your next adventure!

09/17/2026

That's a wrap!

Thank you to all our community members who attended our 2026 AGM last night. We were happy to have a full house and intergenerational attendance, getting involved with the future of our Friendship Centre. 🙌🏽

We are proud of the impeccable course of the evening, first by having K’ómoks First Nation Elder and Knowledge Keeper Fernanda Pare open us up in a good way, followed by honouring past President Monica Goodheart, and wrapping up with our newly adopted, first-ever Strategic Plan and financial reports, both of which will support the intentional direction of the Centre.

A special thank you to our staff and community partners who joined us from Indigenous Education and Foundry. We also want to honour and thank Elder Wally Samuel from the BCAAFC Council for his presence and words of encouragement to keep making the Friendship Centre a welcoming space for relatives from all cultures and walks of life.

We invite all members to reach out with any follow-up questions or document requests from this night, and we look forward to another year of epic accomplishments together. 📃