Group wants to add Shiatsu, Reiki and Yoga
Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 21/01) - A trio of Yellowknife entrepreneurs have joined forces to offer assistance at home and at the office.
Terry Garchinski, Greg Krivda and Elaine Woodward each own a third of Life Works Counselling and Workplace Services.
Last December, Garchinski, a social worker, Krivda, who has worked with youth at risk, and Woodward, who focuses on human resource development through her company Wordcrafting Services, decided they should combine their skills under the Life Works banner. Life Works was started in 1994 by Garchinski.
"We help individuals and families grow; Elaine helps organizations and communities grow," Garchinski said.
"There are those that are high-risk or with special needs. There are also those who are doing well and want to get better," he said.
Woodward, through Wordcrafting Services, has worked with a long list of government and community groups.
A former manager of human resource planning with the GNWT's Financial Management Board Secretariat and the NWT Housing Corp., Woodward assisted with the development of the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association.
Life Works' programs range from one-on-one counselling to workshops for whole communities. Life Works is 100 per cent Northern owned and 67 per cent aboriginal owned.
The business also has what is likely a first in Yellowknife; a ceremony room where groups can meet in a circle and participate in traditional activities like the smudging of sweetgrass.
Krivda recalled a group who recently came to the Life Works office for the first time. He said the group, once in the office, were "drawn" to the ceremony room.
Among the services the business hopes to add are shiatsu (a Japanese therapy in which pressure is applied with the fingers or palms), reiki (a healing technique which channels energy into a patient by means of touch), as well as meditation and yoga. Life Works is also considering adding a psychologist.
"One of the things I bring is street experience," Krivda adds.
Krivda's childhood includes living in foster and group homes and juvenile lockup. He said because he has been there, he is able to connect with youth on the street.
"A lot of people ask me what worked (for him). I say somebody positive in my life, somebody genuine."
Garchinski said he too has personal experiences that give him insight into the problems faced by others. Garchinski said he has been a street musician, homeless in New York, Washington and Toronto, was a personal aid to someone with cerebral palsy, and a university graduate.
"All this helped me to understand the human struggle. Especially with institutional abuse, which has a lot of parallels to being homeless," he said.
