Edmonton, Alta (Dec 20/04) - It's tough being away from home at Christmas and even more difficult when you're away for medical treatment. But that's the prospect facing Mary Rose Sangris of Ndilo and some other northerners in Edmonton.

Andy Stewart, Mary Rose Sangris, Joanne Kodak and her infant daughter Faith, Northerners in Edmonton for medical reasons, will spend Christmas at Larga Home. Bill Davidson (right), president of the boarding house, says it will help make Northerners feel at home during the holidays. - photo courtesy of Larga Home Ltd.

"It's very hard, because I don't have any family members here in Edmonton," Sangris says, adding this will be her first Christmas away from home.

However, while in Edmonton for treatment, she is staying at Larga Home, a boarding home that serves many northerners who are in the city for medical care.

Larga Home makes the season as festive as possible, says Bill Davidson, president of Larga Home LTD.

"It's pretty lonely for them. They have families in the North," Davidson.

"We try to keep them as happy as we can. It's doubly bad when you're sick."

Feeling at home

Sangris says she appreciates the efforts of Larga Home to create a Christmas feeling.

"I think it's very nice of them," she says. "They always go out of their way to help northerners feel at home."

Another northerner who will spend Christmas at Larga Home is Andy Stewart of Fort Good Hope.

Stewart, 64, has been in Edmonton for several weeks while being treated for cancer. He will be there until February.

This will be his first Christmas away from home.

"But it's just something I just have to bear with," he says.

Like Sangris, Stewart has no family in Edmonton, and Larga Home will be his family for Christmas.

"Larga is just about the best thing that's ever happened for northerners," he says, noting residents are well treated and many of the staff are from the North.

"We'll have a Christmas," he says. "It'll be here, not at home, that's all."

Joanne Kokak of Kugluktuk, who is in Edmonton with her infant daughter Faith, is hoping to be back home for Christmas.

If not, she says she may have a Telehealth conference on Christmas Day to see her family.

Christmas dinner

If she stays in Edmonton, she says Larga Home will make her feel at home.

"They help out a lot here," she says.

On Christmas morning, there will be gifts for all residents at the home.

"We make sure everyone gets something under the Christmas tree," Davidson says.

There will also be a full Christmas dinner, with turkey and all the trimmings.

Residents are even taken to the Christmas lights display at a city park.

Often, six to eight people from the North are at Larga Home over the Christmas season.

The home is owned by the Gwich'in Development Corporation of Inuvik, the Nunasi Corporation of Yellowknife and the Kitikmeot Development Corporation of Cambridge Bay.

It consists of two buildings close to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Residents also get treatment at other Edmonton hospitals.

Larga Home can accommodate 56 people. The stays are paid for by the NWT or Nunavut governments.