.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

BEAUFORT DELTA - Alfred Moses believes your home is where your heart is.

For the newly appointed regional youth and volunteer officer for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs - home is in the Beaufort-Delta.

Back after a five-year absence, Alfred Moses will be working as the regional youth and volunteer officer for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs in the Beaufort-Delta Region. - Andrew Livingstone/NNSL

Moses sits in his office at the MACA building in Inuvik, crammed behind his desk, empty metal bookshelves waiting to be filled. In the position for only three weeks, the former Inuvik town councillor and community health representative for the town of Inuvik, said it has been a whirlwind so far.

"It's great to be back here," he said, moving from a job in health and wellness at the Diavik mine site. "It's a total lifestyle change for me. I was stuck in a rut, two weeks on and then two weeks off. You know where your heart is and where you feel like you need to be and where I need to be is in the communities developing health and wellness programs."

Moses' background is in kinesiology, working in health and wellness for over eight years now. Working as the health rep for Inuvik, he said the most effective work he did was with the youth

"You saw them doing more exercise, participating in more events," he said, adding he didn't give up on the adults.

"In terms of educating and getting the point across we focused on youth, with the hopes that in the years to come we'll create a new generation of healthy adults. It brings a more healthy community."

A sense of pride spills from Moses. The passion in his voice and the excitement when he talks about providing healthy opportunities for youth in the Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu regions speaks to his dedication to giving back to the communities that have given to him.

"I'm from the Delta, I know how people grew up," he said. "I always have a passion for looking at the kids and youth and the lifestyles therein and the way they grow. I want them to be exposed to those types of positive things that I was exposed to and got me to where I am today. It's about giving back.

"I really care for people at the grassroots and taking care of themselves and educating on healthy lifestyle choices."

The first three weeks has been busy for Moses. Meetings, workshops and familiarizing himself with MACA policies and the programs he will be delivering, Moses isn't worried about the challenges that he may face in the future. He said with strong support from within the department and a solid corps of passionate people, they will be able to overcome any obstacles.

"The main thing is getting youth involved, giving them opportunities to participate in recreation, sport, culture, tradition, art, music, any kind of programs people in the community see fit," he said. "We're going to work hard to get these programs off and running in the communities."

Moses said they are going to look at pushing the funding programs they have available into the schools. He said a lot of people are unaware of what they have to offer and it's important to be seen and heard.

"Some of the programs we have got allocated more spending dollars and people don't really know that so we want to get that out so people know there is money available for programs," he said.

"We're looking at a regional youth conference as well, something that hasn't been done in a while.

"Once I get my foot in the door I'll start running with it and I think you'll start to see some great things coming out of the Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu regions."