Wellness Coordinator (Lantzville)

About the Company: Orca Lelum is committed to fostering a safe and nurturing environment rooted in Indigenous ways of being. Dedicated to the well-being of youth, we empower individuals aged 12 to 18 to reclaim their strength, resilience, and cultural identity. Guided by the principle of Nutsamaat Shqwaluwun – people working together with one heart and one mind, our holistic programs prioritize substance use recovery, wellness and trauma healing. We offer medically supervised withdrawal management and residential treatment in a 10-week treatment program, aiming to instill a sense of purpose and connection that extends beyond treatment. What’s in it for you? Join us at Orca Lelum, where you not only contribute to a thriving organization but also become part of a community-driven by cultural values and a shared commitment to making a positive impact. Experience the fulfillment of working in a First Nations-led environment that values your well-being and growth. Additionally, you get: o A four-day work week for eligible employees o An excellent benefits and pension program for eligible employees; o Paid vacation days for eligible employees; o Comprehensive training provided. Job Summary: The wellness coordinator plays a pivotal role in planning, coordinating, and promoting Orca Lelum’s health and wellness programs. The wellness coordinator promotes a healthy lifestyle and provides positive encouragement to others on their wellness journey. This role involves workshop development, schedule management, program coordination, and is committed to creating positive outcomes for youth served by Orca Lelum. Job Duties and Responsibilities: 1. Holistic Care and Supervision of Young Spirits Rooted in Culture and Trauma-Informed Practice Wellness Coordinators hold the primary responsibility for providing comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally safe care and supervision to young spirits throughout their daily routines. This includes actively engaging in their daily lives and creating an environment of safety, consistency, and emotional warmth. All care and supervision practices must be aligned with: a. Orca Lelum’s Vision, Mission, and Values: Ensuring that every interaction reflects Orca Lelum’s commitment to Indigenous wellness, cultural humility, and strength-based healing. b. Orca Lelum’s Service Delivery Frameworks: Implementing the principles of trauma-informed care, Indigenous ways of knowing, and relational accountability in day-to-day interactions. c. Individual Wellness Plans of Young Spirits: Upholding and respecting the individual wellness plans crafted for each young spirit, with special attention to cultural, emotional, psychological, and physical needs. Additionally, Wellness Coordinators are expected to demonstrate initiative in problem-solving and troubleshooting emerging needs or incidents that may arise throughout the day. This includes identifying potential risks, resolving interpersonal challenges among youth, and communicating effectively with the wider care team for collaborative solutions. 2. Implementation of Wellness and Clinical Care Plans through a Culturally Attuned, Trauma-Informed Lens: Wellness Coordinators are responsible for actively implementing and supporting wellness and clinical care plans developed by the interdisciplinary care team, with a primary focus on providing relational, culturally safe, and trauma-sensitive support. This includes: a. Inviting and empowering youth to engage in programming, cultural practices, and meaningful daily routines with kindness, patience, and curiosity. b. Responding to emotional needs with co-regulation, not control, modeling emotional safety, and gently guiding youth toward their wellness goals. c. Maintaining a trauma-informed lens in every interaction—recognizing behaviors as expressions of unmet needs and responding in ways that uphold safety and reduce retraumatization. d. Using culturally relevant tools such as smudging, cedar brushing, drum songs, storytelling, and time on the land to help youth ground and reconnect with their inner strength and community. e. Fostering identity development by supporting exploration of cultural roots, spiritual beliefs, languages, and ancestral teachings. Celebrating all forms of progress, recognizing that healing is non-linear and that every step forward—no matter how small—is an act of courage and resilience 3. Role Modeling and Wellness Coordinatorship a. Positive Role Modeling: Wellness Coordinators are expected to serve as positive, consistent, and culturally grounded role models for young spirits. This includes demonstrating respectful communication, emotional regulation, cultural humility, and a wellness-centered lifestyle in all aspects of their work. b. Wellness and Personal Mentorship: Provide personalized guidance and mentorship to help youth navigate their wellness journey, develop a strong sense of self, and cultivate personal growth. Staff are encouraged to draw upon both traditional and contemporary teachings that affirm youth in their journey of healing and development. 4. Leading the Development of the Wellness Plans a. The Wellness Coordinator plays a central leadership role in designing, coordinating, and continuously evolving individualized Wellness Plans for each young spirit, ensuring that each plan reflects the youth’s unique strengths, needs, goals, and cultural identity. This responsibility requires a trauma-informed, culturally safe, and youth-centered approach, and must be rooted in deep respect for the autonomy, lived experiences, and healing journey of each young person. b. The development and implementation of these plans is grounded in an interdisciplinary framework, recognizing that healing and wellness are not the responsibility of any one discipline or department but require whole-community collaboration. The Wellness Coordinator is expected to facilitate this process by: o Empowering young spirits to actively participate in the creation and evolution of their wellness plans. This includes supporting youth in identifying their own goals for physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and cultural well-being, and ensuring that their voices guide all aspects of planning. The Wellness Coordinator must foster a sense of ownership, agency, and trust in the planning process. o Acting as the primary connector between wellness, clinical, cultural, recreational, education, and residential support teams to gather input that reflects a 360° view of each young spirit. The Wellness Coordinator ensures that all team members are aligned in their understanding of the youth’s needs, goals, and appropriate supports, and that plans are cohesive, culturally grounded, and responsive to changes over time. o Synthesizing information from therapeutic, clinical, and cultural assessments into clear, strengths-based Wellness Plans that are understandable and actionable for all staff. The coordinator ensures that all team members can see their role in supporting the youth’s healing journey, regardless of their discipline or scope of practice. o Providing ongoing support and guidance to staff to ensure they are equipped to implement the wellness plan in their daily work. This includes facilitating plan review meetings, offering targeted mentorship, and reinforcing the importance of culturally safe, trauma-informed approaches across all care settings. o Monitoring progress and emerging needs through regular check-ins, team huddles, and youth feedback. The wellness coordinator leads efforts to adjust, refine, and troubleshoot the Wellness Plans as needed—responding to shifts in emotional regulation, relationships, engagement in programming, or life circumstances. o Ensuring that each wellness plan incorporates cultural practices, teachings, and spiritual supports meaningful to the youth, especially those from Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, or Kwakwaka’wakw traditions. o Maintaining accurate, timely, and confidential documentation of the development and evolution of wellness plans. The Wellness Coordinator is responsible for ensuring all updates are clearly communicated to relevant staff, and that youth voices are documented with integrity. 5. Safety, Crisis Response, and Trauma-Informed Practice: Wellness Coordinators are responsible for upholding a protected, secure, and emotionally supportive environment for all young spirits in their care. This includes: a. Understanding and Consistently Following Safety Protocols: Staff must be thoroughly familiar with and adhere to all Orca Lelum health and safety procedures, including emergency response plans, incident reporting protocols, medication handling, suicide and self-harm precautions, evacuation protocols, and infectious disease protocols. b. Practicing Cultural Safety: All safety procedures must be implemented in a manner that honours and respects Indigenous ways of knowing, the lived experiences of young spirits, and the cultural teachings and practices of the three distinct nations served by Orca Lelum—Coast Salish, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Kwakwaka’wakw. c. Applying a Trauma-Informed Lens: Wellness Coordinators are expected to approach every situation—particularly those involving behavioral escalation, mental health crises, or reactivity—with a trauma-informed mindset. This means being aware of potential triggers, responding with empathy and de-escalation strategies, and maintaining a calm, non-judgmental, and emotionally attuned presence. d. Balancing Structure with Compassion: Safety procedures must be enforced without punitive or shaming tactics. Instead, staff will uphold expectations with relational accountability, focusing on building trust, modeling emotional regulation, and reinforcing a sense of safety and dignity for all youth. e. Ongoing Communication and Collaboration: Any safety concerns, incidents, or escalations must be promptly communicated with the appropriate supervisors, clinical leads, or care team members, ensuring that all responses are coordinated, well-documented, and aligned with each youth’s wellness plan. 6. Health and Wellness Programming and Promotion: a. Plan, develop, implement, and facilitate workshops and educational series for both staff and clients with a focus on spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental health to enhance and enrich the knowledge of both staff and youth, fostering a culture of continuous learning and personal development within the organization. b. Facilitate and coordinate wellness workshops, activities, and events, ensuring they are engaging, informative, and aligned with the overall wellness program objectives. This includes organizing sessions on physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as coordinating guest speakers and wellness experts. c. Co-ordinate and maintain a schedule for group counseling sessions and therapeutic group activities for youth. d. Efficiently manage scheduling for individual counseling sessions, ensuring organized booking of appointments. e. Plan, co-ordinate, and facilitate health, recreational, and fitness activities and programs for youth. f. Promote healthy lifestyle for staff thus modeling behaviour for youth in care. g. Keep abreast of current wellness initiatives and activities, develop a network of resources and contacts to further expand the wellness program. h. Lead special projects and initiatives as directed by the wellness lead. 7. Resource Utilization and Allocation: a. Collaborate with the management team for effective program scheduling. b. Monitor program budget and assure appropriate expenditure of funds with detailed record keeping and reporting to the wellness manager. c. Develop creative program materials, such as a newsletter to communicate clearly and effectively to staff about the various wellness opportunities. d. Manage inventory of wellness supplies and materials. 8. Track, Evaluate, and Report: a. Gather and analyze data to evaluate program success with wellness initiatives b. Compile a comprehensive report that outlines the financial impact of the wellness program. c. Track participant attendance, feedback, and individual progress towards personal goals. Additionally, create reports that can help inform program development. d. Conduct ongoing program evaluation based on feedback to further enhance programs and services by Orca Lelum. e. Publish workshop reports to the wellness manager on a monthly basis. 9. Collaborate with service partners and other professionals: a. Work with Designated Consultants and Advisors: Wellness Coordinators are expected to collaborate respectfully and professionally with any consultants, advisors, and cultural partners that Orca Lelum leadership deems necessary to uphold program integrity and enhance cultural and clinical care. This may include participating in training, circles, evaluations, or project-specific initiatives led by external experts, Elders, or researchers selected by the leadership team. b. Coordinate activities, events, and session with wellness, program, and clinical leads. c. Work in partnership with health and wellness professionals, such as dieticians, recreational therapists, physiotherapists, and psychologists when designing workshops and events and ensure effective and evidence-based programs that appeal to youth and encourage participation. d. The wellness coordinator must work with the wellness manager to design week-specific programs that can help promote the weekly program theme. e. Facilitate effective communication and coordination within the teams to troubleshoot and address matters efficiently. 10. Organizational Growth and Evolving Responsibilities a. Orca Lelum is in an exciting and transformative developmental and implementation phase. As a relatively new organization, we are actively shaping and refining our programming, service delivery models, operational systems, and cultural practices in alignment with our vision, mission, and values. This includes integrating community feedback, cultural guidance, and the lived experiences of young spirits and staff into all aspects of our work. b. As part of this dynamic process, we recognize that program components, protocols, and service delivery models will continue to evolve over time. In this context, job duties and staff responsibilities are also expected to grow, shift, and adapt to better reflect new processes, emerging best practices, and lessons learned during implementation. c. Staff members are therefore encouraged to: i. Approach change with openness, flexibility, and curiosity, understanding that adaptation is part of building a responsive, resilient organization. ii. Contribute actively to the co-creation and refinement of programs and practices, drawing on their unique expertise, lived experience, and relationship with young spirits. iii. Engage in ongoing dialogue with leadership and interdisciplinary teams to provide feedback, flag challenges, and participate in the evolution of systems and supports. iv. Embrace a growth mindset, recognizing that uncertainty and emergence are part of creating something new, and that each staff member has a vital role to play in shaping Orca Lelum’s future. d. This evolving context calls for collaborative leadership, shared accountability, and deep cultural humility, as we work together to build a model of care that is truly grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems, trauma-informed practices, and the strength and wisdom of community. 11. Perform other job-related duties as assigned. Qualifications & Requirements: o A bachelor’s degree in health promotion, sports management, recreational therapy or related field o A minimum of three years working in a wellness related field. Examples include health promotion, fitness, or a health professional (i.e. recreational therapist, physical therapy, occupational therapy). o Valid Class 5 BC Driver's License o Valid First Aid Certificate o Must consent to a criminal record check. o Good working knowledge of Coast Salish teachings is an asset. Skills & Attributes: o Strong organizational and multitasking skills. o Excellent verbal and written communication skills. o Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and other office management software. o Ability to handle various responsibilities simultaneously in a fast-paced environment. o Ability to integrate wellness and fitness program initiatives into the culture of the organization. o Ability to present self as a forward thinker, energetic, motivated, creative, organized, o relationship builder, and a leader. Job Types: Full-time, Permanent Pay: $35.08-$39.04 per hour Benefits: - On-site parking - Paid time off Flexible language requirement: - French not required Application question(s): - Are you open to working on evenings and weekends? Work Location: In person Apply on Kit Job: kitjob.ca/job/2ou1cc