“Fall down 7 times, get up 8”

This has been William’s motto over the past year as he worked hard to pull himself out of his current lifestyle.

William grew up in Île-à-la-Crosse with his father who showed him the importance of having a strong work ethic, getting a good education and the traditional teachings and lifestyle of the land. From a young age, William started working and making a plan for his life to work in the mines on heavy equipment to utilize the skills his dad had taught him.

Sadly, William witnessed 7 of his siblings, who grew up in the city, struggle with substance uses and have severe health concerns as a result. Although he pushed himself to see his strengths through these trying times and to stay on a positive path, things changed direction. William was laid off from work, and a plan to take 3 months off, ended up being 3 years and incarceration. He lost the things that were important to him, his family and having a career.

William did not like where his life was headed. After he was released from jail he was determined to make a new path for himself, which is when he started coming to CNAW and working with Miali.  He was looking for support with his resume, and updating previous safety tickets to get back into underground mining. 

William would access the resource room frequently to search and apply for jobs. What he found was the personal encouragement he received was of equal value to the employment support. “Miali has been a huge help, she is always there even if it is just to chat. She always tells me how good I am doing. When you are actually trying to help yourself, it is a really good feeling when someone recognizes that and shares that with you.”

William was proud when he landed his dream job of working in the mines. He would recommend job seekers looking for work to get support from CNAW. “If it wasn’t for the program I probably wouldn’t be in this situation I am right now. Quint was very helpful. Still to this day I can’t thank them enough.”

William is continuing to make positive strides. He is happy to have his boys back in his custody and to have built a strong relationship with them. As a single father, he wants to be a good role model and show them the importance of working hard, and that if you put your mind to it and work hard, anything is possible.