HOME - A Place For Youth to Live and Gather

08/18/2026

Why do we stand with the Edmonton community and eco the calls for no cops at Pride?

Because when violence enters our communities the police do not protect us. Instead they protect those who harm us. Three years ago when hate came to our doorstep we were told being called names is not a violation of our rights, and while we were surrounded by those screaming at us we were not allowed to move.

We stand with the Edmonton Q***r community who are constantly having their voice silenced by white q***r men in places of power and ask that these agencies listen to who they claim to serve.

If you can’t have a parade without cops? Then you don’t have a parade…and you call it a protest instead.

08/16/2026

You know what HOMES wants more than anything?

For every Two Spirit, Trans and gender-diverse person in Central Alberta to be safe, wanted and welcomed in community.

Instead, we need to talk about who keeps being left outside the circle.

For three years, we have provided free Two Spirit, Trans, Q***r and decolonization education across Central Alberta.

We have been on the front lines of harm reduction. For two years, we ran a youth program so well attended that we repeatedly outgrew the spaces available to us.

You won’t see photos of those youth online.

That’s intentional.

We don’t use young people’s faces to prove our impact. Their privacy and safety matter more than social media engagement.

And we have done this without meaningful, sustainable operational funding — relying heavily on community donations and leadership paying expenses out of pocket.

We have taught. We have fed people. We have practiced harm reduction. We have protected youth. We have built community.

And we’re still outside the circle.

When we call out racism, we’re divisive.
When we call out transphobia, we’re divisive.
When we challenge colonial systems, we’re divisive.
When we ask why Two Spirit and gender-diverse people aren’t at the table, we’re divisive.

Excluding us and then demanding our silence about that exclusion is not inclusion.

Indigenous organizations aren’t exempt from this conversation either.

Two Spirit people are not reconciliation decorations, grant language or checkboxes. We are not valuable only when our identities generate funding.

Pride organizations also need to ask how Pride can claim to represent our communities while Two Spirit, Trans and gender-diverse people are telling them they don’t feel welcome.

We have the emails.
We have the texts.
We have the DMs.

We know what has been said when we’ve asked for inclusion.

Maybe it’s time Central Alberta starts asking why.

08/15/2026

🚨 ALBERTA — KNOW WHO REPRESENTS YOU, AND KNOW WHOSE LAND THEY REPRESENT ON. 🚨

Here is the circulated list of UCP MLAs identified as supporting the Alberta Separatist Referendum Petition — their ridings and the Treaty territories those ridings are located within.

🍁 Eric Bouchard — Calgary-Lougheed
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 Scott Cyr — Bonnyville–Cold Lake–St. Paul
📍 Treaty 6 Territory

🍁 Devin Dreeshen — Innisfail–Sylvan Lake
📍 Treaty 6 Territory

🍁 Shane Getson — Lac Ste. Anne–Parkland
📍 Treaty 6 Territory

🍁 Nate Horner — Drumheller–Stettler
📍 Treaty 6 & Treaty 7 region

🍁 Grant Hunter — Taber–Warner
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 Jennifer Johnson — Lacombe–Ponoka
📍 Treaty 6 Territory

🍁 Todd Loewen — Central Peace–Notley
📍 Treaty 8 Territory

🍁 Martin Long — West Yellowhead
📍 Treaty 6 & Treaty 8 region

🍁 Ric McIver — Calgary-Hays
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 Dale Nally — Morinville–St. Albert
📍 Treaty 6 Territory

🍁 Chelsae Petrovic — Livingstone–Macleod
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 Angela Pitt — Airdrie-East
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 Joseph Schow — Cardston–Siksika
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 R.J. Sigurdson — Highwood
📍 Treaty 7 Territory

🍁 Jason Stephan — Red Deer-South
📍 Treaty 6 Territory

🍁 Justin Wright — Cypress–Medicine Hat
📍 Treaty 7 Territory, neighbouring Treaty 4 Territory

🍁 Tany Yao — Fort McMurray–Wood Buffalo
📍 Treaty 8 Territory

Nathan Cooper — formerly Olds–Didsbury–Three Hills
📍 Treaty 7 Territory
Cooper is no longer an MLA.

And there is something deeply important about discussing separation from Canada while standing on Treaty land.

These Treaties were not agreements between Alberta and First Nations.

Alberta did not sign them.

Treaties are living agreements between First Nations and the Crown. Indigenous Nations were here before Alberta existed, before its borders were drawn, and before anyone dreamed up an Alberta separatist movement.

You cannot have an honest conversation about “taking Alberta out of Canada” while pretending Treaty relationships, Indigenous sovereignty and the original peoples of these lands don’t exist.

So if one of these people represents your riding, ask them:

Do you support Alberta separating from Canada?

And then ask:

What exactly do you believe happens to the Treaties and the sovereign Indigenous Nations whose territories your constituency occupies?

Because this land did not become empty when Alberta became a province.

We are still here.
The Nations are still here.
The Treaties are still here.

Share the list.
Know your riding.
Know the Treaty territory.
Ask questions.
Demand answers.

Thanks to Lorna Thomas for circulating the original list.

08/11/2026

🪶 DECOLONIZATION MEANS INCLUDING TWO SPIRIT ELDERS.

Elder Dr. Myra Laramee.
Elder Charlotte Nolin.
Elder Albert McLeod.
Elder Barbara Bruce.
Cree-Métis Elder Richard Jenkins.
Elder Edward (Ed) Lavallee.

Know their names. Honour the knowledge they carry.

Two Spirit people existed before Canada, the Indian Act, residential schools, and the colonial gender binary.

Colonization tried to erase our roles, teachings, ceremonies, and place within our Nations.

It did not succeed.

Our Elders are living knowledge.

So when a day or gathering is specifically dedicated to Two Spirit people, Two Spirit Elders should not be an afterthought.

Who plans it matters.
Who is consulted matters.
Who leads ceremony matters.
Who is welcomed into the circle matters.
And who does not feel safe entering that circle matters.

We also need to talk about white Q***r-led agencies creating Two Spirit spaces.

If those agencies include people who have caused harm to Two Spirit community members without accountability or repair, we need to ask:

Who is that ceremony actually safe for?

A smudge, fire, drum, or land acknowledgement does not automatically make a space culturally safe.

If people who have experienced harm cannot safely enter the circle because those who harmed them are welcomed without accountability, that ceremony is not safe for them.

Putting 2S first in an acronym is not decolonization.

Inviting Two Spirit people after decisions have been made is not decolonization.

Speaking for us is not decolonization.

And reconciliation without accountability is performance.

Invite Two Spirit Elders from the beginning.
Listen to them.
Respect protocol.
Pay them for their knowledge.
Address harm before asking people to share a circle.

If the day is dedicated to Two Spirit people, Two Spirit people and our Elders belong at its centre.

Nothing about us without us.

***r

08/11/2026

08/06/2026

🚨 Attention Edmonton! 🚨

A community member is looking to hire a part-time Support Worker, with an anticipated start date sometime in September.

Hours:
• Flexible schedule
• Ideally 5 hours per day, 1–2 weekdays during daytime hours

Duties include:
✨ Light cleaning assistance
🚗 Driving to and from appointments
💙 Providing companionship
♿ Pushing/lifting a portable wheelchair
🎨 Attending social and leisure activities together
🧠 Providing support related to disability and mental health needs

Pay: $20/hour, paid on their regular payday (four business days before the end of each month).

Experience supporting disabled people and/or individuals with mental health challenges is an asset, but it is not required. Compassion, reliability, and a willingness to learn are just as important.

There is potential for additional hours in the future.

If you’re interested, please contact them directly:

📧 [email protected]
📱 Text: 780-604-2247

Please share this post to help us connect this community member with the right person. 💙

08/06/2026

Thank you Community!

08/05/2026

Update to our last post