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Women of the DTES in Nature: A Simple, Yet Awesomely Moving Premise.

Squamish River by Jaime Adams To anyone reading this, trite it is to say that raw nature is part and a refined city is parcel of living in Vancouver, British Columbia, but there it is anyway because what’s seemingly more trite is to say that good thi

 Squamish River by Jaime AdamsSquamish River by Jaime Adams

To anyone reading this, trite it is to say that raw nature is part and a refined city is parcel of living in Vancouver, British Columbia, but there it is anyway because what’s seemingly more trite is to say that good things tend to be taken for granted. Unless, of course, you’re Joni Mitchell rhyming about tree museums in “Big Yellow Taxi”, in which case you tell the people, you tell ‘em good.

The role of raw nature and a refined city plays out to us laid back locals in ways quite distinct from other city-dwellers. Saturday mornings can regularly be designated for hiking up a mountain without an arduous commute to the base because inclines like Mount Seymour are a mere stone’s throw. That same day’s afternoon might then see a lunch plate crafted by a world renowned chef and eaten on a patio surrounded by mighty tall glass buildings. Follow with a lie on the beach to digest as the sun descends, taking cover behind – oh hey, there are those mountains again. Being so enveloped, it is no wonder Vancouverites lose sight of how fortunate they are to occupy some of the world’s best geography and urban space.

 Deep Cove by Jaime AdamsSquamish River by Jaime Adams

But not everyone is afforded the proximity to or the luxury of our mountains and beaches, the result of which is a much greater appreciation for them (when, in fact, they are proximate and luxurious) that the rest of us lack. Cue a non-profit outdoor recreation program by the name of Forest and the Femme (FATF) whose mission it is to narrow this divide and then some. FATF strives to provide highly marginalized women living in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) community access to nature and, by so doing, foster a sense of freedom, empowerment, and healing. After all, each of us gets precious about catching an elevated view on a crisp day or nestling our toes in the sand, not to mention the feelings that ensue of nature’s blissful perpetuity and, if quiet and introspective enough, deliverance from the raucous pandemonium of everyday life. And shouldn’t more people be able to revel in the beauty beyond their postal code? This is a question nobody is asking. Nobody, that is, except Jaime Adams, the founder of FATF, who I had a chance to be inquisitive with regarding the non-profit’s simple, yet awesomely moving premise.

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What was the inspiration behind FATF?

JA: FATF started out as a small idea in the hopes of serving as a response to a very big problem. I have been working with women in the DTES for a number of years where my job is to support them to transition out of homelessness, stabilize their health, and hopefully find permanent housing or substance treatment. However, this transition is complicated by the fact that women living in the DTES are extremely vulnerable, living with invisible developmental disabilities such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), and need a lot of support to live safely. I began to see a lot of barriers to improvement. For instance, the women often can’t get into treatment and recovery programs because of their cognitive disabilities and they don’t fit into recreational or social programs because of their substance use or the stigma of being sex workers. They are stuck in the DTES and it’s heartbreaking.

I have always loved the outdoors and know being in nature continually helps me to change the way I see myself and my place in the world. Being in the mountains is healing, it gives me courage and makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. I wanted to be able to share this experience with these women and that’s how FATF started.

Can you talk about some of the adventures you’ve gone on?

We have had so many awesome outings! Last summer we spent two days on Vancouver Island camping, watching the Perseid meteor shower at Rathtrevor Park, and checking out the Horne Lake Caves. It was really fun to be able to watch the women get into a cave for their first time. We’ve also gone horseback riding in the Squamish River Valley and at Pitt Lake (this is the ladies’ number one request). This past summer we were able to go up onto the Sea to Sky gondola, which is a really special place to take someone who has never been in the mountains.

Who comes out on these FATF adventures?

We have women from all different walks of life with a huge range of skill sets that come out with FATF on a volunteer basis. FATF is a really unique way to introduce women in the greater community to women in the DTES. We all get to know each other outside of our typical everyday social situations and come together over a campfire or a picnic to learn about one another and share life stories. We are always looking for women who can share skills or cultural activities with us in nature.

How do you decide where to go and what to do?

We like to find places that are close to the city, but feel really wild and remote. Often, the women are getting to do things that they’ve never done before. Watching them explore tidelines and find crabs and eels for the first time is eye-opening. We get to be there when they see their first river or waterfall. I feel very privileged to be with them for that.

What has been the most satisfying aspect of FATF for you?

We have seen some huge changes in the women that come out with us who, when they first start coming out with us, have a lot of fears and phobias because they are so regularly exposed to violence and trauma. Often, these women have been afraid their whole lives but FATF is there to witness them push their boundaries and then one day, they do something really brave like cross a suspension bridge when they’re afraid of heights or go sea kayaking when they’re afraid of water. That’s when we really see something shift in them. I’ve been fortunate to see participants come alive inside in a way I just know is going to be very impactful and long-lasting.

Something we hear all the time is, “Nobody is ever going to believe that I could do this!”. It’s true. Participants’ lives have been so entrenched in poverty and addictions that it seems impossible for them to ever leave the DTES, never mind do things like hike in the mountains or spy on beavers from a canoe. We take a lot of pictures and develop them. The women get to show the people they know the things that they are capable of that nobody would ever have guessed. I hear them do a lot of bragging about the stuff that they get to do with us, but every once in a while I overhear them say something really catching like a participant telling someone that FATF gives her hope. This just made my heart soar because really, that is the core of what FATF tries to do.

 Near Pitt Lake by Jaime AdamsNear Pitt Lake by Jaime Adams

We become so easily accustomed to what we do, what we have, and where we are. By taking the City’s most vulnerable and isolated beyond the streets they frequent just to survive, FATF brings the transformative nature of Vancouver’s very own nature to the fore meanwhile resolutely reminding us not to let it fade away.

Learn more at forestandthefemme.org