Dani-Anne Levevre

Individual Sponorship Program - Denturist Technology Diploma Graduate

Dani-Anne Lefevre became a Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI) Training & Employment client in 2019. After completing her GED at the Institute’s Testing Center, Dani-Anne became familiar with many of the services GDI provides students. Once accepted into the Mental Health & Wellness diploma program at the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology (SIIT) in Saskatoon, she reached out to GDI for financial assistance.

After being connected with employment counsellor Randi Ross, Dani-Anne accessed the Individual Sponsorship Program. This program helped her pay for tuition, books, and a bus pass. She also received additional support through the COVID-19 Post-Secondary Relief Benefit. “Knowing that I had sponsorship through GDI took away that insecurity of finances and helped me focus on my education. I am now the top of my class, and that is an important goal for me,” explained Dani-Anne.

Dani-Anne believes that being able to connect on a cultural level with an organization is very important. She enjoys that Métis people are guiding other Métis people through leadership at GDI, and specifically credits her employment counsellor Randi for her leadership and support. “Randi was an absolutely amazing support, and we clicked the first time I came in to meet with her. At the time, I was on disability, battling with mental illness, and not too confident in pursuing education. It was a big transition for me to decide to go to school, and Randi completely supported me. She was very understanding, and this helped us build a great rapport,” said Dani-Anne.

Last month, Dani-Anne graduated from the Mental Health and Wellness Diploma program. She is currently working full-time for EGADZ as an Outreach worker for the summer. EGADZ is a non-profit organization known as the Saskatoon Downtown Youth Centre Inc. As an Outreach Worker with the street crew, Dani-Anne provides services to vulnerable people on the streets, mainly in the core area of Downtown Saskatoon. Services change every day but typically include providing emergency food packs, formula and diaper packages, hygiene products, transport to appointments, transport to shelters, and generally being there for the community in any way needed.

In the fall, Dani-Anne begins her Indigenous Social Work degree at the First Nations University of Canada. Her future goals are to have a career in a rural harm reduction setting. “I am passionate about the de-stigmatization of substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, the effects of intergenerational trauma, and helping Indigenous youth and community have access to resources they need to support harm reduction,” stated Dani-Anne.

Dani-Anne’s advice to others pursuing a similar education path is “Constantly communicate. Be honest, be open, and be willing to put in the work. I want to congratulate anyone pursuing the field of Mental Health and Wellness; this is a very hard program. A lot of us, including myself, have struggled with substance abuse ourselves. So being in this program is hard but so worth it. Making the move to any post-secondary is a very big thing; it’s worth celebrating!”

 

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