Codes 4 Life

Codes 4 Life is an Abo­rig­i­nal men’s pro­gram that seeks to address and curb unlaw­ful behav­iour stem­ming from alco­hol and sub­stance abuse, includ­ing drink dri­ving, domes­tic vio­lence, and sex­u­al assault.

The pro­gram dri­ves ref­or­ma­tion and per­son­al change by deliv­er­ing work­shops designed to recon­nect Abo­rig­i­nal men with their cul­tur­al respon­si­bil­i­ties and find strength in one’s role in their com­mu­ni­ty. Embrac­ing cul­ture helps men under­stand their place in the world and their oblig­a­tions to fam­i­ly, com­mu­ni­ty, law and country.

All work­shops are designed and facil­i­tat­ed by the Pro­gram Man­ag­er, sup­port­ed by a DKA Project Officer, and over­seen by Abo­rig­i­nal Elders or senior com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers. Codes 4 Life also works close­ly with the police and com­mu­ni­ty sup­port pro­grams to effec­tive­ly deliv­er com­pre­hen­sive programs.

Project Manager Michael Lid­dle empha­sis­es the need for the change say­ing, ​“Our hos­pi­tals are filled up; our cour­t­hous­es are filled up; our jails are filled up. The one place not being filled up is our schools. We need more police­men; we don’t need more foot­ball heroes.”

Par­tic­i­pants are often plagued with ques­tions sur­round­ing their iden­ti­ty. Codes 4 Life chan­nels uncer­tain­ty about cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty into a sense of lead­er­ship by instill­ing a sense of respon­si­bil­i­ty to cul­ture and community.

The work­shops incor­po­rate var­i­ous engage­ment meth­ods such as pre­sen­ta­tions, group talks, activ­i­ties and show­ing video clips. They cre­ate a space for Abo­rig­i­nal men to dis­cuss issues, seek advice and guid­ance, and express dif­fi­cult emo­tions with their peers in a safe, empow­er­ing setting.