The Penticton Ambassador Program provides participants from the two Penticton supportive housing sites with job preparedness, personal growth, and development. The program coordinates community clean-up through peer employment and funding from BC Housing. Operating four days per week, participants collect littered garbage and paraphernalia, starting in neighbourhoods near the supportive housing sites. The program fosters positive change amongst both participating individuals and the general public. For the individual participants, it develops and enhances pre-employment skills and work ethic, fosters a sense of pride and ownership, and allows for folks to once again start to feel like a member of a larger community; not someone living in the margins of it.
Do you know of areas in the Penticton community that could use a little TLC or have questions about the Ambassador Program? Contact ASKPentictonCleanup@askwellness.ca
The Peer Navigation Program is delivered by ASK Wellness Society in partnership with Urban Matters through funding from Health Canada's Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP). The program creates meaningful employment opportunities for People with Lived and Living Experience (PWLLE) while strengthening access to peer-led supports for individuals navigating substance use, recovery, and other complex life challenges.
Open to community members with lived or living experience of substance use, the program combines employment, training, and mentorship. Intensive training prepares participants for roles as Peer Navigators with the aim of exploring careers in related roles across the Social Service sector.
Each cohort begins with a comprehensive six-week training program that builds the knowledge, practical skills, and confidence required to provide effective peer support. Following training, participants receive ongoing mentorship, professional development, and supported employment opportunities within local community organizations.
Peer Navigators draw on their lived experience to provide compassionate, relationship-based support, helping individuals access housing, health care, harm reduction services, recovery support, mental health resources, cultural services, and other community programs. By building trust and reducing barriers to care, Peer Navigators help individuals connect with the services and supports they need while fostering connection and hope.
Program staff support host organizations through learning circles and collaborative capacity building. They aim to have both Peer Navigators and hosted employers feeling well supported in their roles while strengthening peer-informed service delivery across the community.
