Supporting Haíɫzaqv Youth,

Culture, Community, & Environment

Híỷaú - Hello & Welcome!

We are Qqs Projects Society, a Heiltsuk charitable organization located in Bella Bella, BC - the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. Since our inception in 1999, we create opportunities for our youth and families to thrive both in our community and on the land. Our programs span the social, cultural, and natural values and customs that have strengthened our people since the time of Creation.

OUR MISSION

Qqs’ work is uplifting Heiltsuk youth, community, culture, and environment in order to create a strong and vibrant future for our Nation.

OUR VISION

We want to witness a community that is supported to thrive and be well, birthing new generations of Heiltsuk leaders who are committed to the resurgence of our culture and to sustainable relationships with our lands and waters. We help to realize this vision through community-led work in sectors like education, health, stewardship, food sovereignty, poverty reduction, and leadership capacity building.

OUR VALUES

Qqs is a values-based organization. And our team, alongside our chosen partners, shares a common commitment to realizing these values both in our actions as individuals and in our work together.

We are guided by and pursue our work based on the following principles:

  • We value our youth. We believe that strong families and a healthy community are key to ensuring that generations of emerging leaders have the freedom to thrive.

  • We value our culture. We believe in the strength of our Heiltsuk culture and traditions and are committed to culture and language resurgence that transcends generations.

  • We value our environment. We believe that the health of our land and waters is deeply tied to the health of our people, and that we have a responsibility to steward our homelands in the way our ancestors did before us.

  • We value our Heiltsuk laws and customs that govern who we are, how we act, and how we speak.

  • We value education and learning as a tool to help our Nation to build itself into a healthy, strong, and vibrant people.

  • We value respect for one another, our non-human kin, our environment, and our partners and allies.