In 2007, we created a community library named after the late elder and teacher Ed Martin, known affectionately as Pops. Pops was a residential school survivor, language teacher, oral historian, and lover of stories. Today, the library is a vibrant community space packed with literature of all genres with a special emphasis on Indigenous writing.

In 2020, we responded to COVID shutdowns by launching a decentralized gardening program where we delivered planters, soil, and seeds to hundreds of local households to grow a portion of their own food at home. This program continues to grow today, with 1:1 supports and gardening workshops to support knowledge sharing around local food production.

In 2021, we created a food bank with non-perishables and personal hygiene items, and a fresh hamper delivery program that now services over 300 households in our community. These zero barrier offerings are meant to feel as loving and inclusive as stepping into your grandmother’s kitchen and being generously fed and cared for.

In 2023, we began offering wellness programming that rooted meditation, yoga, affirmations, movement, and play in our language and culture. We host land-based wellness retreats and drop-in programming in the village that connects youth, families, and community members to their language and identity as part of their pathway to wellness.

In 2012, we began operating a community sawmill to mill local lumber for community building projects and create local learning opportunities. We scaled this work up in 2024 by adding a woodworking shop and carving shed where we train local youth and community members to make value-added wood products like furniture and ceremonial pieces.

In 1999, we formalized our early land-based youth programming into the Koeye River Youth Camp, settling at the mouth of the Koeye River and beginning to build the capacity and infrastructure to help that program thrive. Today, we bring hundreds of youth to live, play, and thrive on the land for 8 weeks each summer, immersed in their language and culture.

In 2002, as our Koeye Camp program grew, we worked with key partners to raise the funds to purchase a private sportfishing lodge at the mouth of Koeye Bay. We operated it as a support facility for camp and a space for multigenerational family programming until it burned down in 2011. We rebuilt and continue to utilize Koeye Lodge as a space that supports leadership and wellness.

In 2017, in the wake of the Nathan E. Stewart oil spill, we transformed a vacant lot in the centre of our village into a beautiful community garden where spill responders and community members could go to help them feel well. The La̓iás continues to be a gathering place and to provide abundance for community members.

In 2021, we created RAIN to help community members access emergency supports (like food and medicine supplies), navigate voluntary surrenders, connect to vet services outside our community, and learn about best practices animal welfare. We’ve helped to bring spay/neuter clinics into our community and support animal wellbeing in Bella Bella.

In 2012, we partnered for the first time with the Department of Geography at UVic to co-deliver a field school formally named the Indigenous Knowledge, Science & Resource Management Field School, and known affectionately as the University of Koeye. This spring offering is co-taught by Qqs Executive Director Jess Housty, and UVic’s Dr. Chris Darimont.