b"ROLE MODELBRE AKING THE CYCLEof By Matthew Bradford VIOLENCEAs the Executive Director of Beendigen Inc., an Indigenous womens shelter, Debra Vermette has helped countless Indigenous women rebuild their lives, heal, and move forwardF or over 15 years, DebraDebra Vermette (centre) celebrating Beendigen's 40th anniversaryoperator. In 1978, she started work at a localThose first days were a bit overwhelming, Vermette has dedicatedgrain elevator and then spent the next eightshe recounts. I had grown up hearing her time and expertise toyears rising through the ranks to becomeabout domestic violence and had lived it supporting Indigenousthe first female production supervisor.to some extent as a child, but up until then women and children impacted by violence.it was something that I had put aside, as As the Executive Director of BeendigenHowever, in 1990, Vermette recognized themost people do. Walking into that shelter, Inc., she and her team help families accessneed to rethink her original trades-orientedthough, I very quickly saw how domestic the crisis home, resources, and services theycareer path. I realized I wasnt going to beviolence had grown and the many barriers need to heal and live a life without violence. getting any further in the job because it wasthese women had to overcome just to exist. very male-oriented, and I had gone as farI realized that this wasnt like working in Through her hard work and resolve,as a woman was going to go, she recounts.business or finance, where things were Vermette has enlarged the scope of servicesSo, in 1990, I decided to quit and go toblack and white. This was a world of greys, Beendigen is able to offer women whenLakehead University to get both a businessstrong emotions, ethical challenges, and eye-they are at their most vulnerable. It isdegree and an honours in Psychology.opening lived experiences.no exaggeration to say the growth of the organization, with Vermette at its helm, hasThose first few years were tough, Vermette made a profound difference in the lives ofNEW CAREER says, but the womens stories inspired her to hundreds of Indigenous families.Shortly after graduating, a friend suggesteddo everything she could to help Beendigen Vermette apply her talents to Beendigen, angrow. Beendigen was small and grassroots Surprisingly, working in social services wasIndigenous womens shelter in Thunder Bayat the time I started. It had a very small but not part of Vermettes original planfaroperated by the Anishinabe Womens Crisishard-working management team that was from it. A member of the Wahpeton DakotaHome & Family Healing Agency. Seeing anready to burst at the seams, she says. Nation, she moved from Prince Albert,opportunity to make a difference, Vermette Saskatchewan to Thunder Bay at the ageagreed and took her first job with the organ- Recognizing this, Vermette saw an oppor-of 23 to become a licensed dump truckization as a relief resident worker in 2005. tunity to restructure and enhance operations 48Fall/Winter 2021"