Home Visiting: Jeena’s Story

Family Spirit is a cornerstone of the Center’s work to support thriving Indigenous communities. It is a home visiting model offering 65 culturally relevant lessons for families with infants to three‑year‑olds, alongside training for a network of paraprofessionals.

For Jeena Pasacreta, a home visitor for Splatsin Tsm7aksaltn(Splatsin Teaching Centre Society) in British Columbia, Canada, the program represents far more than just a curriculum. It is a support system – one that strengthens Indigenous mothers and caregivers while helping children form early connections to traditional values, teachings and language.

Jeena’s passion for traditional medicine, language revitalization, and cultural knowledge carries into every part of her work. Since completing her training, she now serves 13 families. Her experience as a home visitor has shown her how adaptable the curriculum can be across diverse Indigenous contexts. She loves finding opportunities to weave Splatsin language teachings into her lessons. “Sq7am or milk is medicine,” she says, referring to a lesson on breastfeeding. In a separate lesson about safe sleep, she can share cultural teachings about cradleboards.

In addition to her home-visiting role, Jeena serves on SPIRIT’s Global Advisory Board, where she is recognized as an emergent leader, which makes her role especially meaningful. She brings forward the perspectives of the next generation of caregivers, cultural knowledge keepers, and hands-on experience as a home visitor.

For Jeena and many others in SPIRIT, this work is more than just a career – it is an opportunity to be a part of something larger than themselves. “Elders are getting to see their children and grandchildren dance in ribbon skirts,” she says, “without worry or fear."

To learn more about Jeena’s home visiting story, watch this short video.