Built from one lesson learned the hard way

Futures in Focus began not with a grand plan, but with a question that emerged from our very first event: what happens after we screen someone?

In August 2025, we ran a pilot at the Fort McKay Teddy Bear Fair. We screened over 30 community members, children and adults, for vision problems and other health concerns. Three children needed follow-up. That success revealed our gap: we had no clear pathway to get them that care. The screen-and-leave model was not good enough.

That lesson became the foundation of everything we built after. Before our November 2025 school-based event, every volunteer completed Indigenous cultural safety training and attended a resident-led workshop. We partnered directly with the Fort McKay Wellness Centre so that all health records and referrals stayed within the community’s own infrastructure.

At the school event, we ran vision screenings for 200+ students alongside hands-on STEAM workshops covering science, technology, engineering, art, and math, designed to connect students to health, land, and culture. The energy in those classrooms is what keeps us going.