“You can come in in whatever mood you’re in, and we’ll still love you,” Gillies says. “And if you flip a table, come back tomorrow and we still love you.”
Bailey Gillies, lead teacher and principal at Honouring Our Journey, is talking about the people who arrive at the New Directions program in Winnipeg for youth and adults who have experienced sexual exploitation. Some have moved through foster care and changed schools repeatedly. Some have spent years away from a classroom. Many arrive carrying experiences of education shaped by what others saw as challenges.
At Honouring Our Journey, the starting point is belonging.
Staff show participants that they are valued and that their goals matter. Education files can arrive as thick stacks of behaviour and incident reports, shaping a picture of the student around moments when something went wrong.
“We never really ever see that student,” Gillies says. “We see these resilient, creative young people who are here because they want something good for themselves.”
The harms of trafficking can extend far beyond the exploitation itself. It can disrupt formative years, limiting opportunities for education and for developing the practical skills and knowledge that many people acquire along the way. At Honouring Our Journey, that impact is reflected in the classroom: according to the program’s most recent evaluation, the average grade level among participants who have experienced sexual exploitation was Grade 8.
For many participants, moving forward from exploitation can include returning to something that was disrupted along the way: their education. The program’s two accredited classrooms — one for youth and one for adults — offer students a path toward recognized high school credits and either a high school diploma or mature student diploma. It’s a unique model in Canada, with education designed around the needs of people who have experienced sexual exploitation.
For each student, that path begins with a conversation.
“What are your goals, what feels different this time about coming to school?” Gillies asks them. The answer she hears again and again is simple: “I want to graduate. I want to get my credits.”
The route there belongs, as much as possible, to the student.
Some begin with two days a week or half days and build from there. Teachers offer different ways to engage with material and demonstrate learning. Lessons can leave the classroom altogether for land-based learning, community events and opportunities around Winnipeg.
“There’s no wrong way to do it. It’s what works for you,” Gillies says.
That flexibility also means knowing the person sitting across from you.
During lunch on the day of our interview, Mandy Bergen, manager of Honouring Our Journey, overheard Gillies and a student discover a shared interest in an author. Soon, they were trading book recommendations.
“You know, what teacher knows who your favourite author is?” Bergen asks.
For Gillies, those relationships are part of what makes teaching here so different. Before joining Honouring Our Journey, she taught at a large school, with more than 120 students across her classes. She knew their names, but wanted to know more: who they were, what mattered to them, what might make them feel that they mattered.
“I exhausted myself trying to because I care about them,” Gillies says. “I want to get to know them. I want them to feel like they matter.”
At Honouring Our Journey, each of the two classrooms has just 15 spots. That smaller setting gives teachers the space to know their students well enough to build learning around their strengths, goals and interests.
For one student, an observation about vacant 7-Eleven locations in Winnipeg became a term-long project. She imagined transforming one into a community resource centre, created a diorama, researched the services it could offer and wrote a report. Then she sent her proposal to Manitoba’s housing minister. Soon, a letter came back, thanking her for her contribution.
“She was so proud of herself,” Gillies recalls. “Every person that came in the door: ‘Do you want to see my project?’”
It’s the kind of pride that can build slowly, through moments that may look small from the outside.
“All those little moments add up to something,” Gillies says. “And then they look back and go, ‘Oh wow, look how much I’ve grown.’ They might not know it in the moment.”
Eventually, some of those moments lead to graduation.
Bergen remembers the program’s first three graduates and the celebration around them. Two had spent years away from Honouring Our Journey before returning to finish their education; another had remained connected with the program since she was a youth.
“The three women were just — it was just such a wonderful experience and celebration. And the joy and all of those wonderful — like, I’m tearing up just thinking about it.”
One graduate went on to work at an Indigenous-led organization in Winnipeg, supporting people who had experienced similar barriers. She now refers clients back to Honouring Our Journey.
“Which is the best compliment that you can get,” Gillies remarks.
The classroom is one part of a much wider circle of care. Ask Bergen what support looks like when someone first walks through the door, and her answer begins with something elemental: food.
“We feed people,” Bergen says. “Food is nurturing. Food is life. And food brings people to the table.”
Participants and staff gather around a large table for meals. Around that table is a wider network of care, much of it available within the same space. A nurse practitioner visits the program each week. Other partners bring expertise in addictions, sexual health and advocacy. Case management and other New Directions services can be just down the hall.
That proximity is part of what makes Honouring Our Journey unusual. Supports that might otherwise mean navigating separate services and appointments across the city are brought together around the people who come here.
And then there’s Auntie.
“Auntie is there to listen to you and just, you know, give you a shoulder to cry on if you need to,” Bergen says.
For participants who may have grown up without an Elder, grandmother or Auntie figure in their lives, Auntie offers a different kind of support: a trusted person who is there to listen, connect and spend time with them.
She might also take you out for ice cream.
Having all of this within reach makes support part of the fabric of the day. Someone who needs a break from class can find another trusted person nearby. A nurse who needs to share test results knows where to find someone. Participants who once arrived looking for connection begin offering it to newcomers themselves.
Gillies sees that as part of the transformation, too: people learning to advocate for themselves, support one another and recognize what they have to offer.
When they eventually leave Honouring Our Journey, she hopes they carry that recognition with them.
“I hope they know that they matter, that they have value,” Gillies says. “That they can make an impact in a positive way.”
Honouring Our Journey is a transition, healing and education program for youth, adults, and transgender people who have been exploited or trafficked through the sex trade. The program is run by New Directions, a community-based organization providing a wide range of services and supports. You can find out more about the program on New Directions’ website. You can also contact the hotline for referrals to this program or other services in your community: 1-833-900-1010.
