Christopher Merasty founded Men of the North in January 2020. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

anniversary

Men of the North celebrates five years of supporting, engaging northerners

Jan 7, 2025 | 1:03 PM

January is an important month for Men of the North in 2025. The organization that provides opportunities that help men seek positive mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing is marking it’s five-year anniversary.

Founder Christopher Merasty didn’t expect the program to grow how it has when he launched Men of the North in 2020 just months before the COVID pandemic. He thought it would lead to one or two workshops and that would be it.

“It was very challenging, especially with the career I had working at the mine site for two weeks and then coming home and continuing to expand and engage with the program,” Merasty explained.

“It’s evolved more into a holistic program more than anything and providing more services and supports and giving young men and men opportunities to engage into these other areas, so that way they can find their potential and help them grow, as well as providing that sense of purpose and belonging.”

In 2023, Men of the North secured a $820,000 three-year grant from Northpine Foundation that has made a significant impact for the organization. It has enabled Merasty to move into a full-time paid position as the group’s the director, the hiring of additional staff and the opportunity for the program to rent office and facilitation space in La Ronge.

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The Northpine Foundation is a private family foundation which focuses on investing in underserved and underinvested communities across Canada. Merasty noted the grant has also given Men of the North leverage when it comes to seeking additional funds.

Men of the North has provided a variety of cultural programs such as a drumming group. (Submitted photo/Christopher Merasty)

Awareness campaigns have been an important part of the men’s group. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

For instance, Men of the North is working to finalize a three-year grant through Indigenous Services Canada that will go towards land-based cultural teachings. The organization also recently received a $25,000 Telus grant that will help pay for mental health workshops, administration, program development and promotion.

“[The Northpine grant] hasn’t just let us grow in operational and staffing areas, it’s also helped us to secure additional funding and resources so that way we can continue our services and supports in the tri-community, and also expanding into more and more communities,” Merasty said.

When it was first launched, Men of the North started out by providing weekly meetings to assist men with self-reflection, mental health, and providing them with a sense of purpose and responsibility. It has since expanded to offer a number of other services such as a Youth Mentorship Program in the summer months, the Haunted Trail near Halloween, sweat lodge ceremonies, sacred fires, community smudge campaigns, the annual Polar Bear Plunge, as well as community and land-based teachings and practices.

Men of the North has also been able to form partnerships with communities, businesses and organizations. For instance, the group recently partnered with the Lac La Ronge Indian Band to host the New Year’s Eve celebration at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre.

Merasty believes Men of the North has a bright future ahead of it. In the next 15 months, he expects to expand into other communities such as Beauval, Buffalo Narrows, Cumberland House Cree Nation and Flying Dust First Nation.

“A lot of communities and people are taking notice of the good work we have been doing in La Ronge and they are reaching out to us to see how we can expand our programs and services into their community,” he said.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com