Harm Reduction and Sexual Health Team
Harm Reduction and Sexual Health offers a safe space for people wanting confidential counseling, supplies, testing and treatment for safer substance use and sexual health. Our professional nursing staff and counselors are available to discuss your concerns and answer any questions.
Learn a little bit about the team – Heather, Heidi, Heila, Charlotte and Camille – below, why they do what they do and the program and services offered.
Heather Benoit, Nurse Practitioner
Heather is started at Stoney Health early in 2022 and is the only nurse practitioner on staff. In addition, to her work here in Mînî Thnî, she also travels to Big Horn Reserve once a week to support that community.
Born and raised in Newfoundland and a member of the Qalipu First Nation, Heather has worked as a nurse practitioner for several Indigenous communities on the Prairies before coming to Stoney Health.
She's motivated to learn and evolve as a nurse and continually finds ways to step outside her comfort zone. Working in harm reduction is a new area for her so she's excited by the challenges and opportunities that it will provide
Interests? Like many on her team, she loves hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, paddleboarding, biking and camping along with her husband and favourite puppy. Fun fact: she has an identical twin sister who lives in Newfoundland and claims her career story could be titled, "Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable: A nursing saga."
Heila Lukas, Harm Reduction Nurse
Heila has worked in many areas of nursing throughout her career, including palliative care, at a remand centre and even as an instructor at two Calgary-area universities. Fun fact, her first passion was farming and she worked in agriculture/research with farm animals, mice and sustainable farming methods.
Every area of nursing offers its benefits in Heila's opinion. As a community health nurse, she values working with clients in their own environment, getting to know and work with them to set goals and priorities for their everyday life. There is no one size fits all approach in her mind; you learn to adapt and be creative to suit the person.
As a harm reduction nurse and working with Stoney Nakoda people, she truly values when clients begin to trust the health system again and start to seek ways to improve their own health and wellness.
Heila rarely sits still as many co-workers notice her boundless energy. She's a mom to three teen girls, two cats and a dog. She counts hiking, biking, camping, paddling, skating or gardening among her many activities. If it's outdoors and adventure-filled, that's where you'll find Heila outside of work. If she's forced to stay indoors, however, you'll find her catching the latest true crime podcast or playing Sudoku.
Heidi Metz, Harm Reduction Nurse
Heidi has worked as a licensed practical nurse for 20+ years. She worked in rural health care in Saskatchewan before trying her hand at - and finding her true passion - in mental health and addictions care in small communities where she's able to engage and follow-up with her clients.
Cue, her chapter with Stoney Health Services. She appreciates the community feel on the reserve and the ability to practice her passion as one of the driving forces to come and work here. Feeling now like this could be a forever job. In particular, she appreciates the Stoney Nation's willingness and ability to allow her to be a part of their daily routine, stopping into say hi or asking questions always makes it a better day for her.
With a love of travel, road tripping, camping, hiking and snowboarding, she keeps active and on the go with her two kids. She's revered for her cookies and her ability to ask, 'Where is the Bathroom?' in four languages, no less. Her career story can be summed up by the title, "Nursing: A comedy in the making. The collections of a rural nurse."
Charlotte Sison, Crisis Intervention Social Worker
Charlotte and her family immigrated to Calgary from the Philippines when she was a kid. Now she resides in a small town outside of Calgary with her husband, cat and dog and commutes daily to Mînî Thnî.
After spending a few years in Fort McMurray, Charlotte was looking to transition to a new role that would elevate her career and bring her closer to her home and family in Calgary. She found that she had enjoyed both working in a rural area and her experiences working with Indigenous Peoples but wanted to build her skills working in the health/medical field. Timing was everything, when she noticed an opening for a social worker with Stoney Health. She jumped at the chance as she felt it was a perfect fit for her next work adventure.
Working in harm reduction enables her to work alongside community members, while focusing and learning more about addictions, a new area for her to explore in her career. The fast-paced environment and one-on-one work also appeal to her.
She appreciates how welcoming the Stoney People are, and their willingness to share their culture and teach the ways of their people, which she feels help her in establishing trust and respect with her clients. She feels that she's already learned a lot, especially when it comes to participating in pipe ceremonies and sitting downs with Elders who share their stories.
In her personal time, Charlotte considers working out and cleaning as her main forms of self-care. Family is everything to her and she spends as much of her free time with them as she can. She's also a road tripper and enjoys hitting the foodie hotspots when she's in the city.
Camille Wendell, Sexual Health Nurse
Camille (or Cami) is a single mom to three kids - two boys and a girl - and her youngest son was born with Down Syndrome.
Approaching her 30th year as a nurse, Cami's career began at a pediatric hospital in Texas and then she moved back home to Calgary to complete her nursing degree. She then worked in rural nursing in Three Hills and Banff before joining Stoney Health Centre to take on a position that provided more stable working hours that could accommodate her family life.
While at Stoney Health, she's worked in a few different departments as a community health nurse - the Well-Baby Clinic, clinic nurse and then had the opportunity to go full time with the Sexual Health program. She loves her role; the autonomy it provides and the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Simms and their shared commitment to screen, find and treat Hepatitis C.
Outside of work, her family keeps her hopping. Commenting on her lengthy career, she notes, "If I could write about my career the title would be...”I blinked and it was 30 years later”. She continues to love being a nurse, noting, "...to this day I still get excited when I say I am a Registered Nurse. It has been an amazing career."
