Residents from all over the city helped WACA celebrate their grand opening Monday evening. 

Board members, WACA representatives and supporters of the local group came out for the ceremony at their new location on the 400 block of Athabasca Street East. The Wakamow Aboriginal Community Association (WACA) will be sharing their new office space with the Wandering Market, who they hope to have an ever growing relationship with.

Currently, members are working on short-term goals of getting settled, but they hope to be working on future projects soon that could mean an expansion of not only their space in the building but also what supports they provide to residents.

"I had people to stop by and say 'hey, who are you' because of course, they see Wakamow Aboriginal (in the window). Our people are looking for services, they're looking for places to go," explained Lori Deets, Chair of WACA. "We want to run a full-time center, almost like a friendship center, but for people to come, to help them with their resumes, just to come have a cup of coffee and bowl of soup is a really big thing for us."

Deets also noted that it's not just about giving residents and community members a safe place to go they also want to create more learning and awareness as well. 

"Something that we're in the midst of trying to gather funding for is to get all of our board members and anyone interested in training for crisis trauma, residential school training, the effects of residential school training, cultural sensitivity for others organizations. There's a lot of healing that needs to be done."

One of the many supporters in attendance who also has a long-standing relationship with WACA was Tony Baldwin Director of Education with the Prairie South School Division. Baldwin along with everyone else introduced themselves, listened to Elder Archie Weenie, and some were even able to smudge.

"The smudge is something that I don't get to do on a daily basis, I learn more watching people do that and participating in that every time. It wasn't until I came to Moose Jaw that I really had any connection with that kind of ceremony," said Baldwin.

Attendees were able to explore the space, enjoy bannock burgers, and chat with members of WACA following the grand opening.