Program for Indigenous youth building ‘momentum for change’ in justice system

Kimberly Byers was prepared for a life of trouble.

By the time she was a teenager, she’d spent far too long at the local cop shop.

She’d resigned herself to her lot in life, but a fortuitous meeting changed everything.

“I thought that was going to be my life, just going to court every damn day,” Kimberly said.

It wasn’t what she wanted, but after a tough upbringing in a family that struggled to make ends meet, the young woman didn’t know what else to expect.

“We all needed money, so we went out and we did break and enters, we smashed car windows to get money,” the 22-year-old said.

“At the time, I was on drugs, smoking weed, drinking a lot, acting like a big woman when I was only a young age.”

Kimberly was dealing with her family breakdown,…