For more than two decades, Moses Tirqtaq called Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care home. Originally from Nunavut, he arrived in Central Ontario as a young man due to the lack of a facility in the North that could meet his needs. Now, after 23 years, he has finally returned home.
Moses’s journey back to Nunavut was anything but simple. When he arrived at Waypoint, his condition was volatile. He resided on the Awenda B unit, which provides a secure environment with high-quality programs for males with a serious mental illness, or who may be dually diagnosed with a mental illness and a developmental disability. Ongoing care and a genuine commitment from staff led to notable improvements in the last two years.
He’d been down here for half of his life. He had been doing well and had talked about wanting to go back up to where he was from.
Jason McLeod, Registered Practical Nurse with Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
One of the biggest challenges was ensuring appropriate care would be available once Moses left Waypoint. Around 18 months ago, Registered Social Worker Emily King initiated a conversation with an Ontario forensic nurse with experience in complex cases who had started a contract in Nunavut. Together, they launched discussions about a potential plan for Moses’s return.
With this new possibility, Moses’s road to reintegration began. Although his treatment remained consistent, the conversations with him changed. Staff worked to assess his readiness and ensure he still wanted to go back. As the departure date approached, they continued to support him, helping him mentally prepare for a new chapter in his life. McLeod and fellow RPN Ashley Davidson, along with Forensic Care Assistants Curtis Mason and B.J. Metzgar, were chosen to accompany him up North.
The last day we were with him, Curtis and I were doing medication administration and checking up on him. He was sad and anxious that we were leaving, so we put a plan in place to do phone calls with him. After all, he was with us for 23 years — we were his family, essentially.
Ashley Davidson, Registered Practical Nurse with Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care
Moses first stayed at the Cambridge Bay Mental Health Facility. Soon after, he moved to a transitional housing unit, where he now cooks, does laundry and takes responsibility for his medication. If he continues to improve, the next step would be a group home, either in Cambridge Bay or closer to family members in Gjoa Haven.
This is always the goal of every patient. Maybe they go to a lower-security facility or group home, but we want to have them progress to the point where they’ve moved on to be as independent as possible.
Jason McLeod
Throughout his years at Waypoint, Moses maintained a connection to his Inuit culture, supported by family visits and the centre’s Spiritual Care department. His creative spirit left a lasting mark — he was known for making origami animals for staff, and a mural in the Atrium Building was inspired by his creations.
You hear people say, ‘It couldn’t have happened to a better guy’ – And that’s true in this case.
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