Phil Dames is a settler of mixed European descent, incredibly grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional unceded territory of Stz’uminus First Nation. He is the son of George and Leslie Dames, the brother to Amy and Bumper, father to Piper and Beckett , and life partner to Shannon Dames.
Professionally, Phil is a co-founder and Director of Operations at Roots to Thrive, primarily focusing on the different structures within RTT to guide and inform the operations in a good way.
Phil is passionate about men’s health and the cultivation of environments that promote emotional awareness and expression. He has a keen interest in the intersection of music and psychedelic-assisted therapies and the creation of different playlists to use during therapeutic sessions. Phil curates the playlists utilized during the different RTT medicine sessions. Nature and music tend to occupy Phil’s spare time, when it exists.
The in-person gatherings of the Roots to Thrive program take place of the ancestral and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation at the Hulit Lelum (Health Centre), and also on the homelands of the Coast Salish, Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw and Nuučaan̓ułʔatḥ (Nuu-chah-nulth) Peoples.
Integral to Roots to Thrive’s approach to healing, re-connection and remembering who we are, are these Guiding Principles. By embodying these principles we intend to honour and give thanks to the Snuneymuxw and all First Nations, the teachings they carry and lands they steward, and to join in working for Truth and Reconciliation.