Jean and I simply received again from Italy. Sure Italy. Jean accepted an award on behalf of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Basis (AIWF) of which she is a board member. And naturally, I tagged alongside … as eye sweet. Eschia (take it simple eh!)
And no, it’s not true that we got here again talking Italian!!! Hahahahahh.
As lots of you recognize, the wellness basis is a Yellowknife-based Indigenous group. It was fashioned to assist revive northern conventional therapeutic companies and practices, to supply cultural programming, and to advertise Indigenous well being and wellness.
AIWF at the moment operates an on-the-land therapeutic camp simply south of the Fieldhouse on the Kam Lake Highway. Earlier than the lockdown, the camp supplied breakfast, counselling, help with sobriety, and culturally related actions equivalent to sweats and neighborhood feasts. Woohoo.
The Wellness Basis can also be concerned in revitalizing conventional medication, researching Indigenous healthcare supply, and conventional medication and meals gardening.
The therapeutic camp works primarily with residential college survivors and descendants of survivors. Most individuals attend the camp as a result of they select to, a number of go as a result of the court docket says they need to, and about ten % are referred from different applications.
AIWF wished to open the camp near Stanton hospital on land designated for its future constructing however bumped into allow issues as a consequence of questions of safety associated to the situation, so that they opened it subsequent to the Fieldhouse.
In 2018, The Arctic Indigenous Wellness Basis was awarded a $1 million-dollar Arctic Inspiration Prize to assist them proceed their programming with weak populations, such because the homeless. Great things, AIWG.
The present prize is a serious worldwide award for the design of their future Indigenous Wellness Centre. The design was acknowledged by the Holcim Basis for Sustainable Development, a world group that promotes sustainable development globally.
AIWF obtained $50,000 for the Silver prize within the North America area from greater than 250 entries. The constructing’s design happened by visioning periods held in 2018 and 2019 with NWT Indigenous youth, Elders, well being professionals, and well being system stakeholders. Proper on.
Jean accepted the prize on behalf of AIWF Board together with Mason White, the architect who co-designed the constructing. Mason additionally teaches structure on the College of Toronto, and he inspired me to cheer and take footage so I wouldn’t really feel disregarded. LOL.
What now?
After successful the Holcim Prize, the AIWF group says it’s much more motivated to construct its stand‐alone constructing near Stanton Hospital, from which it is going to assist revive northern conventional and Indigenous‐primarily based therapeutic companies and practices. Effectively yaaaaaaaa.
Constructing its personal constructing shouldn’t be a simple endeavor for a non-profit group. It took the Tree of Peace a decade to construct and open its new constructing in 2004, and we received its first funding as a friendship heart within the Nineteen Seventies.
AIWF is a company for all northern Indigenous folks, which implies all main Territorial and Nationwide Indigenous organizations ought to assist the group and its mission to construct an Indigenous wellness heart. Yay group.
Domestically, I’m assuming they’ll kind a constructing or fund-raising committee that consists of the chief director, a number of folks from the Board, and different people who find themselves acquainted with fundraising.
It will in all probability be clever to designate somebody because the constructing committee’s lead individual to push issues alongside, whereas permitting the chief director to focus on his common duties of operating applications and discovering funds for the present and new applications.
Fundraising would require sending a sequence of proposals to a number of funding sources and following up on all of them. So, AIWF may even need to rent a proposal author, as a substitute of counting on volunteers who’re already busy in their very own jobs.
The GNWT and federal authorities ought to admire this centre as will probably be doing work that they need to be doing, and apparently the GNWT has already promised land close to the Stanton Hospital. Three cheers for the GNWT.
I’m certain each governments would even be comfortable to supply some constructing and operational funding.
The Metropolis of Yellowknife also needs to be welcoming this enterprise with open arms, because the land-based therapeutic camp is already serving to with Yellowknife’s homeless scenario. Working out of a brand new constructing would permit AIWF to supply different associated applications.
I might assume that needs to be an incredible incentive for the Metropolis to assist AIWF cope with allowing and different native points. Go Metropolis, go.
C’mon all people, let’s all get behind this nice imaginative and prescient of a “Northern therapeutic place that’s culturally rooted, Indigenous‐led, and targeted on supporting people who want it most.”
Congratulations to the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Basis on receiving this prestigious worldwide prize.
