According to the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada, right now there are approximately 63,000 Canadian children living in permanent care with foster families, extended families, or in group homes. Across the country, 235,000 children and youth have been identified as having experienced or being at risk of experiencing abuse and neglect. These children and youths often experience difficulties gaining access to adequate education opportunities, especially when it comes to post-secondary education. For every 1,000 youths in Canadian foster care, only eight graduate with post-secondary education.

In response to the growing number of foster children and youth in care that struggle to afford post-secondary studies, Storwell has developed the Storwell Foster Children Bursary Program. Storwell’s bursary program has helped numerous students across Canada achieve their educational goals. The aim of the Storwell Foster Children Bursary Program is to provide foster children with resources and opportunities that might be otherwise unavailable to them. With the proper tools, these students can work towards building a better life for themselves through the pursuit of higher education.

Storwell offers an annual bursary of $2,000 to help foster children attend post-secondary schools and to offer a hand-up as they make their way forward in life. Eligibility requirements and access to the application form can be found at: https://www.storwell.com/bursary-applicationn

May 10^th is Bear Witness Day and is Spirit Bear’s birthday. It is an important date for Jordan’s Principle at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

Jordan’s Principle is a child first principle and legal rule named in memory of Jordan River Anderson. It ensures First Nations children receive the services and supports they need when they need them.

For more information and learn about Jordan’s Principle visit http://www.jordansprinciple.ca/

#JordansPrinciple #BearWitnessDay

September 30^th, Orange Shirt Day and now National Truth and Reconciliation Day, is a day to honour the journey of those who survived and did not survive the Residential school system, to take the time to hear and acknowledge the truth and take action to ensure the past is never repeated. The spirit of this day, and the space held to hear the truth and engage in acts of reconciliation should continue past the 30^th of September and into each day of our lives.  Healing is a lifelong journey. Hulitan is honoring this journey through a collection of clothing that can be worn year-round to promote conversation and raise awareness of truth and reconciliation.  We truly believe that every child matters every day…

This line of SWAG was created to support equal access to Mental Health Services for those Indigenous people who do not otherwise qualify for support (non-status, Metis etc).  All profits from the sale of the collection will be held in account that will support adults in need a counselling/cultural healing that do not qualify for programs established by the government.

Maxwxeadziy-Geo Shaughnessy created and gifted the  logo pictured above to us.

“The design is of an Eagle that has transformed over time after the residential schools were closed and we have started the process of reclaiming our lives, language and culture. I created this design for my mother Freda Shaughnessy (nee Coon) who was taken from her home and placed in St. Michael’s residential school in Alert Bay BC.  She walked the halls at residential school past her three brothers and one sister and didn’t know they were her siblings. St Michael’s residential in Alert Bay was run by the Anglican Church and the purpose of the school was to assimilate, destroy and take over the resources from First Nations in Canada.”

Hulitan is truly honored to receive this gift and pay it forward.  You can purchase the collection or donate at www.hulitan-s

wag.myshopify.com

Truth and Reconciliation is a shared journey for Indigenous and Nonindigenous people, although the path is different.  For Indigenous people, reconciliation has occurred since colonization began.  Indigenous people have had to reconcile their loss of connection to their land, to their songs and dance, and to their language.  Indigenous people have endured horrific atrocities that are hard to recover from.  Many Indigenous people will take their trauma and shame to their graves, leaving their families with many questions.  Reconciliation with Indigenous people begins when the truth is fully understood and honoured.

For nonindigenous people it is a journey of understanding and experiencing the discomfort of the truth, acknowledging privilege, and listening to and honouring the stories of the First people. Honour Indigenous people’s truth by researching their history, especially the Indigenous people’s land whom you live, work, and play on. Other ways you can engage in Truth and Reconciliation is through Indigenous movies that speak to the Residential school experience, such as, Indian Horse, or We Were Children.  There are also many books that speak to Indigenous people’s stories from their time at Residential School.  Donations to not-for-profit organizations that support healing for Indigenous families is another way to engage in Truth and Reconciliation.  Truth and Reconciliation is a lifelong journey that can occur with the support from all people.

If you want to learn more please visit the following websites for more information.

https://next150.indianhorse.ca/

https://nctr.ca/records/reports/

https://www.firstvoices.com/

https://native-land.ca/

https://circlesforreconciliation.ca/

Good afternoon,

We have been open to the public for two weeks now.  It is a shift with all the precautions in place, but we are getting used to the one way hallways.  We have been supporting the Urban Indigenous community with food hampers and gift cards at this time we have 174 families enrolled.  We would like to thank the Victoria Foundation for the grant we received in order to provide such an amazing program. IF you have not applied yet please CLICK HERE to be taken to our application page. 

Good afternoon,

Thought an update on our COVID Support Program was due. We currently have 160 families in our program. This works out to supporting over 1000 elders, adults and children. We still have families applying to the program and there are approximately 10 on our “waitlist”. We are very grateful to have received funding in order to support the families at this time. #VictoriaFoundation