Bridging Our Communities

The Legacy of Hope Foundation has undertaken a study of best practices in healing and decolonization with communities engaged in addressing the legacy of residential schools. Bridging our Communities involved visiting various Aboriginal communities throughout Canada to observe and understand their promising healing practices and initiatives.  By way of a final report and other communications materials, the information gathered will be shared with those organizations interested in advancing the healing process such as Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal organizations, and policy makers. 

This project involved visiting ten programs across Canada - designed for First Nation, Inuit, and Métis peoples - at different stages of their healing journey.  These programs are based in both urban settings and on-reserve, and address the range of impacts of residential schools (language, domestic violence, family dislocation, etc.).  

The results of the site visits and a small national gathering of the participating programs mentioned above will be presented in a final bilingual report to be published and provided to Aboriginal communities, organizations, governments and policy makers interested in advancing the healing agenda. The LHF also plans to develop a community tool kit based on the project’s findings in order to provide Aboriginal communities with information on ways to enhance their programs and promote healing from the legacy of residential schools.  The tool kit will provide communities with functional methods to promote promising healing models, as well as a comprehensive listing of existing resources and programs that promote healing and address the legacy of residential schools.  Funding for this project was generously provided by Public Safety Canada and Health Canada.

 

The ten participating Bridging Our Communities initiatives are:

  1. Community Therapeutic Healing Program, Eskasoni Mental Health and Social Work Service, Eskasoni, NS;
  2. Native ALcohol and Drug Abuse Counselling Program, Wagmatcook, NS;
  3. Membertou Wellness Home, Membertou First Nation, Sydney, NS;
  4. Musqueam Language Program, Musqueam First Nation, BC;
  5. Cultural Program, Splatsin Child Care and Learning Centre, Enderby, BC;
  6. Tending the Fire Leadership Program, Prairie Spirit Connections, Inc., Regina, SK;
  7. Rankin Inlet Spousal Abuse Counselling Program, Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre, Rankin Inlet, NU;
  8. Neah Kee Papa Program, Manitoba Métis Federation, Winnipeg, MB;
  9. Family Art Therapy Program, Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, Ottawa, ON; and
  10. Youth Violence Prevention Toolkit, Native Women's Association of Canada, Ottawa, ON.