b'VICTIM SERVICES AWARD OF DISTINCTIONFor me, there is a specific connection being an Indigenous womanpart of my role and responsibility is to take up opportunity to create safe spaces for Indigenous women as a whole. This past year in 2021-2022 we helped 221 Indigenous women exit human traffickingCheryl Bagnall, ONWABagnall helped the community services program to pivot during the COVID-19CONGRATULATIONS pandemic. It needed to come up with a response on how to coordinate and deliver services, and Bagnall and her teamto ONWA on 50+ years!developed a centralized intake department. There is one provincial support number toOAHS is proud to be ONWAs premier Indigenous Housing call to reach intake workers who will helppartner.We serve the housing needs of Indigenous assess needs and effectively support with immediate services, short or long-term casewomen, their families, and many people across Ontario.management, or service referrals, she says. We pivoted to the needs of the community and adapted our services to ensure the need was filled.The introduction of a single provincial support number helped to eliminate waitlists and ensured continued access to services during the pandemic. As well, ONWA has 10 program delivery sites with the capacity to deliver programming to an additional 11Telephone: 1-866-391-1061 @OntarioAboriginalHousingprogram sites throughout chapters. Alongwww.OntarioAboriginalHousing.ca @OAHSSCwith the program sites, ONWA is also now looking at a day treatment model for services at some locations.The focus is you dont have to leave your family or your home to receive services. The day treatment model removes a barrier. It provides an opportunityjgferris1959@gmail.comif you need services but may have children or extended family living with you, or you dont want to leave your support system, Bagnall says. An important future consideration is healing, which ONWA will continue to make a priority in terms of access to having Indigenous practices, interventions and ther-apies. A centralized intake system combined with new models such as Day Treatment will allow Bagnall and her team at ONWA to continue providing services virtually and in-person to meet the needs of Indigenous women and their families.Ed-Digenous Traditions creates Indigenous Learning Kits for Looking to the future, the associationschools, communities, workshops, conferences and will continue to adjust as needed to meetpost-secondary institutions. The kits actively demonstrate and changing service needs. With Bagnall playing a leading role, they are in good hands. support the educational concepts being introduced.Ontario Native Womens Association37'