b'COMMUNITY HEALINGGanhkwsra staff.The Ganhkwsra team is starting aThey do their own healing journey planMohawk word, and it means becoming Were Not Just a Shelter campaign inof care, and they work towards accom- your true self, Montour says. What recognition of the organizations growthplishing those goals. People really learnweve found with that name is when since the 1990s. The shelter is the heartabout themselves in our program. were sexually abusedwhether of our organization, but we have so manySince 2018, Ganhkwsra has beenwere angry about it, enraged about other parts, Montour shares. We haveit or whether were depressed about a really amazing [counselling programfunded to provide sexual assault counsel- itwere not really our true self. The for] men, women and children. We call itling for the community. On May 23,sexual violence workers . work with community counselling, where community2024, they opened the Sonhatsi:wapeople to explore and get rid of all that members come and see us, whether itsSexual Violence Healing Centre nextshame and guilt and all those negative weekly or every other week, she says.door to the shelter. [Sonhatsi:wa] is a messages and help people find who they truly are and live their truth.The organization has also been approved by CMHC to build more tran-sitional houses for their Ganhkwsra program, which currently has seven units to provide safe, temporary housing for individuals and families who choose ONWAs Indigenous Housing partner to live independently and violence free.Serving the housing needs of Indigenous women, girls,When individuals leave the shelter, 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, their families, and their communities. if people want to continue on with their healing journey, they will apply 1-866-391-1061 to go into the Ganhkwsra program, OntarioAboriginalHousing.ca Montour says. And they will continue finding themselves, getting stronger, building life skills. We really focus on developing life skills, and we try our best to give our residents opportunities to @OntarioAboriginalHousing @OAHSSC build their capacity and their skills so they can break cycles of poverty.14Spring/Summer 2024'