14 Spring/Summer 2026 INUIT HOUSING R estoring the strength of Inuit women: this is the central vision for the Inuit Violence Against Women (VAW) shelter currently being built in Ottawa, Ont. As the first VAW shelter in Canada specifically made for Inuit women and their children, the development process has been a journey of care, communication and collective vision. Joan Riggs, a core facilitator and organ- izational development consultant at the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition (OAC), is a lead coordinator for the project, alongside Mikki Adams (executive director of Inuuqatigiit Centre for Inuit Children, Youth and Families) and Mary Daoust (executive director of Minwaashin Lodge), who are co-chairs of the OAC. Riggs, who carries 40 years of lived experi- ence in advocacy and organizational development services, says that this project will go a long way in meeting the needs of Inuit women in Ottawa. “Part of the reason we started the whole thing was that Minwaashin Lodge said they’ve had to turn away 300 people per year, with 30 per cent being Inuit,” she says. “Ottawa has the largest urban Inuit population in Canada, and that popula- tion is only growing.” Riggs also highlights that, on top of the disproportionate number of deaths of Indigenous women in the country, a disproportionate percentage of them are Inuit women. “A lot of people come down for health care or to access services and are ending up on the street,” she shares. Mikki Adams echoes that sentiment, gently reminding of the importance of remaining compassionate to the specific difficulties Indigenous women face: “Being away from home and community can be incredibly isolating,” she says. “There is often a misunderstanding that a universal approach works for everyone, but Indigenous women carry very specific histories and realities because of coloniza- tion, displacement, residential schools, child welfare systems, systemic barriers and ongoing inequities.” From that knowledge, a vision was born: a VAW shelter designed by and for Inuit women that is built with heart and centres culture, safety and Inuit traditions. And despite significant challenges along the way, construction of the shelter is currently ongoing, with completion expected in March 2027. This work has not come without difficul- ties, and those challenges have had significant impacts on not only the project’s development, but also the people involved in making it happen. “The first community meeting we had, it got news coverage,” says Riggs. “It was a group of over 100 people, and there was a lot of disrespect and racism – it was really bad, lots of attacking instead of problem-solving.” Despite the efforts of city councillor Jessica Bradley, who facilitated the meeting and whom Riggs says “did an amazing job shutting down racism,” some attendees struggled to listen to what was being said – including Adams. “I did have to step away because sometimes people forget that when they are talking about ‘issues,’ they are actually talking about human beings,” she says. “But I also believe those moments show exactly why this work matters. Change is not always comfortable; some- times creating space means having difficult conversations first.” In addition to the aggression in community discussion, the growth of the project and increased supply costs (especially due to tariffs from the United States) has caused the project’s budget to nearly double what was originally proposed. As a result, the team at OAC have “really had to push to find more funding,” according to Riggs. Some discussion started to suggest holding off on certain aspects of the building until more funding could be acquired down the line, but Riggs says that was not an option: “We wanted to make sure that Inuit women CULTURE IS THE CORE How the OAC’s upcoming Inuit VAW shelter is built to be home for Inuit women By Sarah McPherson During the groundbreaking of the Inuit VAW shelter, Elders held a Cleansing of the Ground ceremony, where they offered a teaching around how the Igloo was cleaned with hot water. Photo courtesy of the OAC.
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