Ontario Native Women’s Association   31
Indigenous women’s organizations and 
housing providers refused to accept 
that culture was optional. They pushed 
for policy changes. They trained non-
Indigenous staff. They built relationships 
with landlords who had never rented to 
an Indigenous tenant before. “We had 
to prove that cultural housing works,” 
Ledger says. “Now the data is there. The 
success stories are there. The only thing 
missing is the political will to scale it.”
“It’s the spirit that needs to be nurtured,” 
she adds. “Because it’s the spirit that will 
help them through their journey.”
What would Ledger change? “The 
federal government has announced 
capital funding no less than three times 
over three years and has not released the 
money to this day,” she says. “They keep 
making announcements about Truth 
and Reconciliation, and then they create 
new rules and new viability tools that we 
scramble to meet.”
Her solution applies an Indigenous 
worldview to the treasury. “Break down 
the silos. Housing is health. Housing 
is employment. Housing is justice. Put 
it in one pot and hand it over to urban 
Indigenous providers so we can start 
building instead of just negotiating.”
THE 58TH UNIT
Nowhere is that tenacity more visible 
than in Thunder Bay – a city Ledger calls 
home. OAHS and community partners – 
the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship 
Centre, the Métis Nation of Ontario 
(MNO) and ONWA – spent years 
fighting for a 58-unit youth transitional 
housing build. The project is designed 
specifically for youth transitioning out of 
homelessness, many of whom have aged 
out of the child welfare system or are 
fleeing violence.
On the main floor, high-risk youth live in 
pod-style housing – four people to a unit, 
shared common space, 24/7 support, 
a catered kitchen and training rooms. 
On the second floor, youth who have 
developed more independence get their 
own apartments, with a private kitchen, 
a private bathroom and a door they 
can lock.
Unfortunately, a rise of NIMBYism 
(meaning ‘not in my backyard’) during 
a city re-zoning process delayed the 
progress for a couple of years. The 
community partners fought back, but the 
delays almost killed the project.
“You know how it works with govern-
ment funding – use it or lose it,” Ledger 
says. “The delays meant we almost 
lost it.”
But instead of being defeated, the 
partners used the extra time to perfect 
the design. The building is now sched-
uled to open in October 2026. “They 
projected their energy and their dream 
into the design,” Ledger says. “The 
success is that the building is going to 
be even better than we first thought.”
Ledger gets quiet when she talks about 
what that building represents. It’s not 
just 58 units – it’s a message to every 
Indigenous youth in Thunder Bay who has 
been told, directly or indirectly, that they 
don’t belong.
“That building says you matter,” she 
says. “It says someone fought for you. It 
says your culture isn’t a risk factor – it’s 
your strength.”
Those 22,000 missing units won’t appear 
by magic. They will be built by organiza-
tions like OAHS, staffed by people who 
lead with empathy, and – eventually 
– funded by a government that stops 
announcing the same dollar twice.
The work continues, one spirit at a time.  •
TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
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We advocate to increase access to midwifery care in Indigenous communities that is close to home
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Indigenous leaders, communities and stakeholders. We support communities in the development of
midwifery learning ecosystems and diverse educational pathways. Together, we are re-awakening
the practice of Indigenous midwifery and the promise of new life.
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