Ontario Native Women’s Association 37 Up to $20,000 Status First Nations Women Farm & Food Production Businesses Across Ontario All Business Types from Southern Ontario FNWE FNWE@firstnationsag.ca FNYE@firstnationsag.ca Status First Nations Youth aged 18-39 Farm & Food Production Businesses Across Ontario All Business Types from South Eastern Ontario FNYE Full & Part-time Businesses On & Off Reserve Start Ups & Business Expansions 1.800.363.0329 www.firstnationsag.ca First Nations Women & Youth Entrepreneur Programs SAFE HOUSING Besides its main shelter, Beendigen also provides other housing initiatives. This includes Wakaigin Housing, which offers 15 transitional and 12 permanent units. Rent for these units are based on one’s income. “And then we have one transitional house [called Memengwaa, meaning butterfly in Ojibwe] that’s in a separate location as well,” Blair says. “We usually have three or four women living in there. That’s also like a step past being in the shelter.” Beendigen’s support services include helping women with planning to achieve some long-term goals, including employment, education, legal advice and independent living. Blair believes it is vital these supports are rooted in Indigenous culture. “I think it’s very important because it just really helps with their healing journey and helps reconnect them with different things that they might have lost sight of or lost access to along the way,” she says. “So, it’s important that we offer services based in cultural wisdom.” Blair also believes it is important that those at the shelter are offered opportunities to take advantage of Beendigen’s other integrated services. “The people in the shelter are kind of encouraged to utilize all of our other services and services that occur at our other sites,” she says. “The workers at the shelter get them set up with the different programs and groups that they might need and get them set up with our court support person if they need that. Or the transitional housing workers start working with them right away to try to get housing. And if they need addiction counselling, then they’re referred to the staff person who does that.” “It takes a community to heal our Indigenous families,” says Maloney. “That is the perspective we go by when someone comes to us for assistance. The shelter is usually where [the journey] starts, so we wanted to make it a home that people could heal in.” The support offered to community members expands beyond access to housing: “We give them access to so many things they can do and people to see so they can start their journey of healing,” Maloney continues. “We have Elders on site for them to talk to, and [help them] make cultural items for their bundles, which are provided with teachings.” That cultural support makes all the differ- ence for someone on a healing journey. Maloney offers something a community member once shared: “Some will say, ‘I never knew how to bead. But with each bead that I put on my creation, it heals my soul.’” Minwaashin Lodge and Beendigen continue to prove what Indigenous women have known since time immemorial: safety and healing blooms in community, culture and wraparound supports. Providing sufficient care means meeting Indigenous women’s needs wherever they are at – together, one step at a time. • Safe, reliable housing creates spaces for community members to move forward with stability and confidence. As a 100% Indigenous-owned company, Bison Modular delivers durable, culturally grounded housing built for new beginnings. STRONGER INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES Housing That Supports Minwaashin Lodge.
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