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Ontario Providing Mental Health and Addictions Funding to the Ontario Native Women’s Association

The Ontario government is providing $812,500 to the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) to help increase their resources and capacity to deliver a range of culturally appropriate, trauma-based mental health and addictions supports to Indian Residential School Survivors, their families and communities.

The funding will help ONWA provide safety supports, such as access to traditional land-based therapy, traditional medicines, addiction treatment system navigation, housing supports, grief and loss services and cultural intervention methodologies.

With this funding, ONWA will also be able to continue developing and operating a centralized, provincewide, phone-based intake system to provide both coordinated access to ONWA’s range of services as well as referrals to other agencies serving Indigenous women and communities. This funding is in addition to dedicated funding being provided to First Nations leading burial investigations at former Residential Schools across the province.

“Our government is supporting the Ontario Native Women’s Association with its important work in providing culturally sensitive and traditional healing and treatment supports for Residential School Survivors, their families and communities across the province,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs. “It is critical that we continue to seek direction from Indigenous partners on how best to address the mental health and addictions challenges due to the harms inflicted by the Residential School system.”

Ontario remains committed to providing access to funding and supports for Indigenous-led initiatives for Residential School burials and related work, and to addressing the ongoing mental health impacts of the Residential School system on Indigenous communities across the province.

Ontario Government
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