Latest news with #ShadelleChambers
CBC
14-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Indigenous midwifery services 'really essential' in Yukon, prize-winning group says
Social Sharing The Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) says the next step for its Indigenous midwifery program, thanks to some new prize money, is to purchase a space that will serve as home to the program and expand its services. "It's really essential," said Shadelle Chambers, executive director of CYFN. "We know that the other northern jurisdictions and other jurisdictions across Canada have been expanding Indigenous midwifery services over the last number of decades — so, really important in terms of revitalizing cultural practices." On Tuesday, the organization's Bibia Nàtsät Ku project was named the big winner of this year's $1-million Arctic Inspiration Prize. The money will go toward opening a new, dedicated facility in Whitehorse where Yukon First Nations elders and midwives could offer sexual and reproductive health care, including birthing services. It would also offer training for Indigenous students. Chambers says the program has been "building a lot of capacity" over the last few years, such as training a couple of dozen Indigenous doulas. They also hope to have a Yukon First Nations midwife on the team soon. Chambers says it's all about bringing back more traditional birthing practices and ceremony. "What we want to do is ensure that people have culturally safe services. We know that, historically, that many clinical services are deeply entrenched in racism and discrimination, just based on historical practices and legacies," she said. "So many of our families actually often don't get the supports and services they need because of that history." Other prize winners 'insanely hyped' In all, 12 projects across the North won Arctic Inspiration Prize money on Tuesday, totalling $3.7 million. Each year, the prize money is awarded to projects in education, health, culture, arts, language, science, traditional knowledge, climate change and the economy. Among the other winners this year are an Inuit-led education program for neurodiverse and marginalized youth in Nunavut, a Yellowknife-based project to empower youth through land-based learning, and a project in Nunavik to address food insecurity and strengthen cultural practices through harvesting camps. One of the winners in the youth category was a youth dog-sledding program in Inuvik, N.W.T. The Uniaraqtuq project is receiving $100,000 for training youth in dog sledding and other traditional skills, and for a documentary about the work. Tamara Kaglik, 19, is one of the teens working on the project. She says she was "insanely hyped" to learn they'd won the prize. "I was about to cry. I started jumping around. Oh my goodness," she said. The group already does some programming at a site outside of Inuvik and they hope to now maybe build a cabin out there for multi-day stays. Along with dog-sledding, they do things like fishing, hide-stretching, canoeing, kayaking and muskrat-trapping. "I have grown up with like a lack of access to all of the things we need to be on our land in these modern times, you know. Because it can be really expensive to get a boat, Ski-doo, gas money" said Kaglik.
CBC
03-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Council of Yukon First Nations cancels some family support programs due to lack of Jordan's Principle funding
The Council of Yukon First Nations has shut down programs that provided food, children's clothing, short-term housing and other support for families due to a lack of Jordan's Principle funding. The situation has left at least one mother scrambling to figure out how she'll make ends meet. More than 450 families received letters from the council (CYFN) last month stating that Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) had not confirmed if it would give the council Jordan's Principle funding for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. "Due to this uncertainty, we cannot guarantee … supports beyond March 31, 2025," the letter states. Jordan's Principle, established in 2016, is meant to ensure First Nations children have access to government-funded services when they need them, without jurisdictional disputes getting in the way. Funding is application-based. CYFN executive director Shadelle Chambers said that ISC usually responds to the council's applications in December or January to confirm how much money it will get for the coming fiscal year. However, this year, the federal government only confirmed on March 22 that Jordan's Principle funding would continue into 2025-2026 but still isn't accepting applications. With funding from last fiscal year used up, Chambers said CYFN doesn't have money to sustain services like its "necessities of life" program, which provided families with vouchers for things like groceries, children's clothing and baby products, as well as programs for short-term housing and respite care. "Having to send letters to our families that we work with that we're no longer able to support them in certain areas has been extremely frustrating," Chambers said. "[It's] just another one of the systemic issues that First Nations and Yukon First Nations families and children have to face in terms of, you know, the practices of the federal government." 'I still feel hopeless,' mother says of losing supports Ashley Russell, a single mother of two and Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin citizen, was among the hundreds of people who used the "necessities of life program" and said she went into "sheer panic" when she learned it was ending. "I still feel hopeless," she said. Russell, who's studying to become a social worker, said she used the program for grocery vouchers — $125 every two weeks for each child — and also had a respite worker helping with her younger child, who's neurodivergent. She said she hasn't figured out how to manage everything with those supports gone and is on the verge of quitting school. "Unfortunately, my family is one of the families that suffers with a lot of trauma and I am the only sober person in my entire family, the only person with a driver's license, the only person with a proper education and job," she said. "I'm also a full-time student and trying to work, trying to stay sober, trying to hold my family together… And then to find out that I'm not going to get help, not even paid help — it feels very alone." Chambers said CYFN has been working to connect families with community food programs or other rent assistance options while advocating for clarity and action from ISC. "The reality is this [situation] has caused a lot of stress for families and children, and it has also caused a lot of stress for our staff and our team," she said. "And, you know, we're here to help support families and when one of our main access to supports is cut off for no realistic reason … it's frustrating, right?" ISC changing how applications are processed In response to a request for comment about the status of Jordan's Principle funding in the Yukon, ISC spokesperson Eric Head largely repeated portions of an "operational bulletin" the department issued in February outlining changes to how it was processing applications. Changes include requiring more documentation for applications and narrowing the items and services that funding would be approved for. "ISC is reviewing Jordan's Principle processes and policies at regional and national levels with long-term sustainability in mind," Head wrote, quoting the bulletin. "There is continued funding for 2025-2026 for Jordan's Principle. In addition, ISC is working to communicate with requestors." Chambers, however, accused the government of "deflecting" from the "real issues" — including the fact that it has a backlog of 135,000 Jordan's Principle applications to get through — and said the consequences "trickling down" to the families who were using CYFN's programs. Russell, meanwhile, said she'd spoken to other families in the same situation as hers and that while people understand the problem on the federal level, it doesn't make things easier. "That doesn't take away our pain, that doesn't take away our frustration and just feeling alienated on our own land. Like, it's just very exhausting," she said. While Russell said she thought families needed to show grace to CYFN support workers dealing with the fallout, workers also needed to show "empathy and compassion" for families now suddenly struggling with what to do next. "It's not the workers' fault, but also like, the clients can't be expected to behave properly — they're in survival mode or in panic survival mode, you know?" she said.
CBC
15-02-2025
- General
- CBC
Indigenous-owned temporary housing facility for women and children opens in Whitehorse
The Council of Yukon First Nations has finished work on a new temporary housing facility for Indigenous women and children in Whitehorse, and expects to welcome the first clients next week. The 15,000-square-foot facility in the Whistle Bend neighbourhood has 10 apartment-style units, with up to 32 beds and is the first such facility in the territory to be Indigenous-owned. Visitors can stay there for up to 90 days. The Family Preservation Wellness Centre is intended to be "a safe place to stay where women and children are provided with meals and access to supportive culturally-relevant programming," including support in finding permanent housing, according to CYFN's website. Shadelle Chambers, executive director for CYFN, said it's not being called a "shelter." "I think we heard loud and clear that many of our community members and folks that have accessed shelters have a stigma attached to that," she said. "So we've been very meaningful in referring to this as a wellness centre." Chambers said it was designed to feel less institutional and more "homey." It was also important to build the facility outside of the city's downtown core, where the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter is located, she said. "I think there is a bit of a stigma, obviously, with shelters in the downtown space right now. And so we wanted to avoid that stigma and also have a home-like community setting, in a residential subdivision," she said. Chambers said the location is also close to the new Whistle Bend school, which is important for families who may be staying there. The facility has been in the works for several years and construction began in 2023. Chambers said funding came from Indigenous Services Canada, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the Yukon government. Speaking at the official opening on Friday, CYFN Grand Chief Peter Johnston celebrated it as a significant achievement. "Ideally, in a perfect world, we wouldn't need a facility such as this. But today we do have a facility we should be very proud of," Johnston said. "A lot of the facilities that have been created in the city of Whitehorse, our people aren't welcome still today. And it's still a sad reality, in a lot of cases." Chambers said the new facility won't meet all the need there is in Whitehorse for safe, affordable housing. She said CYFN is hoping to build more types of supportive and transitional housing "We can fill this wellness centre on Monday," she said. "And so more spaces are needed, and more social infrastructure and capital sources need to be made available.
