Congratulations to Our First Indigenous Grant Recipients
Silver Gummy is proud to announce the newest Grantees and recipients of their first Indigenous Grant:
- Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY) – Project Name: IndigiTrails – Two Spirit Trail
- Creating Hope Society of Alberta – Project Name: Indigenous Boys Matter Too
Silver Gummy has been funding deserving organizations in Alberta for many years and has been given the opportunity to work with indigenous communities and community leaders in order to connect with organizations looking to fund specific projects. The Silver Gummy team, through Karma & Cents, engaged David Turner, Senior Associate at First People’s Group, to assist them in recruiting four Knowledge Keepers from across Alberta to assist with the process:
- Cindy Swanson, former Board Member of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and a current Board Member with the legacy of Hope Foundation
- Peyasu Wuttnee is on the board of trustees with Silver Gummy and currently residing in Maskwacis
- Monica Onespot, community leader working at Tsuutʼina Nation
- Patricia Wildcat, Mascwacis Nation member and trustee based out of Maskwacis
The Knowledge Keepers provided a great deal of insight into the grant application process and recommendations on how to attract funders and community organizations. David was also responsible for providing Silver Gummy with background information about national funding organizations who are working with indigenous communities.
A little more information about David …
David Turner has been working with Indigenous communities for over 30 years in a variety of capacities and spent 6 1/2 years on the board of directors of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (click photo for link). In the early 2000s, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation delivered $350 million to Indigenous communities across Canada. David is a social worker and spent over seven years working for Alberta Health Services as an Emergency Disaster Management Lead. During the pandemic, he was the lead for Alberta Health Services helping to ensure that Indigenous communities were receiving equitable services across the province of Alberta when it came to vaccine access, PPE access, and other health initiatives.
Miskanawah Community Services Association
Miskanawah is a multi-service organization, offering programs for children, youth, families, and community. Guided by Indigenous teachings, Miskanawah offers evidence-informed, supportive services to people in the Calgary area as they strengthen their circles of self, family, community, and culture. Their Values are defined as Culture, Community, Respect and Trust.
Culture: Miskanawah is firmly grounded in Indigenous culture and strives to strengthen cultural identity for Indigenous people in the greater Calgary community by inviting the community to join us in Indigenous traditions ceremony and celebration. Miskanawah recognizes people are influenced by a variety of cultures every day and that culture is a fundamental part of our daily lives. As such, Miskanawah works to create an inclusive and supportive environment where people feel safe to learn, explore, and celebrate the rich cultural diversity of our staff and persons served.
Community: Miskanawah centers its practice in the establishment of community as a means of creating natural supports both as supplement to and when transitioning out of formal/professional supports. Staff work to create community by sharing resources, creating partnerships, and participating in gatherings, celebrations, and ceremony.
Respect: Miskanawah practices respect by honouring staff and client knowledge of themselves, encouraging the practice of honest and non-judgmental listening, and making space for cultural protocols from diverse backgrounds.
Trust: Miskanawah understands the responsibility of working with vulnerable populations, and seeks to meet and exceed that responsibility. Staff create and nurture trust by being reliable, responsive, and consistent with their colleagues and clients. Staff at all levels are encouraged to be innovative, express their ideas, and provide open and honest feedback.
Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth
The Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth has been an influential not-for-profit organization in Calgary since 2001. USAY strives to provide essential programming and services to Calgary’s Indigenous youth between the ages of twelve and twenty-nine. Their mission is to enrich the lives of all urban Indigenous youth by nurturing self-empowerment and fostering healthy collaboration and communication to ensure healthy future generations.
Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY) upholds the following core values that assist in providing direction to decision making and relationships within the organization at all levels: governance, operations and membership, including external working relationships with various partners, funding agencies, and the community at-large.
USAY’s Values:
- Traditional Indigenous values and culture
- Diversity
- Involvement and commitment of youth leadership in USAY governance
- Involvement of Indigenous youth at all levels and throughout development of the organization
- Capable, well-trained and reliable staff
- Partnerships and collaboration
- Respect; Adaptability to change that includes resiliency and versatility
- Accountability
- “Fun” as a teaching value – learning by having fun
Creating Hope Society of Alberta
The Creating Hope Society is a non-profit society established to recognize that the sixties and seventies child welfare scoop of Aboriginal children is a continuation of the Residential Schools era. They believe that it is time to halt the cycle of Aboriginal children being separated from their families and communities. Creating Hope Society is carrying forward a healing process, commenced for Residential School survivors, to those who are products of a Child Welfare system that has perpetuated the legacy of the Residential Schools. Their mission is to build on strengths to create hope for the future for Aboriginal people impacted by the Child Welfare system, through healing processes, support, reconciliation and sharing what we have learned with each other.
The Creating Hope Societies principles are:
- To build on the resiliency of survivors
- To not forget the past but look forward
- To learn and acknowledge the past and move forward
The Grantee selections were based on specific criteria outlined by the Knowledge Keepers and Silver Gummy’s funding priorities. Silver Gummy is committed to reconciliation and learning about how to better support indigenous communities.
