I was recently given the opportunity to join the Dreamcatcher Foundation to report on the opening of four children’s playgrounds that the foundation has donated to northern Ontario native communities. The foundation was established by the Six Nations based business Grand River Enterprises in 2004 for the purposes of providing support and addressing situations unique to First Nations communities.
In that time, the Dreamcatcher Foundation has donated more than $12 million dollars to over 7000 different recipients. The foundation also provides grants to community involvement projects, including organized sport and recreation, education, health support and arts and culture.
From June 25th to 27th I joined Dreamcatcher Foundation representatives in travelling to four First Nations in northern Ontario – Port Severn, Big Trout Lake, Bearskin Lake, and Lansdowne House – where the foundation was celebrating the opening of children’s playgrounds in those communities. According to Jennifer Rowe, a representative of the Dreamcatcher foundation and one of the organizers of the trip, “we just want to give these kids a chance to be kids “.
I was moved and humbled by the generosity of the Dreamcatcher Foundation and the response of the children. I was overwhelmed to see the living conditions faced by people in these communities on a daily basis. In a moment where provincial and federal governments are falling far short of the commitments they have made to indigenous peoples, it is heartening to see groups like the Dreamcatcher foundation picking up the slack. But despite the efforts made by the foundation, many serious problems remain in these communities. To cite only one, because of a lack of high-schools in the community, if youth in these communities want an education past Grade 8, they have to leave their family and community and go to Thunder Bay.
For more information about the Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation and how you can play a role in supporting its efforts is to support Aboriginal communities, go to www.dcfund.ca
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