The word Suswin in Ojibway means “nest” and Kathy Fortin, Executive Director of the North Bay Indian Friendship Centre believes everyone has the right to a safe home or nest.
A funding announcement of $543,700 is hoping to make that happen in North Bay as the provincial government handed out the money at the Indian Friendship Centre on Cassells Street this morning.
The majority of the money will go towards two paid jobs for Suswin housing navigators whose job will be to find aboriginal people or families who are in need and match them with facilities that are available.
“They will locate places,” stated Fortin.
It will also go towards starting and running the entire program for three years. Program costs include but are not limited to supporting clients, office space and supplies, and research evaluation costs.
Fortin says this project if the first of its kind for Indian Friendship Centres in the North.
She believes finding affordable housing is a challenge in North Bay especially with many Indigenous families and individuals now living off the reserve.
Fortin says this project if the first of its kind for Indian Friendship Centres in the North.
“Our hope is to someday actually establish affordable housing and this is kind of the gateway to it,” said Fortin.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, who made the funding announcement, says there was a need when the urban planning study was done and it showed there was a problem.
“What this is trying to do is to make sure that we have a First Nation Urban Strategy (Urban Aboriginal Strategy) as well so this will immediately help put some people in a proper housing facility as well it will develop a longer term strategy over the next three years to make sure there is a plan in place so we have a place for everybody to live safely,” said Fedeli, about the funding which comes from the Government Ontario - via the Local Poverty Reduction Fund.
“A lot of times these people will be coming out of a family conflict, there can be other issues whether its addiction related as well so the studies have shown that there is a need here so this $543,700 is in reaction to that and to be able to place people immediately and to develop the long term plan.”
Fedeli says the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB) will oversee the three-year project with the North Bay Indian Friendship Centre.
“You need a level of government that has carriage of the file and the jurisdiction for the money and the file and they are in the best position to determine the need and the best position to be able to place people in housing after all, DSSAB has a whole social housing program and in fact all the social housing in North Bay runs through them,” said Fedeli.
