| | | | The winter solstice begins a season of storytelling and ceremony.
It is a time to reconnect with the natural world, sharpen our senses and access the power of our internal self. During this season of transition, we ask our sacred medicines for the care we need.
It is an occasion to honour and release all that has happened
and to welcome in the new light. As this year draws to a close, we want to thank you for helping to make our progress possible. From all of us at Anishnawbe Health, may you find health, happiness and peace during this holiday season and in the New Year.
About the Artists This year’s card design was a family effort by the Roy Family. Holly (mom) and Khadijah (age 10) developed the vision for the holiday card art while discussing what the holiday season means for their family. For the Roy’s, this time of year is about the winter solstice, storytelling, using their medicines and ceremony. This piece features the sacred medicines cedar, sage and sweetgrass. Holly and Khadijah are Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) clients and actively participate in the AHT Family Program. Kadijah is a multi-talented artist who enjoys working in many different mediums. She loves media arts, picture editing and spends time watching art tutorials. Lately, her interests lie in abstract media and different editing tones. | | | | | | Getting Ready for the Winter Solstice 2020 with John Laforme Please join John Laforme, Anishnawbe Health Toronto Diabetes Team Coordinator, as he shares a smudge teaching and song to help our spirit get ready for Monday, December 21, 2020 "Winter Solstice is the time of the year when the sun passes to the lowest point and the shortest time around the world. It's our time of being able to tell stories and teachings with our young ones." To watch John virtually share the teaching that was passed on to him click here. | | | | | | DOUBLE the Impact of Your Gift! In honour of the winter solstice, we're pleased to announce that the Mii-gi-we-Zha-way-nim-Manitoo (Kind Spirit that Gives Unconditionally) Fund at the United Church of Canada Foundation is matching all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $24,000, until the end of 2020. If you are still considering your year-end giving, this is a great opportunity take advantage of the sizeable benefits the government offers to Canadians who give to registered charities. These tax incentives can be significant, amounting to as much as 53% of your charitable donation. Please consider keeping us in mind as you make your end-of-year donation. To donate and DOUBLE your impact, click here | | | | | | Join Us in Cultivating the Indigenous Peoples' Landscape We’re calling on all members of the Indigenous community to join us in continuing the spirit of philanthropy that was at the root of Anishnawbe Health Toronto’s founding and invest in the Indigenous Peoples’ Landscape, together! By making a donation of any amount, you will be part of a growing circle of donors supporting a central part of the campaign project to build a new home for Anishnawbe Health, a First Peoples’ Landscape that will celebrate the beauty and power of nature and offer a space for all community members to connect to land and medicine, and participate in ceremony. Your support will help create a Landscape that is accessible to all visitors to the health centre, without need of appointment. We also encourage non-Indigenous people to support this campaign by making a gift in tribute to an Indigenous family member, friend, co-worker. All donors and gifts in tribute will be listed here on the Indigenous Peoples’ Landscape Virtual Donor Wall. To listen to Foundation Board member and member of the campaign committee Elisa Levi speak about the Indigenous Peoples’ Landscape on NationTalk click here. Until December 31, 2020, for every donation of $50 or more, receive an art print of Emily Kewageshig’s Healing Medicine Garden, created specifically for this campaign. Learn more or make a donation | | | | | | A Daughter's Tribute to Her Late Father Dianna Contin, Bear Clan from Henvey Inlet First Nation, reflects on memories of her late father, David Contin. “My dad was kind, funny and very much loved by his family. I was so proud of him for going back to school in his early 40's to obtain his Masters of Social Work specifically so he could work with Indigenous children.” Dianna adds, “He had worked so hard to achieve a traditional lifestyle after surviving the effects of residential school familial trauma. He was the biggest, strongest person I’ve ever known and the irony is not lost on me that he died of heart failure at 50.” Dianna’s connection to Anishnawbe Health goes back to the early 90’s. “I had first heard about AHT through my dad. He was a client in the 1990’s attending the traditional ceremonies that he dearly missed while being away from his home and family near Pickerel, Ontario.” After first visiting AHT as a client, Dianna worked at the Health Centre for thirteen years. Read More | | | | | | | | Anishnawbe Health Delivers Hampers and Holiday Cheer Anishnawbe Health volunteers and staff delivered 75+ holiday hampers including food, frozen turkeys and toys from the CP24 CHUM Christmas WISH to families from the Family Program. Chi-Miigwetch to the The Rotary Club of Toronto, The Lunch Lady Foundation, the Trust Collective at the Toronto Foundation and donors with Anishnawbe Health Foundation for supporting this program. With your help, we were able to support 50% more families than last year and make sure everyone had holiday cheer this year. | | | | | | Vohra Miller Family Donates $25,000 to Support Indigenous Health and Accessible Healthcare When Sabina Vohra Miller co-founded the Vohra Miller Foundation with her husband Craig, her focus was squarely on improving the health of people and the planet. With a background in clinical pharmacology and toxicology, Sabina values healthcare but is aware of the systemic racism that impacts many communities and leads to inequities in health. As someone who immigrated to Canada with her family, she is thankful for the opportunities that living in Toronto has brought to her, but she also feels keenly that the fortunes of this city and country have come at a deep price for Indigenous peoples. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, the relevancy of her family foundation was even more evident and the family has focused their giving on supporting resilience and recovery, with a particular interest in health equity. Read More | | | | | | In Memory of Tricia Waldron On November 4, Anishnawbe Health lost a great friend and neighbour. As a Foundation donor and volunteer Tricia Waldron was an enthusiastic champion for Anishnawbe Health, particularly in strengthening our relationship with our future neighbours in Corktown and the Canary District. As past editor of the Corktown News, Tricia led the Corktown Toronto campaign for a new home for Anishnawbe Health and with her friend Larry, offered to match donations to the campaign. Tricia's work inspired the neighbourhood to come together and raise nearly $60,000. In the last couple of months, she captained a team of walkers for the Scotiabank Charity Challenge that has raised $12,000 for our cause. Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Tricia's wide circle of family and friends. We will miss Tricia greatly and we are humbled that her family chose to direct donations in her memory to the Foundation. | | | | | | Anishnawbe Health in the News Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) Mobile Health Unit and front-line staff were recently featured in two national media outlets. The mobile unit allows AHT to bring mobile COVID-19 testing, health care and traditional healing to the homeless and precariously housed. Watch the CTV National News video here. Read the Globe and Mail article written by Dr. Lisa Richardson, Strategic Lead, Indigenous Health at Women’s College Hospital here. To help augment the care of Anishnawbe Health’s Mobile Healing Unit click here. | | | | | | Melissa Stevenson Recognized by CINA Congratulations to Melissa Stevenson, Anishnawbe Health Toronto’s WAASH-KESHUU-YAAN Unit Coordinator. Melissa has been recognized by the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association as October 2020's Nominated Nurse during 2020's International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. Congratulations to Melissa on this well-deserved honour and thank you for all of your work at Anishnawbe Health. Read more about Melissa and her work as an Indigenous nurse in Toronto. . | | | | | | The Scotiabank Charity Challenge Results Are In! Big thank you to our 35 team members and 173 donors who participated in the 2020 Virtual Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Charity Challenge for Anishnawbe Health Foundation. When many of our other in-person events had to be cancelled this year due to the pandemic, the Foundation decided to join the charity challenge for the first time in 2020. We were amazed with the response and together, $12,000 was raised to improve health and healing for First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Toronto. Special thanks to volunteers Joanne Millard and the late Tricia Waldron for leading this fundraising event. If you are interested in organizing or hosting your own fundraising event, click here to learn more. If you would like to participate in next year’s Charity Challenge contact amiller@aht.ca | | | | | | How to Make Your Year-End Gift Please note our offices will be closing at noon on December 24 and 31st.
We will be closed December 25 & 28, 2020 and January 1, 2021. Making your year-end gift is easy! Ways to contributed are: Sweetgrass Monthly Giving Circle Make a New Year’s resolution to support Indigenous health and wellness throughout 2021. Become a member of the Sweetgrass Monthly Giving Circle. A small donation each month is easy to budget for and adds up to better health for AHT’s clients! Find out more here. By Credit Card Can be made online using the "GIVE NOW" button on our website www.supportanishnawbe.ca or by phone during office hours at 416-920-2605 ext. 552. If you are calling after hours, please leave a message and we will return call when we are back in the office. By Mail All donations sent by mail and postmarked on or before December 31 will be receipted for the 2020 Year. Donors can mail cheques made payable to Anishnawbe Health Foundation to 225 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1S4. Gifts of Publicly Traded Securities (Stocks) Did you know that publicly traded securities transferred directly to a registered charity are not subject to capital gains tax and also receive a charitable receipt for the value of the stock? If you would like to donate publicly traded securities to Anishnawbe Health Foundation, please use this form. Stock donations must enter our account before December 31st at midnight for a donor to receive a 2020 tax receipt. Donors are receipted for the closing price of the stock on the day of transfer. Thank you for your support! Chi Miigwetch! | | | | | | | | | |
