Rendering of the New Home for Anishnawbe Health Toronto. 
Photo Credit: Stantec and Two Row Architect

Anishnawbe Health Toronto’s New Home Moves Forward to the Construction Phase

In late December, Anishnawbe Health Toronto received the long-awaited news that its new home can move forward with construction!  The facility which will bring all of AHT’s programs and services under one roof is now slated to begin construction in the summer of 2021 with a projected opening date in the spring of 2023. “Our ground-breaking has been a moving target largely due to the necessary approvals required by the City of Toronto and Waterfront Toronto, and unanticipated delays due to the pandemic,” says Joe Hester, Executive Director of AHT.  “At the moment, we are tentatively planning for a ground-breaking ceremony on June 21, coinciding with National Indigenous Peoples Day and the summer solstice.” 

 

Anishnawbe Health Staff prepare Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
Photo Courtesy of Red Works Photography.

Anishnawbe Health Toronto's latest addition to the Mobile Healing Unit - Ogitchidaa Manido or Warrior Spirit

Anishnawbe Health Expands its COVID-19 Response in 2021:  New Mobile Unit Added and First Vaccines Delivered

In early 2020, the world was hit with a crisis like no other. When COVID-19 arrived in Canada, Anishnawbe Health took swift action and shifted priorities to focus on delivering immediate assistance to health centre clients and the Indigenous Community. Fast forward to 2021, Anishnawbe Health has continued to successfully ensure that community members have access to counselling, primary care and traditional services, housing supports, psychiatry and psychology care, rapid access to addiction medicine and case management. 

Anishnawbe Health’s mobile healing unit continues to provide rapid and long-term housing support  and perform COVID-19 testing for Indigenous community members with an emphasis on those who are homeless. To date, the Mobile Health Unit has tested more than 10,000 people and recently added Ogitchidaa Manido or Warrior Spirit to the mobile team. This added vehicle allows for increased daily COVID-19 testing, future vaccination delivery and 

 

Selena Mills and Family.

Teaching family the importance of community accountability, responsibility, respect and reciprocity through philanthropy

Selena Mills has a deep connection to Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT). “In my youth, I lived rough on the streets and shelters; trying to self-medicate away painful memories of abuse, violence, mental health discord, and displacement from my own community and biological Indigenous family.” Selena adds, “AHT was one of the few organizations that positively impacted my own healing journey.”

Today, Selena continues her connection with AHT through her role as a Circle of Landscape Cultivator in support of the Indigenous Peoples’ Landscape. “As a member of the Circle of Landscape Cultivators, I’m asking the Indigenous

 

The Shah Family on a trip to South Africa. Chandrakant “Cijay” J. Shah (3rd from the right) with his family from left to right Adarsh (son), Ranjula (wife), Shreya (daughter), granddaughter Sienna, daughter-in-law Sona
and granddaughter Leana.

Giving as a Family - Supporting Projects in the Areas of Health, Education, Sanitation and Clean Water are Priorities for the Shah Family and their business FOAMCO Canada

A few years ago, after he passed leadership of the family business he had built with his brother Mahendra to his son Adarsh, Chandrakant J. (Cijay) Shah has focused his retirement on two areas – his family and philanthropy.   In supporting the campaign for a new Anishnawbe Health, he has brought both together to make a difference in the lives of an underserved community that struggles with poverty. The Shah family believes in giving back to the communities in which their businesses operate.

The Shah Family and their business FOAMCO Canada have donated $75,000 to support a new home for Anishnawbe Health Toronto.  Their generosity will be recognized by naming two rooms in the centre on the Primary Care Floor –a physiotherapy suite and a Traditional Healers room.

 

Matthew Hickey - Waterfront Toronto's First Indigenous Design Expert

Ryan Rice - Indigenous Public Art Curator, Waterfront Toronto

Waterfront Toronto selects first Indigenous Design Expert and Indigenous Public Art Curator.

Congratulations to Matthew Hickey and Ryan Rice. Hickey has been selected as the first Indigenous Design expert with Waterfront Toronto’s Design Review Panel and Rice will be joining as Indigenous Public Art Curator

Mathew is Mohawk and a member of Six Nations of the Grand River. He is one of the leading architects working on the new home for Anishnawbe Health Toronto. He is a partner at Two Row Architect with 14 years of Indigenous design experience, a sessional instructor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, and a Member of the Board of Artscape Toronto.

Ryan, who is Mohawk of Kahnawake, Quebec will be assisting with the commission of two significant, site-specific permanent public art opportunities for Indigenous artists in the West Don Lands including one at the future home of Anishnawbe Health Toronto. He has extensive experience in the museum and art gallery sector. He has worked at various centres including the Iroquois Indian Museum, Indigenous Art Centre, Carleton University Art Gallery, the Walter Phillips Art Gallery, and the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to working as an independent curator, he is currently Associate Dean at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at OCAD University.

To read more about Matthew and Waterfront Toronto's vision for an inclusive waterfront visit bit.ly/3nFrJFc

To read more about Ryan visit - bit.ly/3p5FzC6

 

“Thank you so much for ALL the work you do and for making COVID-19 tests accessible for everyone. Your mobile testing site is amazing.” – New Sweetgrass Circle Monthly Donor

In the fall of 2019 we launched the Sweetgrass Monthly Giving Circle and since that time, we have seen our membership grow to over 77 members. By joining the Sweetgrass Monthly Giving Circle your monthly gift will support traditional healing and western medicine working together for better health. You will play a vital role in the reclamation of Traditional Healing practices and support client care that places value on the whole person while seeking to solve the root causes of health challenges.

Monthly giving reduces our fundraising expenses, helps us plan for the future, and allows you to spread out your annual contribution in convenient instalments over the year.

$10 a month = $120
$15 a month = $180
$20 a month = $240

 

   

Local Theatre Company Supports Anishnawbe Health

We would like to say a big thank you to [elephants] collective, a Toronto-based performance art company, currently raising money in support of Anishnawbe Health through monthly live online performances.

TELETHON TELETHON is a long-term online performance experiment that contends with the commitment needed for real change. TELETHON TELETHON will livestream each month (on the last Monday of the month) with a brand new show. Currently, [elephants] collective is redirecting proceeds to Anishnawbe Health Foundation either for a full year or until they raise $10,000. TELETHON TELETHON is free to watch. In exchange for their work, they encourage making contributions towards AHF.

For more info about [elephants] collective and to learn when the next performance will be, follow them here.

Learn More about hosting your own fundraising event for Anishnawbe Health Foundation

 
 

Anishnawbe Health in the News

Anishnawbe Health has been in the news quite a lot already in 2021. From CBC News, Global TV, APTN and CityNews to The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star read it all HERE.

Make sure you follow us at Facebook.com/Anishnawbe to keep up to date on all the news at Anishnawbe Health.

 

Volunteer Drivers Needed For Food Hamper Deliveries

Do you live in/near Toronto and want to assist vulnerable seniors?  Consider volunteering your time with us! We are in need of pairs of volunteers, who are in the same bubble, and own a vehicle to help deliver food hampers.  The expected time commitment will be 2.5-3 hours once every-other-week during March and April.  PPE, hand sanitizer and gas gift cards will be provided.

Please send an email to foundation@aht.ca if you would like to volunteer for this important initiative.

 

Our 2019-2020 Annual Report is now online

The 2019-2020 Anishnawbe Health Toronto and Anishnawbe Health Foundation Annual Report is now available online to view or download. 

 

ANISHNAWBE HEALTH FOUNDATION

225 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario M5A 1S4     |     416-920-2605    |     foundation@aht.ca

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