Ogimaawabiitong (Kenora Chiefs Advisory) is honoured to have been selected to lead in partnership with Kenora District Services Board an enhancement and revitalization of the existing Kenora Emergency Shelter & Clinical Services Hub into an Indigenous-led Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub for the region.

With a focus on treatment and recovery, Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs, or HART Hubs, aim to support safer communities by connecting people with various health needs to comprehensive treatment and preventative services – including primary care, mental health services, addictions care, social services, cultural and traditional supports and employment supports.

“Ogimaawabiitong-Kenora Chiefs Advisory is proud to advance the HART Hub model in partnership with Kenora District Services Board, and additional organizational partners for the Kenora region,” said Chief Waylon Scott, Chief of Wabaseemoong First Nation and Vice President of the Board of Ogimaawabiitong.

“The HART Hub model will help make sure that First Nation community members no longer fall through the cracks through shelter and mental health and addiction services in the urban setting. This includes better supports for people when they transition to and from access to treatment for addictions, as well as wholistic wrap-around care for wellbeing that includes ceremony if one so chooses.”

In addition to recovery and treatment beds available at the HART Hub, plans also include additional supportive housing units helping those most vulnerable transition to more stable long-term housing – a strong need in the Kenora area and Treaty 3 as a whole.

“A complete continuum of community care and support is needed when helping people move out of homelessness,” says Kenora District Services Board‘s Chief Executive Officer, Henry Wall. “Connecting individuals with complex needs to a local, comprehensive, wraparound approach is vital to successfully supporting unique service needs such as primary care, mental health care, addiction care and support, social services, and employment support. The HART Hub will help do just that. The KDSB is proud to be one of the contributing partners in this monumental project for the area.”

We as partners will work to ensure that Anishinaabe approaches to healing and well-being are incorporated into all aspects of service design and delivery, and several programs and pathways will help to remove barriers to ensure that our First Nation community members can access these services. These services will include Case Management, Transition Support, Cultural Aftercare, and investment in expansion of clinical and shelter spaces in KCA member First Nations, and more.

“Our partnership with Kenora Chiefs Advisory on this transformative HART Hub initiative will leverage existing regional resources and relationships while providing wrap-around mental health and addiction services to local residents,” said Greg Rickford, MPP for Kenora – Rainy River and Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation. “In addition to recent local health care investments, we are responding with tailored, culturally relevant supports that will make a real difference for families within KCA’s member communities,” he adds.

“We are so grateful for this opportunity and partnership to bring forward an enhanced range of care services for the Kenora region, ensuring a seamless continuum of care for our community members,” explains Ogimaawabiitong’s Executive Director, Jennifer Dreaver.

“By incorporating Anishinaabemowin traditions and values, we strongly believe the new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub will change the lives of many for the better. Miigwetch to everyone who has helped to make this possible, first and foremost the Board of Ogimaawabiitong, Minister Rickford, and the provincial government,” she adds.

Ogimaawabiitong and the Kenora District Services Board send a huge Miigwetch to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, and the provincial government for their support on this transformative initiative.

We would also like to acknowledge Organizational partners, whose expertise and support in the development of the application was foundational, and their crucial role in operationalizing this model, to advance on positive outcomes for individuals as they move through their healing journeys.