Thunder Woman Healing Lodge is a community-driven project raised out of concern and recognition of the need to break the cycle and support the healing, rehabilitation and meaningful re-integration of Aboriginal women offenders.
Vision:
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge Society will promote and provide services for First Nation, Inuit, and Metis Women to focus on their journey to wholeness and balance.
Mission:
To provide First Nation, Inuit, and Metis women a place in the Greater Toronto Area to heal and reclaim positive cultural identity, rehabilitation and wellness.
Mandate:
To establish a Healing Lodge for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis women who are in conflict with the law, and for those who have survived intergenerational trauma. To provide cultural support, traditional knowledge and resources, for the advancement of wholeness and balance. To empower First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Women to take their honoured place within their community and culture.
Program:
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge will perform interviews to determine the eligibility and readiness of applicants to enter the healing lodge. These interviews will be performed by program staff - case managers and managers.
Once accepted into the program the individual will move into the lodge where they will have three days of integration which will be a period of rest, transition and preparation. This time will include a tour, orientation, downtime and meetings with staff including a traditional elder/healer or knowledge keeper. Of these meetings, the most crucial will be an assessment, performed with their assigned case manager who will then use this information to co-develop their case plan. Once this portion is complete a welcoming ceremony will be held with the entirety of the staff team, and the other residents.
The individual is then ready to begin programming and integration into the community of the lodge. The client will begin her healing journey, while keeping up with her plan of care goals, and adjusting this as required. Programming will be structured, daily, and mandatory for residents of the lodge. The programming will have a cultural lens and work from the medicine wheel covering the emotional physical spiritual and mental aspects of the individual. Programs will be aimed at addressing historical traumas, life skills, reconnecting with culture, and providing a platform for women to reclaim their rightful and dignified place in the community.
Programs and services will include by are not limited to:
Land-based teachings
Literacy & language skills
Financial literacy
Creative writing and art therapy
Computer skills
Employment & job search training
Mother/family/parenting classes
Addictions and trauma workshops
Community Kitchen
Sharing circles
Ceremony, Hand drum circles/lessons
One on one counseling
One on one access to traditional healers/elders/knowledge keepers
All services and programs including the assessments and care plans will be performed from a culturally informed, holistic, trauma-informed, medicine wheel perspective. Offering the women a comprehensive, community-based alternative to post-incarceration care.
In 2015, City Council in consultation with the Aboriginal Affairs Committee, identified eight Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Report, as priorities for implementation. Some Calls to Action are mirrored in the Statement of Commitment. Of the eight Calls to Action, number three of the Statement of Commitment states;
The City commits to working with Aboriginal partners to explore ways to strengthen the capacity of Aboriginal organizations and associations to plan, lead and deliver initiatives for local Aboriginal communities.
Thunder Woman Healing Lodge is an initiative that will lead and deliver a much needed Aboriginal service. The Healing lodge will have contractual obligations with Correction Services Canada, and The Provincial Ministry of Community Safety, and Ministry of the Attorney General.