Esther Wesley, Anglican Healing Fund coordinator, and National Indigenous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald, at the recent Council of General Synod meeting. Photo: Marites Sison
Mississauga, Ont. – Since the Anglican Church of Canada established the Anglican Healing Fund (AHF) in 1991 to address the impact of the residential school system in aboriginal communities across Canada, $4.6 million has been given to 426 projects.
Among other things, these projects cater to children and youth, suicide prevention, the recovery of aboriginal culture and tradition, and the translation of hymns into native languages.
“Healing is happening, it really is,” Esther Wesley, AHF coordinator, told members of the Council of General Synod (CoGS), which met here Nov. 18-20.
Still, there is a lot more work to be done. Wesley noted that much of the funding has gone to communities in British Columbia and Ontario, where there are infrastructures in place to run these projects. “Very little work” has been done in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, where many still suffer the effects of “unresolved trauma.” This has resulted in survivors being unable to build and sustain healthy families and communities, succumbing instead to violence, suicide, and substance and alcohol abuse.