Healing fund accepts applications

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The doors to the much-anticipated Aboriginal Healing Fund will open next month, according to director Paul Chartrand.

Applications will be available as of Dec. 2 for the $350 million set aside by the federal government to help communities and families devastated by the effects of residential schools.

Secretary of the Healing Fund, and one of 17 directors, Chartrand said the program begins funding programs in early 1999, allocating all of the funds within the next 10 years.

"The money is for healing," said Chartrand. "We will consult with First Nations people to find out what is needed for communities, families and individuals who have suffered the effects of residential schools."

Sixty-six residential schools operated in Canada from the mid-1800s until 1984, and according to Chartrand, the Aboriginal Healing Fund will not only help school survivors who were sexually and physically abused at many of the schools, but will also address the inter-generational effects the schools had on First Nations communities.

Melvin Good, a plaintiff in the long-running trial against the United Church of Canada and the federal government for their involvement in the abuse that occurred at the Alberni Indian Residential School, hopes the Aboriginal Healing Fund marks a new beginning for residential school survivors, as well as for their children.

"Not only did we lose our parents, our families and our communities by being shipped off to these schools, but we also lost our languages, our cultures and our whole identities as Native people," said Good. "Then we passed all the things we learned, and didn't learn, down to our children."

Chartrand said the directors have worked hard to get everything in place as quickly as possible so the healing process can begin.

"The board met in Vancouver in July, searched for an executive director in August, hired Michael Degagne to the position in October, and we're currently hiring staff for our office in Ottawa," he said.

A Metis from Manitoba and a law graduate from the University of Saskatchewan, Chartrand said the Aboriginal Healing Fund comes with a few government-imposed restrictions. Money from the fund can't be used to pay for legal actions or for the purchase of land or buildings.

Deadline for applications run from Jan. 15 to March 31, 1999 depending on the type of program funding required.

Once the Aboriginal Healing Fund is operating smoothly, Chartrand said future plans include the formation of a charitable organization designed to collect funds and donations from non-governmental sources.

Groups or individuals interested in receiving an Aboriginal Healing Fund application, as soon as they're made available, can call the Ottawa office toll-free at 1-888-725-8886.