Women Of The Dawn Still Waiting For Funding

Women Of The Dawn Still Waiting For Funding

Tuesday, April 07, 2009 at 13:37

The director of an Aboriginal women’s organization in Regina says the provincial government needs to provide more resources to help women deal with issues they are facing.

Ivy Kennedy of Women of the Dawn says domestic violence, support for the families of missing Aboriginal women, and a lack of training and housing are struggles Aboriginal women face on a daily basis.

This week, the province’s minister responsible for the Status of Women, Rob Norris, is attending a meeting in Winnipeg with colleagues to discuss how to address women’s issues — and the agenda includes issues related to Aboriginal women.

Kennedy says the province could start addressing these issues by implementing a recommendation from the final report of the Provincial Partnership Committee of Missing Persons — which says families of missing people should be supported by governments and agencies to develop a support network.

She says, to date, there hasn’t been resources set aside for the families themselves.

Kennedy says the province also needs to provide funding to organizations like hers who help women.

She says her organization has never received core funding from the province in the 16 years it has been in existence — meaning Women of the Dawn has to fundraise to provide services to its clients, including a homeless shelter in the city the group established on its own.