Page 40 - Walking_The_Red_Road

How Ontario Trillium Foundation funding helped support our goals
Dedicated project funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation supported us to hire a project team to work with our community to mobilize the community to address racism, increase cross-cultural awareness and promote greater respect for Aboriginal culture.
Our first task was to establish a Community Action Circle. This was taken care of early in the project and the members set to work together to meet the rest of the goals. With much of the work and accomplishments documented throughout this report, here we “shine a light” on how we worked together to address one goal:
Improving the positive social visibility of Aboriginal peoples in North Bay.
We began by reviewing the research literature and found the
2010 Environics Institute Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study to
be particularly helpful. Among younger or middle-income non-aboriginals, for example, having a relationship with an Aboriginal person or receiving education about Aboriginal culture were considered significant factors in improving impressions.9
We also consulted with our Community Action Circle, Youth Action Circle and Elder Action Circle members, and with their feedback, decided to focus on four key approaches:
a) Strengthening and/or increasing personal relationships between Aboriginal and non- aboriginal community members
The very structure of the CAC supported Aboriginal people to come together with non-aboriginal people, working and socializing together at meetings and events, thus strengthening and increasing personal relationships.
9Environics Institute (2010) Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study.
Walking the Red Road | REPORT OF THE URBAN ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES THRIVE PROJECT
| 40
,,
Night celebrates Aboriginal achievements, future.
North Bay Nipissing News headline
,,
At first I thought, what is the CAC? And why was I asked to participate? What could a bank offer to a project like this? Once you started explaining the project and I listened to the other CAC members talk about why they were here, I understood right away. we all have a role. All the sectors. I have learned so much already.
CAC Participant