2023 Indigenous Communities Fellowship
Healing in Community- A Decolonized Approach
What is the name of your solution?
Healing in Community- A Decolonized Approach
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
Healing begins with youth. Our solution is to build capacity within youth to overcome grief and intergenerational trauma by connecting them to Elders.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Between the early 1880's and 1996, over 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their homes and placed in residential facilities. These facilities were run by churches and paid for by the Canadian government. In these residential schools they were treated horribly. They were not allowed to express their culture or language. This historical trauma has been passed down through generations and caused a tremendous amount of damage.
The scale of this problem is huge and we believe that our solution will lead to huge healing in our community.
What is your solution?
Our solution is to heal the community beginning with our youth. By connecting youth with Elders, we can bridge that gap and allow for the transmission of knowledge and begin healing. As Rupert Ross states in his 2014 book, Indigenous Healing, we need to "help tell the story of residential schools to the people who need to hear it (youth) if they are ever going to forge healthy relations with their own parents, grandparents and communities." (pg.xv)
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our target population is Indigenous youth. They are typically underserved because of racism, residential school syndrome, effects of the child welfare system, and stereotypes. This solution will offer them education leading to healing and hope.
Which Indigenous community(s) does your solution benefit? In what ways will your solution benefit this community?
Our solution will benefit the Indigenous community of the Blackfoot people. We are located adjacent to the largest Indigenous reserve in Canada and their population is over 12,000 (2016) and growing fast.
Our solution is based on the feedback we have received from the Indigenous youth in our area that we currently serve. The have expressed that they have a lack of knowledge of residential schools and trauma. They do not learn about it in their school systems.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
Our team has been working with Indigenous youth since 2017 by delivering culturally relevant programming in the community. We work as a team as opposed to a top down approach. Many of our projects are youth-led. We believe in the saying, "Nothing about us without us." So only Indigenous youth really know what they need and what the society today isn't giving them. Our role is to empower the youth and uplift their ideas to promote healing.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Promote culturally informed mental and physical health and wellness services for Indigenous community members.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
What is your solution’s stage of development?
Concept: An idea for building a product, service, or business model that is being explored for implementation.
Why are you applying to Solve?
Currently our solution is in the idea stage and does not have funding. We believe Solve can help in all ways to assist us in building capacity to deliver this solution.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Sheldon Day Chief
Please indicate the tribal affiliation of your Team Lead.
Kainai
How is your Team Lead connected to the community or communities in which your project is based?
Our Team Lead Sheldon Day Chief is a respected Elder in our community and has a fantastic history of working with youth. He currently works within the community and in the schools delivering cultural programs. He is closely connected to other Elders through ceremonial family. He also has a strong partnership with Sik Ooh Kotoki Friendship Society whos mandate is to support Indigenous people transitioning from the reserves to the urban centers.
What makes your solution innovative?
Our solution is innovative because there are not any other programs like it in our community. Typically people focus on educating non-Indigenous people about residential schools to promote reconciliation. Our solution is grass roots and focusses on the Indigenous youth that are our future. This could change the market by shifting the focus on who we direct programming to so that greater healing can occur.
What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?
Impact goals:
Increase capacity in Indigenous Youth
Increase healing in Indigenous Youth
Increase knowledge in Indigenous Youth
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
We are measuring our impact goals by implementing pre and post surveys to Indigenous youth. In addition to this we do post program interviews in order to get narratives from the youth regarding what they have learned.
What is your theory of change?
Our theory of change is that by connecting Indigenous youth with Elders to share knowledge we will increase healing and resiliency in the community. This will lead to long term increase in well being of the community.
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
While we are not utilizing typical technology we are using ancestral knowledge as a tool for our solution. Historically, Indigenous people used storytelling as a way to transfer knowledge and that is what we will access by partnering with Elders to support youth.
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new business model or process that relies on technology to be successful
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
If your solution has a website or an app, provide the links here:
N/A
In which parts of the US and/or Canada do you currently operate?
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
In which parts of the US and/or Canada will you be operating within the next year?
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
How many people work on your solution team?
4 full time staff plus volunteers
How long have you been working on your solution?
Since 2017
What is your approach to incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusivity into your work?
Our team is highly educated in all things Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We have a mandate that our Board of Directors be 100% Indigenous and our staff 75% Indigenous. We strongly believe that we must be aware of bias and priviledge and uplift those that are typically underserved.
What is your business model?
We need assistance in developing a business model because this isn't a typical business.
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Individual consumers or stakeholders (B2C)What is your plan for becoming financially sustainable?
We plan to do such a good job with our program that we will attract sponsors from the corporate world to help fund our future endeavors. We also continue to apply for non-profit grants and other types of funding to assist us.
Solution Team
-
AJ
Amber Jensen Executive Director, Sweetgrass Youth Alliance -
SJ
to Top
Our Organization
Sweetgrass Youth Alliance