Returning to Spirit
“Train-the-Trainer” Grant
2007–2008
Over the past 20 years, Canadians have become more familiar with the dark legacy of Canada’s residential schools. Through the government’s Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, countless stories have come to light about First Nations children suffering widespread abuse and ‘aggressive assimilation’ within these schools.
Returning to Spirit is a project which is designed to offer a process of reconciliation, a program that aims to bring together First Nations, church people and the broader Canadian public in a new dynamic. The program aims to shift individuals and communities from being in a condition of survival to being empowered in their lives, and helping them become responsible for their own self worth and identity as they move forward.
The Foundation’s grant has funded a ‘train-the-trainer’ model that the organization has developed. Through this active outreach program, trained facilitators go out into the communities and help people get the personal attention they need to move beyond healing and provide the conditions for transformation in personal, family, community and work-life.