Anishnabeg Outreach is an Indigenous-led incorporated non-profit & registered charity dedicated to providing culturally appropriate services that strive to support First Nations, Inuit & Métis (FNIM) in overcoming barriers.
Guided by a volunteer Board of Directors, a clear mission and a strong set of values, we encourage exploration of pathways that lead to self-sufficiency and success. Our mission is to help FNIM by creating a sustainable and comprehensive suite of centralized wrap-around services for urban FNIM, as well as establish AO as an innovative hub/heart of best practices for economic development, training and employment on reserves.
Through all of our programs, we aim to build processes and tools that will position current and future FNIM generations as prosperous leaders and strategic partners in Canada’s future. We run programs out of two Indigenous Centres of Healing (in Kitchener and Guelph, ON) and our reconciliation farm (Breslau, ON).
We recently introduced a proactive software-based solution for mental health that supports the delivery of the social determinants of mental wellness for Indigenous individuals, including:
- Language, heritage and culture
- Education and lifelong learning
- Land and resources
- Infrastructure and essential services
- Addressing racism and discrimination
The Dream
A centralized space for Indigenous people to grow, learn & be a beacon for future generations. A place where we involve the entire person – including their families & their connections. Before moving on to our dreams, it is important to remember & reflect on our roots & our growth.
Past
As I muse on the past few years, it is with extreme pleasure and a slight hint of giddiness at the progress that has been made. When I first joined AO’s board, I listened and tried to hear what was happening and to see how the board was operating. I began to ask questions and seek out clarity.
As other like-minded board members began to share their views and their direction, I knew we were on to something. We wanted to make significant changes in the operations of Anishnabeg Outreach, as well as set AO on a new path that would set us apart. There is a great deal of personal and professional history attached to the growth of Anishnabeg Outreach within the KW community. As a board, we wanted to optimize that position and take AO in a new direction. A direction that would solidify AO as a leader in Indigenous run organizations – through operations, strategic direction and an overall positive image.
It took some doing because everyone has busy lives and as a volunteer board, the work we do is outside of regular working hours. Many people have and continue to give up their personal time to move this organization forward. Through the incredible gift of the donation of a house and the funds from the sale of the house, we were then able to take our organization in a different direction.
We set out to hire an Executive Director who has business experience and a vision to guide AO in the direction the board wanted it to go. Within the same time frame, we had a significant change in board membership, which distracted us from pursuing the hiring of an ED. A year passed and we finally had a job description that met our future needs as well as our future direction. Knowing that the house funds were not sustainable, part of the hiring requirements for the ED was to continue to seek out funds for their salary while growing Anishnabeg Outreach; And boy did we grow!
Present
We are restructuring to place AO as a forerunner in Indigenous operations that revolve around sensitive spirit building and positive beneficial relationships with all. We are restructuring to ensure more efficiency and transparency as well as a solid foundation for our growth. We are setting a bold and aggressive strategic direction that involves innovative practices and a positive, proactive approach with partners and with ourselves. We are restructuring to transform AO into an incredible organization that will make the local community proud and perhaps be a leader or beacon for others. AO is changing and even though change is difficult, it can also be an incredible opportunity. It is like the seasons. We might not like past seasons or the weather of those seasons, but change is good, necessary and inevitable.
With Stephen, as the new CEO, his bold approaches to the board’s vision launched us into a new era. Since his arrival in November 2017, we reduced loss of funds, created bookkeeping processes that are transparent and began to re-market and reposition AO. We are the lead agency for our Indigenous EarlyON center as well as establishing the foundational elements to become a hub of wrap-around services. From an advertising perspective, our vision has shifted which is evident through the new logo, new website and utilizing our social media for more effective communication and promotions.
AO is branching out to engage other organizations – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous to utilize our history and reputation to begin to offer more resources and services to our First Nations, Inuit and Métis population. The idea of a hub, or centralized service provider, is taking root by having the EarlyON as an anchor to draw in other programs and services that enable AO to provide the necessary wrap around services for their clients and families. This is all while we currently operate as an Employment Ontario agency. As the operation takes shape, our governance and strategic direction also align.
We have muddled through various challenges as many of our board members are ‘rookie’ board members and we have learned many valuable lessons along the way. We navigated difficult waters of accusations, gossip and lateral violence as we worked in confidence repairing some of the imminent issues of AO. We improved our own operations as a board and with each meeting are putting together more details, aggressive plans and communication amongst us all. For AO to grow, we as a board also need to grow and as newbies in this business of sitting as board members, we have had some bumps. But in the end, each board member has a shared vision for AO and as I like to say, “A great heart and a common purpose to make sustainable and culturally appropriate changes.”
As we begin on the journey of diversifying AO and setting AO as a leader in operations, direction and community partnerships, I am cautiously optimistic. I am cautious as there is a metaphor within the Indigenous community of ‘crabs in the bucket.’ The story goes, “Crabs in one bucket like to keep their crabs in their bucket, and if anyone tries to leave the bucket, they get pulled back in.” However, I like to think that the AO bucket is supportive — we try to encourage our crabs to move onward and thus encourage other crabs to leave their buckets. We rely on one another, support each other and reach out to provide a hand up out of the bucket. It is time for our Indigenous ways of doing, of practicing our cultures, and there is an ongoing need to recall and genuinely use our values of honesty, truth, respect, courage and have those values guide our decisions in a true sense, not simply as words but as our way of moving AO toward what it was originally intended to be.
Our Future
The 8th Fire is our future generation. They will take the spark and spirit of our ancestors, nurture it, protect it and then have it become a magnificent source of warmth, of gathering and of light for all generations and for all people.
We are Indigenous, we are wholistic, we are motivated and that is what it will take to lead the next generation to the 8th Fire.
The 8th Fire Prophecy is described in more detail in these videos:
Seven Fires Prophecies 1
The Eighth Fire: Grandfather Commanda & Elder Claudette Commanda – Teachings
Strategic Direction
Our Philosophy
Spirit building, partnership and proactive support.
Vision Statement
Build processes and tools that will position current and future First Nation, Inuit and Métis generations as prosperous leaders and strategic partners in Canada’s future.
Mission Statement
To help First Nations, Inuit and Métis by creating a sustainable and comprehensive suite of centralized wrap-around services for urban FNIM, establishing AO as an innovative hub/heart of best practices for economic development, training and employment on reserves.
Outreach Mandate
- Provide healing and mental health supports and programming to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
- Transformation of Employment Organization.
- Setup Indigenous early years drop-in centre.
- Provide an Indigenous hub of services.
- Establish Indigenous partnerships.
- Establish charity events.
- Indigenous scholarships.
- Shop Indigenous.
- Develop on-reserve jobs.
- Develop transitional urban housing.
AO is forging a new path of growth and partnerships. We aim to position ourselves as a beacon for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Waterloo Region. The privilege and distinction of being the region’s first Indigenous EarlyON is the ignition to implement significant change for our Indigenous people in the region. With the opportunity to begin to support our earlier and youngest, as well as their families and caregivers, we can begin to work to change future generations and move forward in a healthy way. In a culturally relevant and respectful way, we can begin to have a foundation for our families and to enable them to create a new path for themselves.
As part of this hub, we now have the capacity for future programming to meet the varied needs of our families. These discussions with other agencies and organizations are surrounded and grounded in innovative practices that bring in experts in many disciplines associated with general wellness, Elders and Knowledge Keepers to deliver core programming with community-driven initiatives.
Tammy Webster
AO Board President
