60’s Scoop Healing Foundation to support Survivors with a grant program
- Rose Mansbridge-Goldie | October 14, 2021
The Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation has appointed Jacqueline Marie Maurice of Saskatoon as its CEO and will soon roll out a grant program to support 60’s Scoop survivors.
“This is a greater gift than any short-term compensation,” Maurice said in a recent interview.
Maurice is a Metis 60’s Scoop survivor, who did her Ph.D in social work on the Sixties Scoop and used her own experience as a case study. She has written a book on the subject and published two anthologies of essays by Sixties Scoop survivors.
She, along with other Metis and non-Status survivors, was left out of the $750 million Sixties Scoop national class action settlement agreement. About 30,000 Status First Nations and Inuit survivors are being compensated about $25,000.
The $50 million foundation operates independently from government and will provide healing services for all survivors and their families, including Metis and non-Status people.
It’s hard to gauge what each community or individual needs to heal, so the Foundation will let communities decide what they need funding for—whether its programming, a gathering place or workshops, Maurice said.
The Foundation is also about commemorating Survivors.
“Many of us are making such meaningful contributions within our communities and our families and communities and we want to celebrate them for years to come,” Maurice said.
The grant program is expected to be available by the end of the year.
“We're not here just for this generation of 60’s Scoop Survivors, we’re here for generations (to come),” Maurice said.
The Foundation will rely on fundraising after the $50 million from the National Sixties Scoop Settlement is gone.
“This is just a pebble in the water—we hope it'll create a ripple effect and there will be other organizations that open up,” Maurice said.
The volunteer Board of Directors is comprised of Sixties Scoop survivors.
Information about the Foundation can be found here: www.nationalhealingfoundation.com.