(Ottawa, ON) November 26, 2024 – The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is grateful to be a recipient of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) Preventing Gender-Based Violence: The Health Perspective Youth Dating Violence – Indigenous Stream funding to support our 3-year project Cultivating Respectful Connections: Indigenous Youth’s Journey to Healthy Relationships.

Through this project, the LHF will work on developing a comprehensive dating violence prevention initiative tailored to Indigenous youth across Canada; to empower them through education, to help them identify unhealthy behaviours, and to cultivate healthy dynamics within relationships. This initiative will contain three categories of intervention strategies: a Youth Dating Violence (YDV) Prevention Toolkit, Workshops across Canada, and Research and Data Collection leading to a Final Report. This initiative will address the need to break cycles linked to the impacts of Residential and Day Schools, promote healing, and foster resilience and a return to respectful relationships.

“We are excited and encouraged to be receiving funding from PHAC to be able to carry out this valuable work which will support healthy relationships and prevent violence linked to the impacts of Residential and Day Schools and the Child Welfare System as part of the work that needs to be done to support Reconciliation in Canada,” said Teresa Edwards, LHF Executive Director, and In-House Legal Counsel.

“We are committed to supporting Indigenous Peoples to address violence and promote healing. By investing in these projects, we are helping ensure that Indigenous children, youth, and their families are empowered with culturally appropriate supports to foster healthy relationships and help prevent violence. This is part of our broader commitment to Reconciliation,” said the Honourable Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health.

The LHF is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for almost 25 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate Canadians about the history and impacts on seven generations of Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Peoples, Nations and communities because of their time in Residential and/or Day School. By cultivating empathy and understanding, LHF encourages people to address discrimination and injustice which contributes to the equity, dignity, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Peoples, fostering Reconciliation in Canada. The production of this project was made possible thanks to a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Teresa Edwards, B.A., LL.B / J.D.
Directrice générale et conseillère juridique interne
Fondation autochtone de l’espoir
tedwards@legacyofhope.ca