On September 23rd at Trinity-St. Paul's United Church Centre for Faith & the Arts, James Carpenter, a Traditional Healer with Anishnawbe Health in Toronto conducted a naming ceremony for a new endowed Fund established at The United Church of Canada Foundation.  Creator offered the name

Mii-gi-we-Zha-way-nim-Manitoo

which means Kind Spirit that Gives Unconditionally. 

Grants from the Fund will be shared between Anishnawbe Health Foundation (80% of grants) whose mission is to improve the health and well being of Aboriginal People in spirit, mind, emotion and body by providing Traditional Healing within a multi-disciplinary health care model and the United Church of Canada's Healing Fund (20% of grants) which supports healing initiatives for survivors of residential school and its ongoing intergenerational impacts.

Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT)

Incorporated in 1984, AHT has been the only provider of western medical services combined with traditional healing within a multi-disciplinary health care model in Ontario. This Indigenous-led accredited Community Health Centre is the model for Indigenous Community Health Centres across the province.

Its current facilities are outdated, overcrowded and present privacy, confidentiality and infection control risks to clients and staff. AHT’s new home will be built on 0.7 acres of land in the West Don lands adjacent to the Distillery District in downtown Toronto.

The United Church of Canada’s Healing Fund

The Healing Fund, established in 1994, offers financial support to grassroots projects that focus on healing, language learning, and cultural restoration. The Healing Fund Council, with representatives from the All Native Circle Conference, British Columbia Native Ministries, and Ontario/Quebec Native Ministries, seeks to represent the diversity of Indigenous communities across the country, determines the fund’s criteria, and evaluates applications.