As winter arrives, Thunder Bay's only funded, Indigenous-led street outreach is running out of money
CBC
A large black vehicle rolls up to a couple of men sitting outside on the ground in an alleyway in Thunder Bay, Ont. The window rolls down.
"Hey guys, you guys okay?" a friendly voice calls out from the driver's seat.
It's the start of Steven Okeese and Mya Dixon's evening shift with WiiChiiHehWayWin, the street outreach program run by the Matawa Tribal Council.
Their first task: to check up on people who are out and about in the streets.
But as they proceed, there is additional pressure, beyond making sure people are getting the help they need.
The only funded, Indigenous-led street outreach program in Thunder Bay is about to run out of funding for the second time this year. Just as winter arrives.
"We have water and gatorade," Okeese offers, as Dixon hops out of the vehicle and grabs a couple drinks from the cooler in the backseat.
"Are you going to be around here later? We're gonna go make lunch bags soon," Okeese asks, before driving over to the next alleyway to check in with another group of people huddled underneath a vent blowing warm air.
During this shift, Okeese and Dixon hand out food, water, and warm clothes to help with the dropping temperatures.
On other shifts, lives have been saved.
The outreach workers have responded to overdoses, found people unresponsive in the streets, helped families search for loved ones reported missing, connecting people with a warm place to stay. They've even lent out their phones so people living with homelessness can call family members living back home in their First Nation.
But now, the timing of the funding crunch is leading to worries about the well-being of the vulnerable population as COVID-19 cases start to creep up and temperatures drop.
The WiiChiiHehWayWin program was born last winter during a series of cascading crises in the northwestern Ontario city.
On Jan. 22 of this year, the body of Arnold Sakanee, a 29-year-old man from Neskantaga First Nation, was found frozen on the front steps of the Thunder Bay Museum.
A man who admitted to sneaking into store staff rooms to steal wallets, keys and cellphones in a string of thefts has been sentenced to over two years.
The Saskatchewan government has changed the provincial Correctional Services Act to reflect a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the burden of proof for inmate disciplinary hearings.
Tyler Hellard and his debut novel, Searching for Terry Punchout, are featured on the longlist for this year's Canada Reads contest.
The NDP leadership race could be turning into a nail-biter with no clear winner in sight. But it's unclear if Canadians are tuning in.
As the prime minister gears up to visit China, his parliamentary secretary, MP Kody Blois, says Mark Carney would like to "recalibrate" Canada's once-frosty relationship with the Chinese government and look at economic opportunities for the two nations.
Ontario appears set to push ahead with a ban on declawing cats and debarking and ear cropping dogs, a move animal welfare advocates say is years overdue and doesn’t go far enough.
If you’ve ever wanted to groove to music while drinking coffee, the Kitchener Downtown BIA has you covered this winter.
Iranian Montrealers rallied in the downtown core Saturday afternoon in a show of support for the people of Iran.
A Manitoba judge says Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie must reconsider granting permits to a company that's no longer allowed to take tourists to see polar bears in large tundra vehicles east of Churchill.
Some people from a northern Saskatchewan reserve were left without phone landline and internet services for weeks, and wonder why it took so long for SaskTel to address the issue.
Alberta’s rate cap is deepening financial losses in the province's auto insurance market, industry experts say, as a new report found auto insurers lost more than $1.2 billion in 2024.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says an atmospheric river will take aim at British Columbia's south coast this weekend as heavy rain continues to batter the north coast.
Islanders packed into the temporary location for the Charlottetown Farmers' Market Saturday, marking the first day operating on North River Road in the former Sporting Intentions space.