KENORA – The Kenora region will receive a boost of over a million dollars to support initiatives on mental health and human trafficking.
Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford announced nearly $1.3 million in funding that will be distributed to the local Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and Kenora Chiefs Advisory.
A $244,097 investment in CMHA Kenora will bolster a mobile crisis and support program and supportive housing initiative.
The money will allow CMHA to hire a second full-time crisis response worker, who will serve the Kenora-Sioux Lookout-Nestor Falls area.
The agency currently has one nurse embedded with a local OPP detachment to assist with calls relating to mental health and addictions, a program launched in October.
The remainder of the funding will provide rent supplements for an additional 10 supportive housing units, the province said.
Rickford also announced $1,054,000 for the Kenora Chiefs Advisory’s anti-human trafficking project. The funds will be used to support “wrap-around, culturally appropriate victim services” for Indigenous youth aged 13 to 24, including counselling, referrals, and other mental health support.
"We are very excited for this announcement to bring this new programming to Kenora Chiefs Advisory, to address these issues within our nine member communities in a holistic way true to Anishinaabe cultural teachings," Kenora Chiefs Advisory executive director Joe Barnes said in a statement Friday. "We worked closely in consultation with our communities and survivors of human trafficking to develop this program.”
That funding is part of $46 million the province is disbursing to agencies around the province as part of its anti-human trafficking strategy, it said.
