Building on the Canadian Medical Association’s commitment to truth, reconciliation and improving the health outcomes of Indigenous Peoples, the CMA Foundation is contributing $2 million to the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund (IPRF). This funding will support health, social and economic priorities in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
An Indigenous-led organization launched in response to COVID-19, IPRF supports Indigenous organizations and communities while taking a long-term view on community resilience. CMA Foundation’s contribution will strengthen community-led efforts to address the impact that COVID-19 is having on individual and community health and the systems that support them. A portion of these funds will also assist in the development of a long-term resource fund to support a future for strong, vibrant, and self-determining Indigenous communities.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities across Canada,” says Allison Seymour, CMA Foundation president. “We are pleased to partner with IPRF to support the organization’s critical work and to collaborate in knowledge sharing and knowledge translation, leading to meaningful action and improved outcomes for the health and well-being of First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals and communities across Canada.”
Wanda Brascoupé Skarù rę’, Kanien’keha and Anishinabe, and Victoria McKenzie Grant Teme-Augama Anishnabai of the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund, are honoured to collaborate with the CMA Foundation. “These funds will help IPRF continue to support the many Indigenous-led organizations and communities through this period as they adapt, act and respond to the effects of COVID-19 from coast to coast to coast. We look forward to a deep and rewarding relationship with CMA Foundation. It is relationships and partnerships like this that IPRF hopes to model for Canadian philanthropy on engaging with Indigenous-led organizations.”
CMA Foundation joins a group of philanthropists, changemakers and the IPRF leadership — a diverse group of Indigenous advisors from the East, South, West, and North — to provide immediate resources for preparedness, health care support and long-term resources. This approach supports community-based traditional knowledge, contemporary health services and ways of being that emanates from lived experience.