All Children and Youth Thrive!
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Time to Take Action
By Angela Bellegarde, OKN’s Manager of Indigenous Strategy September 30, 2022 marks Canada’s second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a day all Canadians are called to commemorate and honour all Indigenous people who attended Residential Schools, especially those who did not make it home. It is a day to reflect but to also take meaningful actions in Canada’s reconciliation process. Many of us know to wear orange shirts on September 30th but do you know why? The movement was started by Phyllis Webstad, who was excited to wear her orange shirt on her first day of attendance at Residential school. It was taken away from her and was the beginning of the trauma she would face during her school years. We wear orange to be reminded of how Residential Schools stripped the dignity, culture, and family away from Indigenous people in Canada. Residential Schools Created an Identity Struggle Until Today I have recently spent time in Saskatchewan with my extended family. Our...
National Indigenous History Month: Reminiscence and Revelation of a Non-Indigenous Person
By Janice Robinson, Halton Children’s Aid Society executive director My journey of Truth is an attempt to reconcile what I thought was the truth about a place I lived in when I was young, with what I later learned when Indigenous Peoples, events, communities, and most...
Time to Check in, Time to Listen: Youth Mental Health in Halton
By Bruna Redoschi, Our Kids Network Research Associate It was a slow night, and I was near the end of my shift. I had started volunteering in emotional support services during the COVID-19 pandemic, using my background in mental health care. It was late, and I was...
Truth is Dead
By Angela Bellegarde, Our Kids Network Indigenous Lead Once again, Canada and the world are witness to yet another First Nation’s learning of the remains of friends and relatives, in what is believed to be 54 unmarked graves on the grounds of former Residential School...
New, comprehensive data on youth wellbeing in Halton
By Connor Clerke, OKN knowledge broker In May and June 2021, more than 2500 youth participated in the Halton Youth Impact Survey. The results from the survey address an important gap in comprehensive data on how young people are doing across a range of indicators,...
Youth Impact Ambassadors facilitate discussions around key data from the Halton Youth Impact Survey
By Lily Viggiano, former Halton Youth Initiative Project Coordinator On Tuesday November 30, 2021, several Youth Impact Ambassadors facilitated discussions with other youth in Halton regarding key elements, or ‘data sparks’, from the Halton Youth Impact Survey. During...
Halton Youth Impact Survey Demonstrates the Ideals of National Child Day 2021
Including the Reflections of Halton Youth on the Survey Data is Critical to Preparing the Data for the Community By Elisabeth Wells, PhD, Our Kids Network research & knowledge mobilization manager As Canada prepares to mark National Child Day on November...