Edward Wright, manager of the Inuvik Native Band (INB), says there needs to be more cooperation among local organizations in order to come up with effective long-term solutions for issues such as housing and homelessness in Inuvik.
Samantha McKay/NNSL photo
"All of our local First Nations or Aboriginal organizations, we all have people out there who are affected, and we all need to be pulling together more effectively and more concertedly to try and deal with these broader issues instead of focusing on piecemeal solutions," said Wright. "There are longer-term solutions that we could all work towards."
One solution he suggests is amalgamating social funding from the government and working together to target certain issues.
"Ideally, considering all funding is flowed through GNWT's various departments, if we could amalgamate a lot of the social envelopes of funding into a central pot where community organizations could formulate one larger group to deal with those issues, I think we could more effectively manage and deliver better programming on a longer-term basis," he said. "Not just for Inuvik, but all of the Delta communities. "But really, there should be more coordination so it can go where it is needed the most."
Joey Amos, manager of the John Wayne Kiktorak Centre (JWKC), said one way community partnerships are working in a small way is through a plan to keep the JWKC open for one day a week in the summer.
"It's through partnerships with the Inuvik Native Band, the Nihat Gwich'in Council and (Inuvialuit Regional Corporation) that we'll be able to do this," said Amos. "We're talking about potentially opening one day a week in the summer to let folks come in and take showers, do laundry, maybe eat a good meal."
While Amos said the centre will not be able to remain open overnight, it is still important to provide these services part-time in order to maintain contact with clients.
"We're trying to establish effective partnerships within the community," said Wright. "We really need to pull together to try to deal with these issues more effectively."
