Elders in the Kitikmeot will receive a monthly cash payment of $500 from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association from April through June to assist them in buying healthy foods during the pandemic.
image courtesy of the KIA
Those eligible will have been born in 1960 or earlier. The KIA stated that it will use its database to identify recipients. With 541 elder beneficiaries registered in that database, this temporary benefit will total $811,500.
Another $750,000 will be earmarked for Kitikmeot beneficiary families to spend time at their camps or cabins. Each community in the region will receive $50,000 per month for the next three months for this purpose. This program is intended to assist in social distancing, but only those with a means of transportation will be able to benefit from it.
Both programs are made possible by the federal government's Indigenous Community Support Fund, which was created in response to the coronavirus COVID-19.
The KIA stated that its board will introduce additional programs in the near future to assist beneficiaries during the pandemic.
