A northern outreach program for families affected by missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls has received a $100,000 boost.
The federal funding has been given to the Piwapan Women’s Centre in La Ronge for its Northern Connection Project.
The funding will be used to hire an employee who will serve as a local contact and help coordinate information for families.
Centre executive director Karen Sanderson said families dealing with this issue face a number of challenges which add to the stress they are already going through.
“First of all, you’re trying to make connections with the person who is missing,” she said. “You’re not able to do that, so, where do you go from there? Then you go to the RCMP or city police, people who aren’t familiar with you or the situation. Then you have to go by their guidelines. And by that time, it could take days to go through the process.”
The federal funding has been provided through Women and Gender Equality Canada.
Sanderson said they hope to have the new employee in place in the coming weeks.
(PHOTO: Courtesy Piwapan Women’s Centre Facebook page.)