Grants and Contributions

The Restorative Narratives Project: Healing through Justice for Black Victim-Survivors will provide trauma-informed, culturally grounded initiatives designed to strengthen healing, empowerment, and increased access to justice for Black Canadians who have experienced crime, discrimination, or systemic harm. Rooted in community knowledge and ancestral resilience, the project will establish culturally safe pathways to recovery by combining restorative practices with peer-based support, digital documentation, and community-led reflection. The project will situate justice not only as a legal outcome, but as a lived, relational and cultural process; one that restores balance, dignity and belonging for those historically marginalized in Canada’s justice system.

The organization will provide “The Black Circle of Care” project, a community-based, trauma-informed initiative to provide critical, culturally grounded supports for Black victims and survivors of crime, with an initial focus on those impacted by hate crime and gun violence. The project will provide direct, culturally specific support and services through one-on-one counselling and healing circles and strategic referrals to partner organizations.

The organization will provide BREATHE: Black Response for Empowerment, Advocacy and Trauma-Informed Healing and Equity Program, a 24/7 counselling and support service specifically designed for Black victims and survivors of crime.

The organization will conduct qualitative research that systemically documents the lived experience of Black male survivors who have been criminalized after acts of self-defense or trauma response and establish a dedicated legal navigation and peer mentorship program that offers culturally grounded, trauma informed support to individuals caught within this cycle, empowering them to navigate the justice system and heal from compounded trauma.

This project will support a 3-day gathering for Alberta Indigenous Justice Program managers and staff giving them the opportunity to share best practices and facilitate networking.

The Supporting Families and Caregivers after Gun Violence project will develop and pilot a family and caregiver support group for Black victims and survivors of crime impacted by gun violence, through a collaborative, trauma-infirmed, and culturally grounded approach. Co-created by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) AMANI Mental Health & Substance Use Program staff, Wanasah and Black Creek Community Health Centre (BCCHC), the project pairs the grounded knowledge of community with the resource capacity of a large mental health organization with expertise in developing, delivering, and evaluating mental health services for Black youth and families. The project will also increase the capacity of service providers to provide trauma informed grief supports through incorporating training into module development and pairing social workers with community staff in group development and delivery, allowing for bidirectional sharing of knowledge and expertise.

The university will conduct a research study with the goal of improving the social and economic well-being of Black youth victims of crime through mentorship and wraparound service. The project will incorporate a participatory methodology, including the engagement of Black youth and undergraduates, employers, parents, and Black communities as agents of change.

The organization will provide the Holistic Ongoing Opportunities Development Facilitation and Management Services“HOODFAMS Roots of Strength” project to strengthen access to justice and culturally responsive support for Black youth and families aged 12 to 29 in Winnipeg who have experienced gang violence, assault, or other forms of interpersonal crime. Grounded in trauma-informed, community based and culturally anchored approaches, the project will respond to the complex realities faced by victims who are often marginalized within the justice system. The project will provide one-on one coordinated, culturally competent, and youth centred supports such as case coordination, trauma-informed counselling, legal and mental health referrals, crisis response supports, and community-based healing interventions.

The organization’s project will provide training for service providers and governments to provide Black-centred, survivor led, trauma and violence informed, culturally grounded, and accessible supports and services for Black victims and survivors of gender-based violence. By integrating trauma and violence-informed approaches with culturally grounded methodologies, the project will ensure that Black survivors are not only heard but meaningfully integrated in shaping the supports they receive.

This project focuses on advancing the Youth’s existing technical skills through applied, hands-on software development within a real commercial environment.