Being gifted a new home is a profound step towards truth and reconciliation, says the Quilts for Survivors founder.
Over the weekend, Vanessa Génier took to social media to announce big news for the organization that makes quilts for residential school survivors. The group is relocating across town, from Government Road in the west end to the former St. Paul's Anglican Church in South Porcupine, located at 58 Legion Dr.
The move is happening this Saturday, Aug. 25, with the grand opening on Sept. 20.
“To be gifted this space by the Anglican church, who we knew ran residential schools, is a big thing for them and a big thing for us. The Archbishop, Fred Hiltz, said a lot of people talk about doing things for truth and reconciliation, doing a gesture of something. He says it's not about that. It's about a lifestyle change. It's about a life commitment to that,” said Génier.
“Truth and reconciliation doesn't happen overnight. It's an ongoing commitment. And he seems very honoured and excited to commit to this work that we're doing.”
It was less than a year that the organization made its last move.
The house that the non-profit is in on Government Road is owned by Kunuwanimano Child and Family Services and is for sale, said Génier.
The new location was deconsecrated in 2021, meaning it's no longer used as a church, Hiltz told TimminsToday. He said the Diocese of Moosonee still owns the property and is allowing the non-profit use it free-of-charge.
“We're really excited to finally move to a place that is guaranteed for five years or more,” Genier said.
"We don't plan to close down at all. We plan to just keep running as per usual. We still have a high demand for quilts that need to be made and sent out.”
Since starting, Quilts for Survivors has made over 5,800 quilts for residential school survivors. With still over three months left in the year, Genier said they’ve almost matched the number of quilts they made last year.
“There’s still lots of hurt in our communities with our Indigenous people. There's still lots of aftermath effects of the residential school system and the '60s scoop and other traumas that have happened,” she said.
“We've never had an opportunity to heal as nations, and we've never had an opportunity to heal as a country from this genocide of Indigenous people. And the work that we're doing, in its simplicity, is just fabric and thread, but it’s healing and it's bringing comfort.”
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At a meeting in June, Hiltz said the church members spent time talking about healing and reconciliation.
"How we need to, you know, maintain our commitment to it. And then this opportunity presented itself. And so we thought, what a better use for this space than to offer it for a program that brings comfort to survivors of residential schools. So we're very excited about the whole initiative," he said.
An elder once told Génier that by giving individuals these quilts, it's giving survivors permission to heal.
“Which is huge because they’ve never had that. These are older people of the communities who never had a childhood, who, some of them, turned to other things because of all the trauma that they suffered. And that's why things like drugs, drinking, even diabetes, it all stems from these schools. It's awful,” she said.
There’s still a lot of fear when working with government agencies or non-Indigenous agencies because there’s been so much pain and mistrust, Génier said.
“Not everyone can share their experiences, and I don't believe that they need to, but someone needs to say, 'Hey, this was not OK' and in turn, this is what we're going to do, and this is how you can help, whether you're Indigenous or not Indigenous,” she said.
“And, in the case, with the new building, even if you ran these schools, what steps are you going to take to move forward in a good way? We can't erase what happened, but how are we going to move forward together?”
When it comes to healing and reconciliation, "it's one thing for the church to talk the talk," Hiltz said.
"It's another thing to walk that talk and the church needs to be very diligent in that kind of work. So here's such a wonderful, wonderful opportunity," he said.
