It takes a village to make a village

George, Mae Louise and Jamie

“This is a wonderful connection to provide us with the type of organizational and business acumen we need right now through our Spark volunteer, George Harris. For the past 18 years, Indigenous women and Elder grandmothers in Manitoba have come together to provide land-based healing and wellness for Indigenous women and girls at Grandmother Moon Lodge, which was previously situated on 40 acres of land in St. Laurent, Manitoba. Our programming was based on our ancestral perspectives and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This experience we gained from our past work has inspired us to expand our collective impact as Indigenous knowledge keepers to restore necessary balance to our communities. We are in the final stages of completing our business plan to create Clan Mothers Turtle Lodge Healing Village and Educational Centre, and required the expertise to help complete our 5 year operational budget. Thanks Spark for this great match!”

-Jamie Goulet, Co- Founder of the Clan Mothers Turtle Lodge

The Village and Educational Centre project, conceived and led by the Clan Mothers Turtle Lodge, focuses on rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of women and girls who have been victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking – using Indigenous matrilineal knowledge, principles and governance systems. The Village will be a secluded, safe and supportive environment located on the organization’s land north of Gimli, and includes residential space, and opportunities for involvement in the arts, traditional healing, and social enterprise activities.

Long-time Spark volunteer George Harris is helping to develop the 5 year financials and projections to include in the business plan, one of the many keys to making this long time dream of Jamie and her mother, elder Mae Louise Campbell, a reality. McGowan Russell, MNP, and Prairie Architects have also contributed significant pieces to the project so far. It truly takes a village to make a village!

If you work for a community development organization in Winnipeg and are looking for short-term, project-specific help, or if you’d like to volunteer your expertise, start here. Our matches make it possible for organizations to achieve what they can’t do on their own – be part of that change today!