Truth & Reconciliation
Truth, Reconciliation, and justice heal our whole community. Let’s get to work!
Truth & Reconciliation
Truth, Reconciliation, and justice heal our whole community. Let’s get to work!
Our nation’s legacy of colonization created a cascade of intersecting oppressions for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people and other marginalized groups.
Devastating colonial strategies—such as residential schools—triggered intergenerational trauma, compromised health outcomes, and barriers to basic human rights like employment and housing.
And while the marginalization of Indigenous communities is unique, parallels exist with the injustice experienced by newcomers, refugees, racialized groups, and diaspora communities, too.
Without truth, justice, and healing, there can be no reconciliation. As Treaty people, we share the responsibility of working united for a stronger community.
The reality in Winnipeg
Colonization has devastating impacts on First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in Winnipeg and across our nation:
31%
90%
Unemployment
66%
75%
How we’re transforming lives
Building a strong community where everyone can thrive means challenging ourselves with the lifelong journey towards equity, inclusion, and decolonization.
With the generosity of our donors, we support that journey in ways such as:
Investing in Indigenous-led agencies
For generations, Indigenous people have made significant contributions to our city.
Our donors have upheld the priorities of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people by funding Indigenous-led agency partners ever since our inception in 1965.
Today, we invest more than $3.3 million annually in transformational work, such as traditional health and wellness resources, culturally-based training, and mentorship.
Life-saving, Indigenous-centred care
Your gift supports services aligning with Indigenous values, helping repair the rift created when land and culture was lost.
Rooted in traditional ceremony, culture, and ways of being, our Indigenous-led agency partners offer a range of holistic services—from restorative physical, mental, and spiritual support, to land-based teachings, to vital employment and housing resources.
By giving united, we’re helping individuals and families restore balance, rebuild lives, and reclaim culture.
Taking up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action
Residential schools were one of many genocidal colonial strategies.
Embracing and implementing the TRC Calls to Action is core to our commitment of Indigenous Collaboration and guides our ongoing journey towards truth, healing, and reconciliation with the past, and justice for the present.
We’re proud to be the first United Way to sign on to The Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action presented to the TRC. By signing, we’ve committed to leverage our assets and resources to create more equitable and just communities.
Thriving Indigenous youth
Our donors help cultivate welcoming places of refuge for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis youth at drop-in centres and other safe spaces across our city.
Additionally, our Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council took up TRC92 (Indigenous youth employment) by linking corporate sector employers with community-based organizations that train Indigenous youth for jobs.
Indigenous Collaboration
Listening. Learning. Unlearning. Transforming.
In all we do, United Way Winnipeg seeks to embed a lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and Indigenous Collaboration.
We encourage a process of decolonization—with ourselves, our organization, our community, and our nation. Together, we’re taking deliberate steps towards a more just and equitable community.
A better Winnipeg for everyone
The effects of colonization touch everyone.
Whether you identify as Indigenous or a settler, survivor, newcomer, or ally, we’ve ALL been shaped by our nation’s colonial legacies.
We recognize the ways newcomers, refugees, racialized groups, and diaspora communities are harmed by colonization and systemic racism.
That’s why our donors make sure welcoming, inclusive, and culturally safe supports are there for everyone—no matter who you are, what you believe, or where you’re from.
