A strong, independent and self-sufficient Indigenous community in Toronto: that’s the vision of Anishnawbe Health Toronto, and it’s sister organization, Anishnawbe Health Foundation.
Since 1984, Anishnawbe Health Toronto (AHT) has offered health services for Indigenous people in Toronto, combining traditional practices and western medicine. Through it’s 60-odd specialized programs, AHT supports Indigenous community members to find balance in spirit, body, mind and emotion — the grounding of Indigenous health.
To accommodate the organization’s growth over three decades, AHT has offered services at three locations across the city, often requiring clients to travel between sites to access primary care, mental health support, and specialized programs.
In 2015, the team decided there was a better way.
With a vision in mind of a fully integrated, dedicated Indigenous Health Centre, they established a separate entity: the Anishnawbe Health Foundation (AHF) with a mandate to raise funds for a capital project to build a new home for Anishnawbe Health Toronto.
Investing in Impact GICs to preserve fundraised dollars
Last year, with fundraising well underway, the Foundation team recognized their need to identify suitable investments to allow their fundraised dollars to continue to grow while project plans took shape for the health centre.
“We were already familiar with VCIB through their work in the community, and members of their team had come to our events. We knew that we were aligned from a values perspective,” said Julie Cookson, the Executive Director of the Anishnawbe Health Foundation. “So when it came time to look for GICs, we called them up to compare rates—and what we found is that VCIB has good rates!”
Having compared products across several financial institutions, AHF invested in Vancity Community Investment Bank’s Impact GIC, a bank term deposit product that contributes exclusively to community development lending.
“Securing a good rate to support the Health Centre and grow our fundraised dollars was our first priority — and it was added value for us that VCIB’s GICs do good in the community too,” said Cookson.
Pivoting to meet community needs
In March, when the pandemic hit, both the Health Centre team and the Foundation—with the help of dedicated volunteers, donors and supporters—reoriented their work to best meet the needs of the community.
“Some of the challenges that the Indigenous community faces in Toronto, put people at a higher risk for COVID-19,” explained Cookson. “For example, chronic health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease are prevalent in the community, at rates as much as 5 times the national average.”
“In addition, social distancing and isolation are impacting people’s mental health in a community that has high rates of depression, anxiety and addiction stemming from the impacts of the Residential school system and intergenerational trauma,” she continued. “We know that people with lower incomes are impacted at a higher rate, because of homelessness, where they live, and the kind of work they do—be it working in grocery stores or other places deemed essential.”
In response, the Health Centre and the Foundation began delivering food hampers and grocery gift cards to support community members facing food insecurity and offering online and telephone mental health services to support clients experiencing social isolation. In addition, the Centre has launched a mobile health unit, which will support Indigenous people who are homeless by offering mobile testing for COVID-19, among other services.
Investing for impact during the pandemic
At the same time the Foundation team also pivoted their internal operations to meet the current reality.
“As interest rates went down this year, our finance committee was worried about our investment income, and suggested that we should look around and put some more money in GICs if we could,” said Cookson.
Based on their positive experience working with VCIB, Cookson reached back out and learned about the bank’s new Unity GIC. The one-year, fixed-term deposit product created in response to the pandemic offers investors a premium rate of 3% interest. In turn, businesses and non-profits get much-needed loans or financial relief to sustain their organizations through the pandemic.
“This product came along at the exact right time for us,” said Cookson. “The interest earned on our Unity GIC investment is providing us with some unrestricted dollars to keep our operations working smoothly during this time. In addition, it was just great to see that VCIB find a way to help organizations through impact investing during COVID-19.”
Later this year, a construction crew will break ground on Anishnawbe Health Toronto’s new Indigenous health centre. In doing so, they’ll be living out their mission while making history.
The site will be the first stand-alone, purpose-built Indigenous building in the city of Toronto — a clear sign of a strong, independent, and self-sufficient Indigenous community.
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