Red Cross to establish office on reserve

The Paterson Foundation has donated $200,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to establish a new satellite office in a northwestern Ontario First Nation community.
“This generous gift is a really important first step in launching new partnerships with First Nations in Ontario,” said Melanie Goodchild-Southwind, senior manager of First Nation projects with the Canadian Red Cross, Ontario Zone. “The expansion of programs and services through the new satellite office will complement important community-based efforts to address social issues.”
The Canadian Red Cross is looking to build capacity in first aid and injury prevention, disaster preparedness, and violence and abuse prevention in the community that hosts the new satellite office to service the needs of community members as well as those from surrounding communities.
“We may modify some programs (so they) are culturally appropriate,” Goodchild-Southwind said. “We are certainly going to be on the ground and more present and visible, so I think community members will be more familiar with some of the programs that we have to offer.”
The Paterson Foundation is looking for First Nation health conditions and ongoing social inequities such as poverty to be addressed now and in a culturally appropriate manner.
“The Paterson Foundation expects with this gift that we will see an increase in the number of First Nations people who benefit from the delivery of Canadian Red Cross programs and services in their home communities,” said Donald Paterson, president of the Paterson Foundation. “We expect to see an increase in the number of First Nations people who volunteer and deliver programs on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross.”
The Paterson Foundation wants the donation to be used as a lever to build community capacity through cooperative work between a First Nation community and the Canadian Red Cross to address the many needs of First Nations people and their communities, both urban and remote.
Goodchild-Southwind said the organization’s next step is to seek interest from communities wishing to host the satellite office, noting they are looking at remote, rural, semi-remote communities that meet a certain population size.