Aurora Village healing camp closes, about half the former clients without housing
Luke Carroll | CBC News | Posted: April 12, 2022 10:00 AM | Last Updated: April 12, 2022
The tourist destination turned healing camp ran for four months mostly off federal funding
A temporary healing camp run out of Aurora Village just outside of Yellowknife officially closed on Friday, leaving about half the clients that called the iconic tipis home with nowhere to go.
Trevor Teed, the lands and environment director for Dene Nation and a key member of the operations of the camp, said the fact half of the clients — 10 out of about 20 regulars — were able to take the steps to be employed and find housing, shows the healing success of the camp.
"It went a long way to helping them. So many of them wanted to change their lives. And when the opportunity was there, they took it and ran with it," Teed said of the camp.
Four of the clients have taken on jobs with Aurora Village itself, the rest were able to find other employment opportunities and staff helped some find adequate housing.
Teed said he is unsure of where the remaining clients have gone, but expects they may have returned to the streets.
Protection from COVID-19
The camp was designed to protect the vulnerable population from COVID-19, something Teed said it succeeded in. The funding ran out as parts of the country are dealing with a sixth wave of the virus.
The camp ran for four months off federal funding, of approximately $2.8 million. When that ran out, Dene Nation funded one more week before the camp officially closed on April 8. Teed told CBC News in late March the camp was waiting for the federal budget to see if they might receive more morning.
According to the budget, the program the healing camp received funding from did receive an additional $190.5 million for 2022-23.
Teed said he hasn't heard anything yet but is optimistic.
Although protection from COVID-19 was the objective, the guests CBC News spoke with talked about the traditional healing and wellness opportunities the camp offered, through counselling, fire feeding ceremonies, sharing circles and traditional activities like trapping, dog sledding and fishing.
Support from frontline workers
The camp also received positive reviews from other institutions, including the RCMP, who sent a letter of support to Dene Nation for the wellness camp.
Cst. Erin Sawatzky is the community and school liaison with the RCMP, she told CBC News in early April that she had visited the camp several times.
"It offers the people out there a sense of personal security," she said.
"What I observe is the on-the-land element is what is impacting and what has been special to it."
Sawatzky said she knows a lot of the clients from the downtown core of Yellowknife and saw first hand what the camp had done for them.
"Maybe this is more personal opinion, but I find the individuals out there are not even recognizable to me, there's just an air of wellness and healing in their faces," she said.