The Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre in Cambridge is one of 10 Aboriginal Health Access Centres AHAC across Ontario entering a month-long campaign to celebrate 25 years of community-led healthcare to First Nation, Inuit and Métis Peoples.
“Aboriginal Health Access Centres celebrate the healing strength of culture and are places of belonging,” says Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC) CEO Caroline Lidstone-Jones in a press release.
“Our model of care places Indigenous health in Indigenous hands. Since opening, AHACs have brought thousands of community members into our circle of care and support.”
The 10 centres provide services both on and off-reserve in urban, rural and northern locations.
Their model of health and wellbeing uses a combination of traditional healing, primary care, cultural programs and social support services. Acknowledging and using culture as treatment in combination with mainstream medical science, AHACs have supported the healing and wellbeing of over 100,000 Indigenous People over the course of a generation, says the press release.
“Health for Indigenous Peoples is more than physical – it’s spiritual, mental, and emotional health braided together,” says E-niigaanzid (CEO) for Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre Angela Recollet in the release. “When Indigenous Peoples come to our centres, we welcome them into sacred, safe spaces with kindness, love and respect.”
As part of the month-long celebrations, IPHCC is releasing a series of videos highlighting and celebrating the work of the AHACs.
The videos can be found here.
The Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre on Coronation Boulevard in Cambridge is one of six locations spread across the homelands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendt, Neutral, Lenape, Chippewa and Wendat Peoples.
SOAHAC offers specialized cultural teachings, Ceremony, storytelling, guidance, drumming, singing and smudging in group and individual settings, depending on individual practice.
SOAHAC’s purpose is to improve access and quality of healthcare for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in the spirit of partnership, mutual respect and sharing.
The centre provides traditional healing, primary healthcare and health promotion, along with cultural programs and child and youth programs.
For more information email [email protected] and/or visit soahac.on.ca.
