Dilico Anishinabek Family Care encourages families to open hearts and homes to support children in need

Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief Edward Wawia and Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins joined with a group of Dilico Anishinabek Family Care staff, former foster children and foster parents for the launch of the Join Our Family campaign for more foster care families and individuals on Nov. 8 in Thunder Bay.

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Northern Superior Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief Edward Wawia recalled how his parents raised four foster children during Dilico Anishinabek Family Care’s recent call for more foster care families and individuals.

“I come from a family of 16, and my parents raised four boys besides us 16,” Wawia says. “I remember when I was a kid — I asked my mom [why] these boys are always living at our place. She said, ‘Those boys are homeless, their parents couldn’t look after them. There was nobody else to look after them so we took them in.’”

Wawia says the four boys lived with his family until they graduated from high school.

“Most of them are passed on today, but they called my mom ‘mom’ all their lives,” Wawia says. “And that is what fostering is all about. Dilico has a great program. We are ensuring our children are brought home to our communities; that our communities look after our own children.”

On Nov. 8 in Thunder Bay, Dilico announced the Join Our Family campaign to encourage more families and individuals to open their homes and hearts to support children who need a safe place to live.

“That campaign is about giving hope, giving them an opportunity, giving them a chance to grow and become a very productive part of our society and very productive people in our communities,” says Fort William Chief Peter Collins.

Darcia Borg, executive director at Dilico, says foster care is an essential service for children and their families who sometimes must live apart for a period of time.

“Our foster parents offer their home to help children feel safe, secure and loved in the middle of very challenging circumstances,” Borg says. “Foster parents have a tremendous part to play in these situations, and help children thrive.”

Carmela Hardy, director of child welfare at Dilico, says the organization has a group of “very diverse foster parents.”

“If you are a family with young or adult children, a family with no children, a single parent, retired or stay at home parent — if you have a love for children and have their best interests in mind, you can apply to join our family and care for a child in need,” Hardy says. “Children have all different needs and come from several different home environments. Dilico works with our foster parents every step of the way and provides on-going support to every individual child’s needs.”

Dilico also highlighted two Anishinabek citizens who were Dilico foster children, Crystal Hardy and Todd Genno, and two Dilico foster parents, Jennifer Galbraith and Krista Zipper, during the campaign launch.

“Today has been a very emotional day but very much an honour for me because growing up in foster care has been a beautiful journey for me,” says Crystal, a nurse practitioner and lecturer at Lakehead University and Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek citizen. “To be able to show people that having the supports of my foster family along with our own supports has helped me become the person I am today. So I can give back all of the energy that I have received over the years from everyone.”

Crystal says it is also important for her to be a role model to other foster children to show them that they have “beautiful things ahead of them.”

“It doesn’t mean that they’re disconnected from their family, it just means they have more families,” Crystal says. “A big message is it takes a community to raise a child, and it’s so true.”

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