In support of Truth and Reconciliation we are pleased to announce a donation of $2000 to the Ayalik Fund.

We committed to donate $10 for every new patient seen at the CHI, September to December. We asked our community through social media to choose a recipient for these funds, and the support for The Ayalik Fund was overwhelming. The CHI is proud to support this fund and its very important mission.

The Ayalik Fund was created to honour the memory of Eric Ayalik Okalitana Pelly. The Fund gives Inuit youth who would otherwise not have such opportunities a chance to build self-esteem and confidence through challenging outdoor adventure, meeting other young Canadians, and social-cultural exploration.

In this time of reconciliation, the Ayalik initiative has taken on greater significance, as a way of providing support and opportunity to the Inuit youth of Nunavut, who are still to this day feeling the effects of the colonial era. Ayalik goes beyond acknowledgement of the history, to engage in constructive action intended to build for the future. The founders and the supporters are of like mind, that this is an act of reconciliation which is making a real difference in the lives of young Inuit, and has the potential to reach many more.

To learn more about the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit philosophy underlying the Ayalik initiative, you can read more here.