In the final episode of the Creating Communities of Care Podcast, we review what we’ve heard over the past five episodes. If there’s one thing that we’ve learned in this process, it’s that culturally-specific and community-based approaches to addressing gender-based violence show promising results that speak to a larger need for these types of programs to be more widely available. There is a lot of work to do before the social problem of gender-based violence is fully addressed in our communities, but there is also a lot of hope. Hope that we can learn from mistakes and successes alike to build better systems and structures that support all members of society equitably. Hope that the women who receive help today are likely to become the individuals helping others tomorrow. And finally, hope that examples like the one set by the Creating Communities of Care Project are followed by more people, organizations, and institutions. We now know better, so it’s time to do better. RESOURCES:If you heard parts of your own story in this podcast, and are interested in learning more about the organizations mentioned in this episode, please refer to the following: More about Creating Communities of Care https://creatingcommunities.ca/about-us/Association of Black Social Workers: Contact or intake number/email: ccc@nsabsw.ca OR 902-407-8809 Link to online intake portal: https://www.nsabsw.ca/contactus/ Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia: Contact or intake number/email: ed@efrymns.ca OR (902) 454-5041 Link to online intake portal: https://www.efrymns.ca/copy-of-apply-for-legal-support (select creating communities of care) OR https://www.efrymns.ca/contact Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network: Contact or intake number/email: 902-379-2042 OR 902-895-1141 Link to online intake portal: www.MLSN.ca Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre: Contact or intake number/email: contact@mymnfc.com OR denise@mymnfc.com OR 902-420-1576 Link to online intake portal: https://mymnfc.com/2020/01/contact-mnfc/

In the fifth episode of the Creating Communities of Care Podcast, we finally dive deep into culturally-specific programming: what it is, what it means for program participants, and the promise it holds for a better, more inclusive future. Each of the four partner organizations implement their own take on culturally-specific programming, borrowing from Afrocentric thinking and Indigenous customary law to deliver services that help make participants feel seen, heard, believed, and ultimately respected. The Mi’kmaq Legal Support Network’s sentencing circles are an example of this type of service delivery in action. RESOURCES:If you heard parts of your own story in this podcast, and are interested in learning more about the organizations mentioned in this episode, please refer to the following: More about Creating Communities of Care https://creatingcommunities.ca/about-us/Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network: Contact or intake number/email: 902-379-2042 OR 902-895-1141 Link to online intake portal: www.MLSN.ca Association of Black Social Workers: Contact or intake number/email: ccc@nsabsw.ca OR 902-407-8809 Link to online intake portal: https://www.nsabsw.ca/contactus/ Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia: Contact or intake number/email: ed@efrymns.ca OR (902) 454-5041 Link to online intake portal: https://www.efrymns.ca/copy-of-apply-for-legal-support (select creating communities of care) OR https://www.efrymns.ca/contact Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre: Contact or intake number/email: contact@mymnfc.com OR denise@mymnfc.com OR 902-420-1576 Link to online intake portal: https://mymnfc.com/2020/01/contact-mnfc/

In the fourth episode of the Creating Communities of Care Podcast, we take a step away from the busy streets of Halifax to investigate the Justice System and the troubling overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous women in provincial and federal prison admissions. The Elizabeth Fry Society advocates for women involved in the Justice System. This advocacy looks different for each woman they work with, but what remains consistent is the organization’s commitment to their clients and to doing what’s right. In this episode we will hear how the Correctional Service of Canada treats women facing gender-based violence as equal participants in their partner’s abuse, often leading to their criminalization and eventual incarceration. But, we will also hear from the women who are working against these systems, and about the importance of hope when fighting a seemingly impossible fight. RESOURCES:If you heard parts of your own story in this podcast, and are interested in learning more about the organizations mentioned in this episode, please refer to the following: More about Creating Communities of Care https://creatingcommunities.ca/about-us/Association of Black Social Workers: Contact or intake number/email: ccc@nsabsw.ca OR 902-407-8809 Link to online intake portal: https://www.nsabsw.ca/contactus/ Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia: Contact or intake number/email: ed@efrymns.ca OR (902) 454-5041 Link to online intake portal: https://www.efrymns.ca/copy-of-apply-for-legal-support (select creating communities of care) OR https://www.efrymns.ca/contact Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network: Contact or intake number/email: 902-379-2042 OR 902-895-1141 Link to online intake portal: www.MLSN.ca Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre: Contact or intake number/email: contact@mymnfc.com OR denise@mymnfc.com OR 902-420-1576 Link to online intake portal: https://mymnfc.com/2020/01/contact-mnfc/

In the third episode of the Creating Communities of Care Podcast, we learn more about the Urban Indigenous experience, how being separated from community can impact an individual, and one program in particular that is reuniting Indigenous women with their culture. The Mi’kmaq Native Friendship Centre has been a fixture in Kjipuktuk (also called Halifax) for decades, serving the Urban Indigenous community in a myriad of ways. From childcare to housing, to cultural services and everything in between, the Friendship Centre provides it all to status and non-status members of the community. In this episode, we explore how building relationships and reinforcing culture can provide a path to healing and prosperity. 

In the second episode of the Creating Communities of Care Podcast, we focus on the African Nova Scotian community, the challenges and barriers that they face when interacting with service providers, and what one organization in particular is doing to make things better. The Association of Black Social Workers is one of the four Creating Communities of Care partner organizations. In an effort to provide culturally-specific programming to their clients, the ABSW is integrating elements of Afrocentricity into their programs, creating spaces where healing and growth can happen through the formation of trusted relationships. RESOURCES:If you heard parts of your own story in this podcast, and are interested in learning more about the organizations mentioned in this episode, please refer to the following: More about Creating Communities of Care https://creatingcommunities.ca/about-us/Association of Black Social Workers: Contact or intake number/email: ccc@nsabsw.ca OR 902-407-8809 Link to online intake portal: https://www.nsabsw.ca/contactus/ Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia: Contact or intake number/email: ed@efrymns.ca OR (902) 454-5041 Link to online intake portal: https://www.efrymns.ca/copy-of-apply-for-legal-support (select creating communities of care) OR https://www.efrymns.ca/contact Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network: Contact or intake number/email: 902-379-2042 OR 902-895-1141 Link to online intake portal: www.MLSN.ca Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre: Contact or intake number/email: contact@mymnfc.com OR denise@mymnfc.com OR 902-420-1576 Link to online intake portal: https://mymnfc.com/2020/01/contact-mnfc/

When the system fails us, we can build better. In our first episode, we go back to 2018, exploring the overlapping contexts and systems that contribute to the victimization of African Nova Scotian and Urban Indigenous women in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma,ki - also known as Halifax, Nova Scotia. We hear from the four organizations that would come to form the Creating Communities of Care Project. We learn about the needs of Black and Indigenous women in Kjipuktuk, and the ways in which the systems and institutions (that are put in place to aid women in need) underserve and ultimately criminalize African Nova Scotian and Urban Indigenous women facing gender-based violence. RESOURCES:If you heard parts of your own story in this podcast, and are interested in learning more about the organizations mentioned in this episode, please refer to the following: More about Creating Communities of Care https://creatingcommunities.ca/about-us/Association of Black Social Workers: Contact or intake number/email: ccc@nsabsw.ca OR 902-407-8809 Link to online intake portal: https://www.nsabsw.ca/contactus/ Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia: Contact or intake number/email: ed@efrymns.ca OR (902) 454-5041 Link to online intake portal: https://www.efrymns.ca/copy-of-apply-for-legal-support (select creating communities of care) OR https://www.efrymns.ca/contact Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network: Contact or intake number/email: 902-379-2042 OR 902-895-1141 Link to online intake portal: www.MLSN.ca Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre: Contact or intake number/email: contact@mymnfc.com OR denise@mymnfc.com OR 902-420-1576 Link to online intake portal: https://mymnfc.com/2020/01/contact-mnfc/