Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre up for award

The Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre at 244 MacArthur Ave in Vanier has been open for five years. Today, the centre offers child care, after-school programs and Inuktitut classes to Inuit families in Ottawa. (FILE PHOTO)

The Ontario Trillium Foundation announced Feb. 22 that Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre is a finalist for the prestigious 2012 “Great Grants” awards, which recognize Ontario organizations that have demonstrated “exceptional results, innovation and a lasting impact on the communities they serve.”

Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre and Propeller Dance have been selected as finalists in the human and social services category, and, along with eight others recipients will be recognized by Michael Chan, Ontario’s minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, at a ceremony in Toronto on March 23.

The Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre has improved family literacy for Inuit communities, the Ontario Trillium Foundation said in a news release.

“Recognizing the need to address family literacy challenges among children who migrated from the North or were adopted by non-native families, the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre has developed an innovative early childhood literacy program that integrates Inuit learnings and traditions into each component of the program. Although the group’s primary goal was to encourage families to start literacy training at an early age, the cultural awareness activities — developed in partnership with local Elders — have sparked such interest that new initiatives like the Uqausivut language training program and Inuit Cultural Online Resource have been launched, allowing all family members to participate and engaging the entire community,” the release said.

Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre was awarded a community grant of $126,000 over two years in 2007.

“Our funding grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation has meant that all our children and families are able to celebrate literacy in the context of our Inuit Culture and for that we are all grateful. Our children experienced their culture through reading stories, participating in photo journalism, singing songs and by listening to stories from our Elders. These are wonderful opportunities for the growing Inuit community living in Ottawa,” said Karen Baker-Anderson, executive director of the Ottawa Inuit Children`s Centre.