Foundation meant to build Nunavut’s charitable sector launches
Annauma Community Foundation aims to use Inuit societal values to build healthier communities
From left, current board members of the Annauma Community Foundation are David Korgak, Clarence Synard, Virginia Qulaut Mearns and Udloriak Hanson. Annauma launched with the purpose of growing Nunavut’s charitable and non-profit sector, and to ensure charitable initiatives are community-led. (Photo by David Lochead)
Nunavut’s charitable and non-profit sector took a step forward Monday with the launch of the Annauma Community Foundation.
Its goal is to use philanthropy to help local leaders and organizations in Nunavut provide Inuit-led solutions in their work to improve their communities.
The word Annauma is short for the Inuktitut word Annaumakkaijiit, which means to help people stay ahead.
“There’s no other community foundation in Canada that’s going to be doing the work that we’re doing,” said president Udloriak Hanson, adding the foundation will be based on Inuit societal values and philanthropy.
“The real essence of caring, sharing and giving,” she said.
The foundation was launched Monday night at the Tukisigiarvik Centre in Iqaluit, with close to 50 people filling the room.
Annauma’s grant program will start this summer, with five categories: Inuit children and youth; community health and well-being; education and learning; arts and culture; and community-identified opportunities.
Hanson said work to organize the foundation began when the federal government recognized the need for a bigger charitable sector in Nunavut. The government approached Community Foundations of Canada, which represents 191 local community foundations across the country, according to its website.
That group worked with local volunteers to help organize Annauma which, through its grants, will grow the territory’s charitable sector.
Speaking at the launch in explaining why a charitable sector is needed in Nunavut, Hanson used the example of the time in 2010 when he world’s G7 leaders came to Iqaluit.
A news photo that showed homeless people outside Northmart during the G7 meeting spurred southern Canadians to want to help address homelessness in the North.
But, Hanson said, there was no Nunavut charitable organization for them to donate to at the time.
“If we don’t have it, we have to create it,” she said.
But Annauma will do charity differently than it is done in the south, Hanson said.
Charities in the south typically want to be involved in specifics about how money is spent and who is receiving it, Hanson said. But because Annauma will be led by Inuit values, the communities or people in the community who receive the funding will help decide how it will be used.
Nunavut communities are already built on charitable activities and initiatives, Hanson said. Growing the charitable sector will put in place the structure to ensure those initiatives are not short-lived.
“We’re really talking about providing for these initiatives to not have to worry about where the next dollar comes from,” Hanson said of the need for reliable, secure funding.
Annauma’s fundraising goal is $10 million, to be done through its Caring North Campaign. So far it has raised $4.6 million, helped by funding from groups such as Mastercard Foundation, the Gordon Foundation, and the Government of Nunavut.
Hanson’s mother, Ann Hanson, whose work in fields such as community development awarded her the Order of Canada in 2003, also spoke at Monday’s launch.
Ann Hanson talked of the importance of looking after other community members and of being generous, mentioning the story of a community member who would hunt when others were hungry.
She said there is an Inuit saying that if you can divide food, give the rest to people who are starving. Ann Hanson said that sentiment continues today through the food centres and shelters in places like Iqaluit.
“That generosity from all humans, not just the Inuit stories, is working,” she said. “And you’ve been added on.”
Here’s hoping this foundation operates differently than those I’ve seen in the south.
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Most of what I’ve seen has been rich people volunteering their time to convince those less well off to give money for others to use “to do good work”.
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My first summer job was working, on commission, for a southern charity. They received pledges from people willing to donate money.
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I don’t know about the large pledges, if any. I never saw them.
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My job was to go to the homes of those who had made small pledges and collect the money they had promised.
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My “earnings” was 60% of what I collected!
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The people who did the phoning to confirm that someone would be home got paid from the other 40%, as did the organizers of the charity. I have no idea what percent of the money I collected actually went to charitable work.
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I do not give money to organized charities. I give money and food directly, usually anonymously, and do not claim an income tax deduction for my donations. I’ve also volunteered many thousands of hours (teaching, tutoring, or helping) at no charge.
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Most of those I’ve known who have volunteered their time have had well-paying jobs that enabled them to comfortably support themselves and their families.
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Many people in Nunavut do not have such jobs. Most of those who do, seem to be stretched thin, supporting extended families.
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So good luck coming up with an approach for Nunavut where the cost of the overhead is less than the benefit derived from that overhead.
Your earnings were 60% of what you collected. So your messaging is “I hope this group is not a crooked as I used to be”??
It’s for show, look at that Baffinland mascot.
Seems like this is really just a way to give tax receipts to companies in Iqaluit and the south for “donating” or “gifting” money.
Will significant change come from this? Probably not. But it will give a bunch of non-profits and community programs another door to knock on for money. Only difference will be the private businesses and elite will now get a tax break from it.
The federal government has set aside some money for non-profit housing. So a non-profit is being set up to qualify for that money. Since the non-profit organization cannot make money renting out the houses, it’s “partners” have to make money in other ways. See the Nunatsiaq News story about QIA wanting to build houses at $1.4 million each, using government money. Follow the money.
Your comment makes no sense. This story is not about housing, or QIA, or government money. Try and follow the plot, ok?
Read “Follow the Money” again.
It makes perfect sense.
The story is about the creation of a Not-For-Profit umbrella.
“Follow the Money” provides a logical explanation for why such a Not-For-Profit would be set up now in Nunavut.
This article says nothing about a non-profit “umbrella”.
Still no sense being made here.
Two consultants are in charge of running this organisation. See for yourself: https://www.annauma.ca/about. From the board and management team, it is clear that there are ties to qia and ncc…. All of the organisation’s grant programs are copies of those of qia and kakivak. Since the organisation is a non-profit, does that mean that their financial records will be clear about how much the management team earns and how much goes directly to helping Inuit families? I smell a business masquerading as a non-profit and competing with the Inuit organizations in grantmaking.
Congratulations on this project! Community Foundations do so much good in their support of community initiatives. So glad to see the support for this initiative in the North