Cedar needles scatter across the floor at Na a way Ishkode (Centre Fire in Anishinaabemowin), the dedicated space for Community Wellness at Siloam Mission. The Community Wellness team sits together, stripped cedar by hand. The scent is earthy, grounding, and comforting.
Across the space, nursing students are at sewing stations, stitching medicine bags. They sort through bold-coloured fabrics, measure out ribbon, and carefully line each piece before sewing. These medicine bags are given to community members, including as parting gifts for those moving into housing.
“These kits bring a sense of home,” says Jenny Foidart, Community Wellness Manager. “They help people reconnect to their culture in a space that is brand new.”
Over a four-week placement, students work alongside the Community Wellness team to prepare smudge kits and medicinal salve kits. The experience helps them learn what it means to support healing ways that honour Indigenous traditions. Smudging and sharing circles are also regular parts of the programming, offering space for reflection and support.
This work reflects the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, especially Calls 21 and 22, which speak to the importance of supporting Indigenous healing practices and making space for ceremony and traditional medicine.
At the same time, Christian spiritual care continues to be an important part of Siloam Mission. Through our Reflections program, community members gather for prayer, Scripture reading from the Life Recovery Bible, and devotionals from Our Daily Bread. It’s a welcoming space for people of all backgrounds to explore faith, find strength, and heal.
“Our hope is to be able to connect our relatives to diverse healing practices that enrich their lives and provide pathways to wellness,” says Foidart. “Whether it’s ceremony or prayer, medicine or reflection, healing looks different for everyone, and we want to honour that.”
It’s all made possible by community support, by donors, and by the time and care given by those who believe that healing happens in many forms.
To our donors and supporters, thank you for making space for both tradition and faith, and for helping hope take root in every corner of our community.
