Breaking Cycles, Building Home

All people deserve the right to a home, health and happiness.

All people deserve the right to a home, health and happiness. This is a sacred teaching practiced by Indigenous Nations across the coast of Vancouver Island. Despite this fundamental belief, intergenerational trauma within Indigenous families after centuries of colonization has led to a rampant homelessness crisis. Indigenous homelessness means more than lacking access to four walls: it is the inability to maintain connections with family, community, ancestry, traditional practices, identity and culture. 

QomQem believes reconnecting Indigenous Peoples with their cultural roots is essential for health, well-being and the reclamation of Indigenous identities. QomQem Coastal Connections Cultural Programming was launched in 2020 in response to growing homelessness among Indigenous Peoples due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the last five years, this Indigenous-led initiative has reconnected unhoused or precariously housed Indigenous Peoples in Victoria by offering regular cultural gatherings and healing practices led by local Elders and Knowledge Keepers.  

The Indigenous Reconciliation Fund (IRF) will support the expansion and sustainability of this program by providing funding into 2026. This contribution will help QomQem to continue reaching Indigenous Peoples in need and connecting them with cultural and spiritual wellness programming events such as healing and wellness days, seafood gatherings and land-based outings. 

In alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, QomQem’s programming aims for unhoused Indigenous Peoples to build community, participate in sacred cultural practices and rediscover their sense of identity and belonging. Providing safe spaces to feel at home is the first step in mitigating the lasting effects of colonization.

Diocese of Victoria