Seven community-led projects focused on crime prevention and services for victims are receiving $248,611 in funding from the Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust (CPVST).
The spring 2021 funding intake received many excellent applications from a broad range of organizations. The CPVST Board of Trustees awarded $178,894 to projects with a crime prevention focus and $69,717 to projects providing services and support to victims of crime. The recipients are Inclusion Yukon, Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, White River First Nation, The Nelson Project, Yukon First Nation Culture & Tourism Association, Larrikin Entertainment Ensemble and Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council.
Funded projects will be delivered throughout the territory and include:
- supporting youth transitioning from high school to the workforce;
- cultural and land-based experiences for youth;
- a women and children’s retreat;
- a retreat for at-risk men;
- a musical about domestic abuse; and
- a taxi education safety project.
Organizations have adapted their plans in order to continue to work in accordance with current COVID-19 restrictions. Projects funded during the pandemic continue to adjust their delivery or have sought extensions in order to continue providing Yukoners with ways to reduce crime and provide services for victims.
The next deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. on August 17, 2021. The CPVST reminds organizations that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how some services are offered for victims. Applicants are encouraged to be creative with how projects will run in these unparalleled times.
Community-based projects that help prevent crime or support victims of crime are a critical way to enhance safety in the Yukon. I am delighted that funding provided through the Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust continues to support innovative projects that are making our communities safer and healthier places to live.
Minister of Justice Tracy-Anne McPhee
As a Board of Trustees, we would like to thank all the applicants for their commitment to developing high quality, innovative projects across Yukon that take action on issues of victimization and crime. We are proud to support these local solutions and continue to be inspired by the flexibility and creativity shown during these challenging times. We encourage all communities to consider applying for emerging issues for new projects this fall.
Lareina Twardochleb, chair of the Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust Board of Trustees
The Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust provides funding twice a year to projects that are intended to reduce crime, prevent gender-based violence, prevent violence against women and children, address the root causes of crime and provide services and information for victims of crime or provide information about crime prevention and victimization.
Funding applications are accepted from municipal and First Nations governments, non-profit organizations and school councils or boards. Eligible costs may include wages or honoraria, promotional materials and printing, as well as materials or rental costs.
The Trust has supported Yukon community groups since 1998. Proposals are reviewed by the Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust Board of Trustees, which includes community members and representatives from the Government of Yukon, First Nations governments, women’s organizations and the RCMP.
Crime Prevention and Victim Services Trust spring 2021 recipients
Inclusion Yukon was awarded $36,600 for a project called Transitions from High School. This project is a 17-month program that addresses the gap neurodiverse students face when leaving high school and entering the work force by providing both paid and unpaid internship opportunities to develop skills necessary for this transition and obtain work experience for graduation credits.
Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in was awarded $13,900 for their First Fish 2021 project. This camp will be hosted during the salmon run at Moosehide village, near Dawson City, allowing youth to be on the land for one week learning about salmon harvesting, processing, conservation, traditional medicines, foods and languages, as well as discussing traditional justice and what it looks like in a modern community. Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in members and elders will also attend to provide guidance, teachings, stories and history.
White River First Nation was awarded $55,185 for their WRFN Women's Summer Retreat 2021 project. This is a weeklong women’s retreat to provide participants with a culturally safe space to share experiences, fears and advice – with access to crime prevention and victim support services. They will offer guidance on how participants, particularly children, can recognize unhealthy habits or traits that can lead to criminal activities, how they can protect themselves from becoming victims of crime and how the community can spot and address the root causes of criminal behaviour.
The Nelson Project was awarded $51,756 for The Nelson Project: Connecting With At-Risk Men. This project will connect with at-risk Indigenous men in the Yukon through on-the-land gatherings to learn about their lives, their needs and their hopes for the future. At-risk men are typically hard to reach and hesitant to talk. Service providers do not know enough about who they are, why they are at risk, what they want, where they live, when they need support, and how they want to be supported. This project will help fill this gap and will establish a relationship of trust with at-risk men across the Yukon.
Yukon First Nation Culture & Tourism Association was awarded $25,000 for the YFN 2022 – Leading with Culture. This project is for part one of a two-part project in which Yukon First Nation Culture & Tourism Association will create and share an inspiring performance by and about Yukon First Nations people today. In 2021-2022, they will create a powerful performance by and about Yukon First Nations today, who are caretakers of northern lands and waters for millennia, facing unprecedented climate change that threatens our very survival on earth. The performance will be shared in 2022-2023.
Larrikin Entertainment Ensemble was awarded $27,000 for Development of Blocked, a Musical about Domestic Abuse. This funding is for the development of a musical theatre exploration of violence against women – for women of all ages who have experienced abuse at any level.
Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council was awarded $39,170 for Taxi Safety Education Project. This project aims to improve taxi safety overall by decreasing the chances of criminal acts and/or victimization during taxi rides. The Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council (YAWC) will hold focus groups with taxi drivers and with taxi ridership groups who rely on taxis to get around and who are vulnerable to becoming victims of crime because of certain risk factors. YAWC will work collaboratively with the taxi industry and organizations serving taxi ridership groups that are at greater risk of becoming victimized. This project will also offer training to taxi drivers, building upon and supplementing the voluntary driver training offered by Bylaw Services of the City of Whitehorse.
Renée Francoeur
Cabinet Communications
867-334-9194
renee.francoeur@yukon.ca
Fiona Azizaj
Communications, Justice
867-667-8148
fiona.azizaj@yukon.ca