New funding for community’s youngest 

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) signed an agreement this week that will bring in more than $1.3 million for programming to benefit children up to six years old.

“I think these monies are going to help breathe more life into the community because we’re focusing on our future with these funds,” said MCK chief Amy Beauvais. “The more we invest in our future, I think we may not get results right away, but further down the line it will have a larger impact.”

The money is coming from the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care (IELCC) initiative through an agreement with the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC). It is slated to last until 2027, but it is not yet finalized how the money will be spent, Beauvais said.

A committee tasked with developing and administering the plan includes representatives from Council, the Tsi Rontswa’ta:khwa Early Childhood Center, Kanesatake Health Center (KHC), Tsi Ronterihwanónhnha ne Kanien’kéha Language and Culture Center, and Kanesatake Education Center (KEC).

“Any opportunity we can have to bring different departments together to have different projects for the community, I love,” said Beauvais. “That’s why I was ecstatic about this funding when it came across my desk.”

The idea, Beauvais said, is to reflect the importance each of these organizations has when it comes to nurturing the youngest Kanehsata’kehró:non. Beauvais hopes for the committee to meet every month.

“We’re going to have to move relatively quickly,” she said. Despite being signed this week, the funding agreement covers a period beginning in 2021.

Examples of activities that could be funded include cultural activities and trainings to support daycare or school staff. After brainstorming, the committee has settled on around five different branches, Beauvais said, citing special needs as one example.

“By the time they get to school age, you’ve already lost so many years to be able to help with special needs," she said, adding this is why it is so important to be equipped to identify these needs and begin offering support as soon as possible.

“If we’re looking specifically at special needs, I think it can help the children that are going to require those processes, immensely,” she said.

The community receives 10 percent of the funds on signing, 80 percent upon receipt of the multiyear plan, and the last of it at the time of final reports, according to Beauvais.

The MCK has also announced renovations for the daycare. This money stems from a separate proposal that will see about $140,000 flow to the community, the approximate amount recommended by an assessment that was done, Beauvais said.

“It’s little things, but they add up,” she added, saying that gutters need to be replaced and that the ventilation needs work, among other repairs.

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