Our Mission

Niagara Chapter - Native Women Inc. (NCNW) is a non-profit charitable organization that became officially incorporated in 1983. NCNW encourages urban Native/Indigenous Women to become active participants in society while remembering and honouring our unique cultural and spiritual beliefs. We are affiliated with Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA). Our Board of Directors is comprised of seven Native/Indigenous women who are elected each year from our community.

We are the only organization in the entire Niagara Region wholly owned and operated by and for Indigenous women and their families. We are proud to have served our community for 37 years and our part in the establishment of Ganawegah Urban Native Homes, The Learners Academy Day Care and After School Programs. We've learned a lot along the way and would be honoured to have your support for our ongoing ventures and to help us meet the growing demands for our services.

About NIAGARA CHAPTER - NATIVE WOMEN INC.

We plan for and fund our own activities and Arts/Culture Programs. For example we are part of a group hosting a Youth and Elders Gathering called "Gathering Our Sacred Bundles." We continue to provide an Annual Holiday Celebration for our members and the families with their children that are involved with Children's Aid Society. Often this is the only holiday celebration they attend. We ensure that not only every child but every adult too has a great meal, visits with Santa and goes home with a gift.

We offer annual scholarships to students going into first year of post-secondary education. A recent Impact Study in cooperation with Brock University indicated how important these scholarships were to the recipients. Additionally, we accept post secondary and high school students on placements with us, for on the job training and for summer employment. Each year we honour a different Native/Indigenous woman with a volunteer award entitled: Vera Hill-Sharrow Award for Volunteerism. A beautiful plaque with an image of "Vera Hill-Sharrow," our first Native Woman of the Year, alongside two plaques with the engraved names of all subsequent Native Women Of the Year (30 in all) are now proudly on display in our main office area. Finally, we are currently in the early stages of creating our Teaching Garden which will allow for many to learn about our medicines and how to maintain gardens.

We work closely with all our Native/Indigenous colleagues from many organizations and nearby Reserves. Moreover, we advocate in mainstream society by sitting on Advisory Groups like: Brock University, Niagara College Education Council, Niagara Indigenous Children's Planning Council, and LHIN 4 Indigenous Health Network. We house a reference library, with videos, a variety of self-help books, business, reference texts, reports and studies. We offer an Aboriginal Child Advocate program to families who are in contact with the local CAS and more recently have established an Aboriginal Youth In Transition Program for 16-24 year olds. We are very involved in the entire Niagara Region with all of our Child Welfare Services and Programs. "Original Pathways," our Aboriginal Approaches to Alternate Dispute Resolution service, is growing and we fulfill requests from across the province and beyond to come and teach our information to Lawyers, Judges and Children's Aid Societies as well as para-legals who assist our people in the urban setting. We also get calls for assistance from on Reserve services. Although we get reimbursed for some expenses and sometimes an honorarium, we do not charge for this service but feel it is spreading the news to assist our people.

We are currently seeking donations and sponsorships to assist with our ongoing work. Much of our work is done on a case-by-case basis with Native/Indigenous women and their families. Contact us for sponsorship info. Our biggest struggle is ongoing funding as we are a wholly independent organization and we look forward to your support. Should you have questions or comments please feel free to contact us.