Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund Project Office Update
The BC community demonstrated competence to serve our survivors no matter where they lived, when the Nikkei Seniors Health Care & Housing Society took on the initial $2million grant from the BC Government, and developed and implemented grants in the initial Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund, 2021-2022. The highest priority is to make sure a substantial fund continues and is able to provide health supports to ALL survivors. The JCSHWF is transitioning operations in preparation for new health and wellness provisions for survivors. We know this is a crucial fund for our elders and time is of the essence. We respect your patience over the oncoming months as planning takes place and agreements are finalized. As part of
Historic Announcement Scheduled for May 21, 2022
Our community has followed the progress during the pandemic to hear our essential parameters of a set of legacy initiatives built over two years: antiracism; education; monument; seniors health & wellness; heritage; community & culture. We are very proud of the initial work that Nikkei Seniors executed in the first Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund which wrapped in March 2022. The time has come. For our elders past and present, we are humbled to share this important news. The BC provincial government will be making an important historic announcement with the Japanese Canadian community on May 21, 2022. The announcement is in collaboration with local BC Japanese Canadian communities and the National Association of Japanese Canadians. You are
Japanese Canadian Health & Wellness Fund Completes $2Million Project
The $2Million Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund project has wrapped its project office. The Fund was created from a grant issued by the BC Ministry of Health to the Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society on recommendation from the NAJC, leading BC Redress. Today we thank the outgoing Project Manager Eiko Eby who was hired to lead the national project and keep organizations, groups, and support staff, all working towards a common goal. We also thank you Eiko and Linda Reid for the outreach to the many survivors and their families. Many volunteers in Canada, in & out of NAJC chapters, also volunteered to find survivors, and we appreciate you and your work. Volunteer hours powered the
JC Survivors Health and Wellness Fund Results
The Japanese Canadian Health and Wellness Fund is winding down its operation of creating, managing, and implementing the initial and limited $2M fund for survivors in Canada. This grant was negotiated by the National Association of Japanse Canadians, stipulating that the money could be spent inside and outside of the province of BC.
JC Survivors Health and Wellness Fund New Years Greetings
We enter the new year with gratitude to our seniors, their families, and to you who work every day to make lives better for those in your communities. It has been a humbling six months to create, administer and implement a limited $2M seniors health and wellness fund in Canada, when there are families who have lost loved ones, there are survivors in need of supports, and there are some who live outside the country & not eligible for this round of funding.
JC Survivors Health and Wellness Fund Year End Wrap-up
As we wind down the year, and look back on 2021, we are heartened by the work of volunteers and community leaders who worked with us to contact our survivors from coast to coast. We thank all of you for your dedication to our seniors, for spending hours and hours searching for survivors, and for developing proposals for projects which are meant to benefit the health and wellbeing of survivors. The Fund was always intended to make a difference in the lives of our survivors who need it most. We acknowledge this is difficult work.
Domo Arigato Gozaimasu – Thank You!
Thank you for your responses to the JC Survivors Wellness Health & Wellness Fund. Our deadline closed on October 31, 2021. We thank you for submitting over 1,800 individual applications, which paint a clear picture of health and wellness needs for our survivors whose livelihoods were in coastal BC before government policies forced the uprooting displacement and destruction of a community. We received a surge in demand from individuals who have spoken out about their urgent health needs. In addition, we thank the many groups and organizations who have thoughtfully developed quality submissions which directly impact seniors health and wellness in regions across the country. We received a surge in demand from individuals who have spoken out about
We Need Your Help to Identify Our Seniors
Research in 2021 by Ohki has estimated there are approximately 6,600 living Japanese Canadian survivors, the youngest of whom are now 72 years old. The Fund office is working to create a national network of Japanese Canadians who are looking for our survivors across Canada. Outreach efforts by the Fund project office and local communities across Canada to date have identified well over 100 Japanese Canadian groups and organizations, as well as many individual survivors, who collectively represent at least half of the total living survivors. We need your help to identify all surviving elders, so that a longer-term fund can be set up to service their health and wellness needs. Please contact Eiko Eby and Fund office for more
Community Update
Community Message from the GVJCCA The Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association (GVJCCA) encourages survivors to apply for the Japanese Canadian Health and Wellness Fund. Within the $2Million initial amount provided by the BC Government, there is a limited fund for the underserved grant program which offers survivors an individual grant of $750. We also know BC Redress is working towards a larger, more substantial fund for ALL survivors. This Health and Wellness Fund respectfully acknowledges aging survivors, and provides modest individual support in concern for survivor health. It is also available to meet an extra expense for survivor retirees and pensioners. Also, it is available for survivors who may have little connection to Japanese Canadian group activities who
Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund Now Open
The Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund is pleased to announce that online applications are now open on our website jcwellness.org. The final date for submitting applications is October 31, 2021 at 11:59pm Pacific Time. For self-guided applications, go to the website and locate the upper tab “Apply” and select the category in which you are applying. We have drafted mock applications on the website. We will be announcing a series of upcoming Zoom sessions to assist you with completing your application. Selection Committee Nikkei Seniors is pleased to announce that Art Miki and Susan Matsumoto have been added to the Japanese Canadian Survivors Health and Wellness Fund Grants Selection Committee of Ruth Coles, Cathy Makihara and Eiko Eby.
Chuck Tasaka: Looking for our Seniors in the Kootenays
When the BC government gave a $2M Fund to the Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society as an initial fund for survivors who were impacted by BC Government actions 1942-1949, it became a big project for the Steering Committee to first hire a project manager, and than mobilize a small fund across a survivor population which spans the country. Those details are on jcwellness.org. Finding the underserved seniors has been a focus of the project office and we want to get more individuals involved in looking for seniors. Thank you to Chuck Tasaka who began his search for seniors when he got the call. We are lucky to have Chuck, whose aim is to comb the BC Kootenays and
BC Redress Update September 2021
Your BC Redress project team is making progress towards a BC Redress package that serves our community. We do this work acknowledging with respect the ongoing struggle of Indigenous Peoples throughout Canada. We stand with the survivors and families of all children who were in residential schools. We need to heed the Calls to Action from the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
JC Survivors Fund – Zoom Gatherings for Communities
The first two Zoom sessions indicated that there is an appetite for organizations to be able to share their current activities and to provide a forum for people across the country to brainstorm project ideas and chat. With that in mind, a regular weekly meeting has been set up.
Survivors Health & Wellness Fund Grant Information
The Province of BC has provided Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society (Nikkei Seniors) with $2 million as part of their commitment to honour seniors who lived through the traumatic uprooting and displacement of almost 22,000 Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. The Province of BC is acknowledging the role they played in the historical wrongs committed against the Japanese Canadian community during the period between 1942 and April 1, 1949. The grant came out of the efforts of the National Association of Japanese Canadians’ (NAJC) BC Redress initiative.
Survivors Health & Wellness Fund Criteria and Information Sessions
Our team has been contacting many survivors, small groups, and community organizations, across the country to get a sense of the needs of our seniors’ populations. We have learned that there are a number of active survivors involved in wellness activities run by sub-groups of community organizations. We have also learned there are a large number of frail survivors trying to live safely who are supported by family and friends for the activities of daily living. Some of these seniors have no supports. This group is largely underserved and there is a need for more community supports and health care services for these frail seniors.
Japanese Canadian Survivors Health & Wellness Fund
The Province of BC has provided Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society (Nikkei Seniors) with $2 million as part of its commitment to honour seniors who lived through the traumatic uprooting and displacement of almost 22,000 Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. The Province of BC is acknowledging the role they played in the historical wrongs committed against the Japanese Canadian community during the period between 1942 and 1949. The grant came out of the efforts of the National Association of Japanese Canadians’ (NAJC) BC Redress initiative. The NAJC is currently in talks with the BC Provincial Government to determine multiple legacy initiatives for the community. Purpose Nikkei Seniors has designated the $2 million for the Japanese Canadian
Province takes step to acknowledge historical wrongs against Japanese Canadians
The Province of British Columbia is providing the Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society with $2 million as part of its commitment to honour the traumatic internment of almost 22,000 Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War. “This government acknowledges the role that it played in the historical wrongs committed against the Japanese-Canadians community during the 1940s,” said Rachna Singh, Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives. “This initial grant is a first step towards lasting recognition of the trauma suffered by the community. We are committed to working with the National Association of Japanese Canadians over the coming year to define recognition opportunities in 2022 and beyond.” Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society will use the $2 million to develop and deliver health and wellness-oriented programming for Japanese-Canadian internment survivors. The society will also administer funding with the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) to other Japanese-Canadian organizations that support survivors.
BC Redress Update
The NAJC is currently in talks with the BC provincial government to determine a set of legacy initiatives for the community. On July 9, 2020 the NAJC met to present a list of NAJC BC Redress Legacy Initiatives to the BC Premier’s office Chief of Staff Geoff Meggs and Hon. Minister of Citizens’ Services Anne Kang. Presenting at the meeting were Paul Kariya, Lorene Oikawa, and Susanne Tabata. Premier John Horgan dropped in on the meeting to voice his support for our community. Additional analysis is being provided by Dr. Audrey Kobayashi for population data; and further fiscal analysis is being done by the Institute of Fiscal Studies in Democracy in Ottawa – under the direction of Kevin Page & Sahir Kahn. The NAJC will provide a more detailed update in the fall. Herein is a progress report.