First Nation Associations Partner to Expand Health and Housing Capacity

First Nation Associations Partner to Expand Health and Housing Capacity

Ottawa, Ontario – June 15, 2022 – The First Nations Health Managers Association (FNHMA) and the First Nations Housing Professionals Association (FNHPA) have entered a strategic partnership that will build and advance healthy housing for First Nations across Canada.

A recent study revealed that poor housing conditions were associated with higher rates of respiratory issues in Indigenous children from isolated communities in Northern Ontario. Health concerns like this are not uncommon amongst Indigenous communities nationally. Working together, FNHMA and FNHPA aim to inform and educate on the importance of living in, and working in, a strong healthy environment.

Both the FNHMA and FNHPA are committed to excellence in expanding management capacity in their respective fields. Marion Crowe, Chief Executive Officer at the FNHMA, believes the partnership will foster positive change.

“Many factors contribute to our overall wellness—physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual,” said Crowe. “And when our basic needs are not adequately met, our health suffers. Through collaboration with the First Nations Housing Professionals Association, we hope to increase understanding of how housing relates to health and what can be done to address the challenges of both.”

With this partnership, the two organizations will be able to collaborate on different initiatives geared towards healthy housing, whether that’s creating further resources, health education and training, or developing services that benefit both associations and their members.

Candace Bennett, the Executive Director at the FNHPA, recognizes the struggles housing staff face in providing quality housing programs to their communities.

“Our goal has always been to improve access to housing services,” commented Bennett. “Our work centres around building competency and setting standards. Through certification, housing staff gain the tools needed to enhance services within their own communities. Working with the First Nations Health Managers Association will allow us to expand our scope and address the many interrelated areas of housing and health as a unified force.”

FNHMA and FNHPA board members and executives signed the partnership agreement on June 3, 2022, in traditional Whitecap Dakota Unceded Territory, Saskatchewan.

For more information about the First Nations Health Managers Association (FNHMA), visit www.fnhma.ca.

For more information about the First Nations Housing Professionals Association (FNHPA), visit https://fnhpa.ca/

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Media Contacts:

Gail Boyd
Interim Executive Coordinator
First Nations Health Managers Association
Email: gail.boyd@fnhma.ca
Telephone: 613-599-6070

Rebecca dePencier
Marketing and Communications Specialist
First Nations Housing Professionals Association
Email: rebecca@fnhpa.ca
Telephone: 613-961-5708

“Housing conditions and respiratory morbidity in Indigenous children in remote communities in Northwestern Ontario, Canada,” Canadian Medical Association Journal. January 24, 2022. Online.