An Indigenous-owned Gibsons organization that focuses on leadership training for women and media production and partnerships has received $10,000 in provincial funding for an online program to combat anti-Black racism.
PowHERhouse, founded by former two-term Gibsons councillor Charlene SanJenko, was announced as a recipient of the Multiculturalism Grants Program along with more than 190 other organizations on April 8.
SanJenko’s organization will use the funding to create Moving Past Pain, a 12-week online program “that meets young men where they’re at [and] holds space for the self-healing they are ready for, utilizing proven personal awareness tools and a creative process to facilitate the flow, release, and healing of deeply rooted and blocked emotions,” according to the announcement.
The funding envelope was quadrupled in 2020 and 2021 to $1.2 million, with grant priority given to projects that address anti-Indgenous, anti-Asian and anti-Black racism, according to the provincial announcement.
The one-time funding increase is coming through StrongerBC, the province’s economic recovery plan.
