The Board of the Dignity Seniors Society (DSS) supports the statement from Egale Canada on the discovery of remains of 215 Indigenous Children at Kamloops residential school

Egale is a national 2SLGBTQIA+ organization that is highly respected by DSS for its leadership and guidance. Like Egale, the members of DSS’ Board are deeply saddened by this latest example of Canada’s terrible colonial history and unforgivable treatment of Canadian Indigenous peoples. As stated by Egale:

“If you require support, the free National Indian Residential School Crisis Line for survivors of residential schools is available around the clock at 1-866-925-4419.”

Please see DSS’ land acknowledgement here. DSS’ Board is committed to making the voices of the Two Spirit and Indigiqueer communities we aim to serve heard. We commit to consult with Two Spirit and Indigiqueer community members on all of our projects and are proactive in increasing Indigenous and Indigiqueer representation on the Board. Our hearts go out to everyone touched by this tragic news.

You can read Egale’s full statement here.

Here’s a bunch of information about the team and everything you’re going to need to know about the new mission.

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The strategic focus of DSS is 3-fold:

1. Advocacy for individuals and our communities – develop position papers on housing/ finance/ health which highlight the unique needs and qualities of GSD seniors.

2. Disseminate information for gender and sexually diverse seniors and allies on housing/ finance/ health and end of life planning. Leverage exiting platforms and build collaborative provincial and national networks.

3. Build collaborative links between organizations serving seniors, advocating for the inclusion of gender and sexually diverse seniors  - work closely with existing services for gender and sexually diverse seniors such as QMUNITY, WESN, HIM etc. Advocate for gender and sexually diversity training in all organizations serving seniors.

The DSS Board will continue to work with the government, BC Housing, city, developers, non-profits and our communities to explore housing opportunities for GSD seniors in BC, especially subsidized and supported projects. We also realize that housing is a primary concern in BC and are committed to providing community members with information on a range of seniors housing options.