Minnie’s Hope centre reopens for Indigenous youth in Quebec’s far north

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    "She couldn't even go to school," said Matthew Iserhoff, whose 10-year-old daughter has benefited from Minnie’s Hope Centre, at Tuesday's virtual unveiling of the centre's new buildings at the Montreal Children's Hospital. Johanie Bouffard reports.

    A new chapter in supporting Indigenous youths’ health and well-being begins in Great Whale River, in Quebec’s Nunavik — about 1,100 km north of Montreal.

    With $5 million in donations, Minnie’s Hope Social Pediatrics Center is reopening, and the new centre is nearly twice as big as the original.

    “It’s very customized, and that’s what the beautiful thing about Minnie’s Hope is. That’s what it does for all the kids,” said Matthew Iserhoff, whose daughter Legend is a patient.

    “For every story it’s unique, and for Legend’s it was unique. It was customized to what she needed, the kind of care she needed for her skin, for her self-esteem, to get out there into the world again because of the social anxieties due to the eczema.”

    Juno Award-winner Matthew Iserhoff (right) and his daughter Legend at the Minnie’s Hope grand reopening on Jan. 28, 2025. (Martin Daigle, CityNews)

    In her early years of practising medicine, pediatrician Dr. Johanne Morel sought to provide Western medical standards to Indigenous children in the north, but she often felt her recommendations were disconnected of their realities. Her experience sparked the creation of Minnie’s Hope Center.

    “What if we broke silos?” said Morel, a member of the Montreal Children’s Hospital’s Northern and Indigenous Child Health Program. “What if we put together everybody, all these people who have good will, the people at the school, the people in social service, the local people who want to get involved with families? What if we all sat around the same table and try to help the children? And that’s what we’ve been doing at Minnie’s Hope.”

    “It showed us a way that we could bring a service to the children and families of Kuujjuaraapik and Whapmagoostui in a way that was relevant to them, that it was a global approach, a relationship, a relational approach that included absolutely everyone in a safe and non-judgmental way,” added Marianne Martin, the director of Minnie’s Hope.

    Cree and Inuit community members, along with representatives, gathered at the Montreal Children’s Hospital for the virtual unveiling of new sustainable buildings that will support 300 children and teens annually.

    “We all have skills and when you put together the talents and the resources of people, that’s when you get a nice… it blooms, it blossoms,” said Morel.

    A caribou skin ribbon, with purple accents symbolizing advocacy for domestic violence, was cut during the ceremony. The centre is named in honour of Minnie Natachequan, who was killed by her partner along with her children in 2008.

    Marrianne Martin, director of Minnie’s Hope, and Renée Vézina, president of the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, with a ribbon made of caribou skin to officially inaugurate the Minnie’s Hope grand reopening on Jan. 28, 2025. (Martin Daigle, CityNews)

    The Iserhoffs could not be more happy with the service provided by Minnie’s Hope.

    “She couldn’t even step out the door,” Matthew said of his daughter, Legend. “She couldn’t even go to school. We had to keep her at home. And this kind of really helped us even help her at the same time because we didn’t know where to go as parents. And Minnie’s Hope offered that help.”

    Added Legend: “It helped me throughout the hardest years of my life. It really helped me come out more to the world. I’m really happy to be in public nowadays.”

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