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When Inuit arrive at the Mamisarvik Healing Centre in Hintonburg, they’re looking at eight weeks of grappling with the pain that brought them to its door — and a chance to reduce its burden.

Whether it’s from trauma or substance use, the ultimate goal of Mamisarvik’s residential treatment program is healing. And it’s not easy work, as counsellor Joyce Ford can attest.

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While she’s lived in the south for decades, Ford grew up in Nunatsiavut, a self-governing Inuit region in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Residential school traumas, forced relocation traumas, collapse of the sealing industry, cod industry, salmon fishery, and now caribou hunting — Inuit experience a lot of trauma, coming from the North,” she said.

After being forced to close in 2017, when its funding lapsed, the Mamisarvik healing centre re-opened in October in a new facility on Rosemount Avenue. Operated by Ontario service provider Tungasuvvingat Inuit, Mamisarvik is open to Inuit men and women residing in the province who are at least 18 years old. Clients can apply directly with the centre’s intake co-ordinator or arrive through a referral process.