On April 8th, the Nunatsiavut Government announced details of a number of initiatives aimed at assisting Beneficiaries of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement, residing in the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area, deal with impacts associated with the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
Programs for Upper Lake Melville and the Constituency of Canada will be announced soon.
• Emergency Food Supplement Support Program
The purpose of this initiative is to ensure individuals and families impacted by COVID-19 and those most vulnerable to the virus have sufficient nutritious food to support their health and wellness. Adequate nutrition is crucial for maintaining good health and having the ability to fight off infection.
• Emergency Heat Subsidy
This program is designed to assist Labrador Inuit with heating their homes during the pandemic. It will subsidize the cost of acquiring and accessing wood, furnace and stove oil, and electricity. Provisions are being made to pay harvesters to provide wood to Inuit communities, as well as to financially assist those who are able to access their own wood.
• Harvesters Support Program
The goal of this program is to ensure community freezers are adequately stocked with country food for distribution to those most vulnerable to COVID-19, particularly elders. Funding will be provided to harvesters to cover costs associated with accessing country food. As well, provisions are being made to allow Labrador Inuit and harvesters to trade/barter country food they current have for gasoline, snowmobile oil and ammunition. Those who are able to harvest country food, but unable to do so because of financial constraints, will be able to apply for a gasoline allowance.
Beneficiaries and wood and country-food harvesters wishing to apply for any of these programs are asked to contact the following in their respective communities during regular business hours (8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday):
Nain
Rutie Dicker 709-922-2942
Mary-Adelaide 709-922-2942
Brenda Dicker 709-922-2968
Hopedale
Vanessa Gauntlett 709-933-3695
Dawn-Rose Winters 709-933-3777
Postville
Ruth Jacque 709-479-9867
Makkovik
Carol Gear 709-923-2365
Michelle Dyson 709-923-2365
Rigolet
Paula Sheppard-McLean 709-947-3383
Lisa Bennett 709-947-3328