As President Santa Ono shared in a broadcast email, 2021 is the first year that September 30, a day we know as Orange Shirt Day, will be recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and observed as a holiday at UBC.
Orange Shirt Day is a day when we wear orange shirts to honour residential school survivors. Phyllis Webstad’s story - having her new orange shirt taken away on her first day of residential school - continues to inspire this collective remembering.
Join the UBC Learning Circle for a screening of the film “Returning home and Pathways to Reconciliation” and a conversation with Orange Shirt Day originator Phyllis Webstad on September 27 at the Chan Centre. Read more about the film and register here.
There are many resources available online through UBC's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre to continue your learning.
To help you commemorate and participate in this day, we invite you to be entered in a draw for an orange shirt.*
The impacts of residential schools can be emotionally triggering and there are resources available to you.
- UBC resources:
- Call the Employee and Family Assistance Program at 1-866-424-0770 (free and confidential, 24/7)
- Access licensed psychological support and counselling through your Extended Health Benefits
- Community mental health resources:
- Crisis Centre BC. If you or someone you know is feeling hopeless or thinking about suicide, call or chat online with a crisis responder any time: 1-800-784-2433 (1-800-SUICIDE), (24 hours a day), crisiscentre.bc.ca
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS), 1-866-925-4419 (Open 24 hours a day 7 days a week)
- Hope for Wellness Help Line offers immediate mental health counselling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. 1-855-242-3310, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or use the chat box on their website.
- Métis Crisis Line, 1-833-MÉTISBC
*Open to UBC Okanagan and Vancouver staff and faculty. The deadline to enter the draw is Tuesday, September 21, 2021
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