OEA Community Network

As we are approaching to the end of our project, at Adsum, we are grateful for the opportunity to enhance and expand our knowledge of the impacts of transphobia when navigating community support. With support from the Restorative Approach through the Expanding Beyond the Binary Workshop and Affirming Spaces for Folks Experiencing Homelessness Workshop the Nova Scotia Youth Project, staff where able to gain information on how to better support trans clients and staff. Each session discussed how we can enhance policies and shift our way of practice to be more inclusive of the needs of trans community.

In Canada, trans individuals are four times more likely to experience violence in comparison to cis peoples gendered. Additionally, trans and gender diverse people are twice as likely to experience homelessness, and one in five non-binary people live in poverty. With statistics such as this, it is crucial that front-line workers are provided with the tools to not reinforce forms of oppression too often experienced by this community when accessing supporting.

I would like to take this opportunity to share a part of my story not just for myself —  but in hopes that it might spark a meaningful conversation about the barriers many of us continue to face in healthcare, especially as Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs), underrepresented groups, or members of marginalized communities.  

Not long ago, I found myself working for a reputable organization, hopeful and ready to contribute meaningfully to my community. The community who faithfully welcomed me and my two young children when we immigrated in the year 2018. Instead, I was met with exclusion, a lack of due process, and what I strongly believe as rooting from discrimination. I was terminated early in my employment during probation — without clear justification, proper communication, or support. It is also my belief that there was lack of impartial treatment by the union during the grievance process, hence denied, and further inflicting hurtful feelings.

The pain remains to this day and this experience broke something in me — emotionally, financially, and mentally. Unexpected job loss, especially coming from a vulnerable single parent like me, is perhaps nothing but a ruthless circumstance. As I pave my way through healing, this experience also somehow lit a fire. While I am currently fighting a legal battle and walking this dark path alone, I have come to realize how important it is that stories like mine be heard, and to know that I am not alone.

I believe that many IENs like myself and marginalized healthcare workers are enduring racism and systemic neglect in silence. Albeit we come with skills, passion, and a desire to serve — are often met with barriers and dehumanization in the workplace.

How can lived experience like mine be turned into advocacy and action? 

And how do we make sure no one else has to go through this alone?

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We’re proud to share an update from Upper Hammonds Plains, a historic African Nova Scotian community shaped by generations of resilience, resistance, and deep care for one another. Like many African Nova Scotian communities, our efforts to steward and develop our land have long been impacted by systemic barriers, especially when it comes to land ownership and access.

That’s why we’re so thankful to the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives (OEA) for awarding us a Community Network Grant to support our project: African Nova Scotian Pathways to Inclusive Development. This support came at a pivotal moment. For years, we had been working to secure formal access to parcels of historically African Nova Scotian lands now held by the Province.

With OEA’s support, we were able to complete a feasibility study on these key parcels. That study provided the technical and environmental analysis we needed to confirm the land’s potential for community-led development. It also gave us something even more important: momentum.

This project helped us demonstrate that with the right support, Black communities can lead our own development processes, on our own terms, and in ways that reflect our values, history, and collective vision. It’s a major milestone in our broader effort to ensure that land in Upper Hammonds Plains is stewarded for the benefit of our people today and for generations to come.

We are grateful to OEA for believing in our work. This grant didn’t just fund a study, it strengthened our capacity, lifted community voices, and helped move our long-term vision closer to reality. 

We’d love to connect with others compelled to do this work. Whether you're navigating land access, starting a community land trust, or reclaiming space in your own way. Let’s keep learning from one another and building together.

In solidarity,

Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust