The Keeping Our Fires Project is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the First Inuit Health Branch and operating from 2022-2027.

Our goals and focus of this project are to collaborate with organizations across the land to co-create resources, known as knowledge bundles, to strengthen the capacity to provide culturally safe and stigma-free Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBI) prevention, testing, treatment, and care. Through the collaboration of various organizations (Indigenous-led organizations, community-based organizations, HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C services organizations, Indigenous research institutions, etc.), we aim to empower the service providers we collaborate with to adopt evidence-based prevention measures, harm reduction strategies, and culturally informed approaches (practice and policies) to STBBI care.

Resources include the development of prevention and education materials and contain a training component that presents implementation capacity building. Keeping Our Fires also include partnerships across the service provider sphere, engaging Indigenous people and community knowledge that can then guide service delivery work.

The project offers a two-day workshop on the Community Readiness Model (CRM), equipping participants with tools to assess their readiness to improve STBBI care in a culturally safe, stigma-free way. After completing environmental scans, participants can gauge their community’s readiness and develop strategies tailored to their cultural contexts and priorities. They also create knowledge bundles reflecting community feedback.

The program fosters social networking and collaboration grounded in Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Doing. Through ongoing ceremonies, gatherings, and support from Elders-in-Residence, participants share knowledge, best practices, and self-reflection opportunities. Annually, our Circles of Practice newsletters document the journeys, discussions, and co-created resources from each group.