An Honourary Crosswalk for Every Child Matters

Inspired by the overwhelming community support she witnessed on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in 2021, Sheena Merling, Bin-no-g Man-na-doe Quay – Spirit of the Children, formed a committee of Indigenous community members and allies with the goal of bringing a decorative Every Child Matters crosswalk to Victoria Park as part of a tribute to honour the children who were lost and those who still live with the generational trauma caused by residential schools.  

Sheena and her committee were awarded a Love My Hood Matching Grant in November 2021 to help bring their three-part vision to life:  

Support came in quickly from the surrounding community and it didn’t take long for the vision of what this tribute could be to grow considerably. The group knew they had really tapped into something important when they gained the support of the Orange Shirt Society, making the crosswalk the first official Orange Shirt Society-endorsed, Every Child Matters crosswalk in the country!   

Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, Sheena and her team worked with the community to paint orange footprints along the trials in Victoria Park to honour each child that died at residential schools across Canada. In total, the group laid 6,436 footprints in the park, and in doing so sparked an important conversation among the community about truth, reconciliation, and healing.   

In September 2022, the crosswalk was installed at Water St. and Jubilee Dr, along with a bench for residents to sit and reflect on what the Every Child Matters movement means to them. The group hosted an official unveiling ceremony in the park to honour the children and to honour the partnerships that Sheena and her committee had formed. The ceremony brought members of Kitchener Council, representatives from the Orange Shirt Society, and hundreds of community members to the park. Most notable were the hundreds of children and youth that came out to learn about and pay tribute to this important movement, something Sheena and her group hope will have an impact on generations to come.  

 So moved by the care and thoughtfulness of Sheena and her group’s work on this tribute, Phyllis Webstad, founder and ambassador of the Orange Shirt Society, made it a priority to come to Kitchener from her home in Williams Lake, British Columbia. In November 2022, Phyllis visited the crosswalk, laid her own footprints in the park, and held an educational talk to share her story with our community.  

 We’re honoured to have been able to work so closely with this indigenous-led community group and support them in bringing their vision to life. While this resident-led approach is a great example of what truth and reconciliation can look like, we recognize that this is just one initiative, and that there is a lot more work ahead of us to advance this work and build meaningful relationships with local Indigenous communities.   

The tribute was made possible with funding from the City of Kitchener, the Waterloo Region Reconciliation Action partnership, the generous support from various community partners, and of course, Sheena and her tremendous team on the Every Child Matters Crosswalk Committee, as well as the Orange Shirt Society. To learn more about the Orange Shirt Society and the nationwide crosswalk program this tribute inspired, please visit www.orangeshirtday.org.