Red Dress Day must result in more than just awareness, says mother of murdered Indigenous woman

After her daughter was murdered, Charlotte Wolfrey spent decades fighting for better services to help women fleeing violence in coastal Labrador.

She was successful in advocating for RCMP presence in their communities. She's done interviews, formed advocacy councils and testified at the national inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

When Red Dress Day comes around each year on May 5, Wolfrey still thinks of her Diedre Marie but also of all the work that remainsto be done.

"It reminds me of my daughter," she said. "[But]unless there's something done that will affect the lives of women and children involved in those situations it's only for awareness, really."

Diedre Marie Michelin was murdered by her partner in 1993. She left behind four children.

Wolfrey said she spent the next eight years focused on a mission to improve women's safety in coastal Labradorbut didn't take time to properly grieve.

"Then when we finally got police in a couple of the communities, Makkovik and Rigolet, I realized then that, like, what am I going to do now? And then afterthat I really started to deal with thetragedy that happened in our lives."

Wolfrey said she learned to live her life in a different way one in which grief and loss were a part of her.

"It's been wishing she was here, watching her children growing up without her, someone else raising them, you know, all those thingsthat we've missed and that she's missed, and that her children has missed. So it's been a nightmare."

Housing, mental health services remain big problems: Wolfrey

The national inquiry resulted in 231 recommendations. Fifty of them weregeared toward the Inuit, and Wolfrey said they shouldn't be viewed as recommendationsbut as mandatory changes to protect women and girls.

When asked what the biggest unresolved issues are, she pointed to the housing crisis. While people countrywide are experiencing challenges with housing, the problem is much more acute in the Inuit communities along Labrador's coast. Houses are overcrowded, wait-lists are longand much of the existing housing stock is in a state of disrepair.

"Even though it doesn't sound as if it's related, it certainly is related because a lot of people go back to their situations because they can't find housing," Wolfrey said.

Wolfrey also called for better mental health services for the people of Labrador. Wolfrey said that although the provincial government champions programs like Doorways or Bridge the Gapp,the level of service minimal.

"We're all told thatthere's these walk-in services and there's these drop-in services and whatever else. But the reality of it is, is that we don't have very good mental health services."

Red Dress Day events

Sisters Gifts N.L., a small family-run business, will be holding a stuff-the-truck event in Grand Falls-Windsor with proceeds going towardthe regional status of women's council.

Co-owner Jennifer Kelly said she founded the business, which sells crafts from Indigenous artists, to reconnect with the culture their family lost after their grandfather went to a residential school.

"This little business is our way of recovering as much culture as possible," she said.

WATCH | The CBC's Troy Turner talks to people involved in Red Dress Day events in Gander:

Red dresses: not a fashion statement but a stark reminder of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

27 days ago

Duration 2:24

Red Dress Day started in 2010 when a Mtis artist in Winnipeg hung hundreds of red dresses in public places to symbolize the loss of Indigenous women and girls. Events are happening throughout Canada, including Gander. The CBCs Troy Turner talks to people who explain why its just as important today as it was years ago.

Kelly said they partnered withStatus of Women Central because the group provides essential services for women leaving violent situations. They're asking people to consider what they would need if they left their home right now with only the clothes on their back, and donate some of the items that come to mind.

"People that live with violence, they experience that loss and hardship and they all suffer in silence. And when they leave these violent situations, they typically leave with nothing," Kelly said.

The event takes place in the Walmart parking lot from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

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