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Ottawa’s Odawa Native Friendship Centre has launched an outreach initiative to help vulnerable people in Vanier and the ByWard Market.
Makwa Dodem Patrol is a grassroots, Indigenous-led initiative that aims to patrol the streets of those neighbourhoods every Saturday, with hopes of eventually expanding their presence.
The friendship centre has partnered with Winnipeg’s successful and long-standing Bear Clan Patrol to educate local volunteers, and held a free community training session on Wednesday.
With the help of community partners, volunteers and supporters, Makwa Dodem Patrol held their inaugural walk on Thursday.
The group walked from Clarence Street to the Ottawa sign on York Street to celebrate the launch and show their unity, visibility and care for the community.
“Makwa Dotem really holds that philosophy of checking on someone, to be a good friend, to be a good relative,” said Michael Weston, a strategic co-ordinator with Odawa.
It takes a community to help the community.- Kevin Walker, Bear Clan Patrol
“We hand out water, sometimes people need socks, some of our most unfortunate relatives don’t have somewhere to sleep or maybe they didn’t get a meal that night,” he said.
Weston said the patrol expects to encounter folks who were raised by residential school survivors, or are survivors themselves.
“It really speaks to one of the main ways to combat intergenerational trauma and historical trauma that’s going to happen to these people, our people, the Indigenous people, because of what the boarding schools did,” he said.
“We’re here to make them feel like someone cares about them and that they’re loved.”
The patrol will start off during daylight hours, but organizers hope to expand to evenings.
Kevin Walker, the executive director for Bear Clan Patrol said on June 11, 2026, the initiative is rooted in being a “supportive resource.” (Emma Weller/CBC)
Kevin Walker, executive director of Bear Clan Patrol, said the organizers of Makwa Dotem Patrol visited Winnipeg to see how they operate.
“They’re gonna bring their own model to Ottawa, which is really needed out here,” he said.
Walker said he’s been to several communities in Canada to help build similar outreach groups, including in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
He said Ottawa’s program will be similar to Winnipeg’s, but will tailor itself to the needs of the local community.
“Its all rooted back to just helping out and being a supportive resource,” he said. “It takes a community to help the community.”