Team Broken Earth Receives Investment for Education and Training to Improve Women’s and Children’s Healthcare in Rural Newfoundland & Labrador.

Team Broken Earth is helping to address challenges in delivering healthcare for rural, remote and Indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador with a $250,000 investment from the Northpine Foundation. The funding will be used to provide education and training focused on women’s and children’s healthcare.

Delivering healthcare in rural areas is unique. Rural and remote communities often have lower health outcomes, high maternal morbidity rates, and gender-specific barriers to care. This disparity is even greater for Indigenous women, who face additional barriers due to intergenerational trauma rooted in colonialism, and systemic racism that is well documented within Canada’s health care systems. Further, Indigenous women face challenges related to social determinants of health (e.g., housing, food security, education) due to the long history of colonial measures taken against this population and its lasting impacts. The team of specialized physicians, nurses and other health care professionals at Team Broken Earth are experienced in working with local residents and professionals to address the specific needs of a local community.

Through this initiative, Team Broken Earth will offer education courses and training seminars to healthcare providers and first responders to help improve health outcomes for the long-term. The goal is to provide specialized training in high-risk labor and delivery management and preventive heathcare strategies.

Mark Lane, Impact Director – Rural Newfoundland & Labrador at the Northpine Foundation, expressed his confidence in this initiative’s potential to bring about lasting change, stating, “This investment represents an important partnership to help improve the health and well-being of women and children in Newfoundland & Labrador. Through targeted education and training, we aim to uplift communities and build a sustainable education and training model that can be replicated nationwide.”

“Our goal is to be a strong community partner in Newfoundland and Labrador” said Art Rideout, President of Team Broken Earth. “The COVID-19 pandemic limited Team Broken Earth’s ability to provide medical relief globally. During this time, we looked to ways our team could transition our proven model of education and training to help here at home. We have worked hard to help identify the needs that are unique to each local community and ensure we work with those communities to drive lasting, sustainable change. This investment from Northpine will allow us to bring our vision for rural and remote women’s and children’s heathcare to fruition.”

Team Broken Earth began its work in rural and remote areas in 2021 and has completed several educational programs in Labrador. This investment will see that work expand over the coming years. Success in this endeavor could bring about a change in helping to improve healthcare outcomes for remote regions across Canada. As this model proves successful, there is potential for it to be scaled to other remote regions in Canada and beyond.

This investment is not just a financial commitment; it is a promise to empower and support healthcare in rural Newfoundland & Labrador.

Media Inquiries:

Heather Dalton, Team Broken Earth [email protected] 709-746-7197

Mark Lane, Impact Director – Rural Newfoundland & Labrador, The Northpine Foundation [email protected]

About Team Broken Earth Founded in 2011, Team Broken Earth is a volunteer-driven Canadian medical charity with a track record of success in challenging healthcare contexts worldwide. The organization specializes in targeted outreach, training and education to address pressing healthcare needs.

About Northpine Foundation

The Northpine Foundation works with a vision to propel and expand outcome-centered innovation in Canada. As a start-up philanthropic organization, Northpine provides catalytic funding through tailored financing (donations, grants, loans, equity, or blend), along with expertise, networks, and other non-financial supports to help underinvested and underserved cohorts thrive and flourish.

Focused on a core value of kindness in every undertaking, the Northpine Foundation designs, funds, and collaborates on initiatives that combine best practices with new, untried approaches to drive scalable change towards a healthy and resilient Canada.