Whitehorse thieves target residential school survivors' drop-in centre

A drop-in centre for former residential school students and a railway museum were the most recent targets in a string of thefts in Whitehorse. 

Joanne Henry, executive director for CAIRS: The Committee on Abuse in Residential Schools Society, said the thief or thieves broke through a small washroom window. 

Henry was in tears as she spoke about the theft. 

"I just feel horrible," she said.

"It's like, why do we try so hard to work with this area and help people just to have someone come back and do that to us? We have nothing here. We're a non-profit organization.

"We use sometimes our own money to purchase things here. We do whatever we can do keep people comfortable and keep people safe. When something like this happens to us, it's almost like 'why are we doing this?'"

Henry said a chequebook was taken along with a laptop computer and something more precious — a traditional First Nations' hand drum made with babiche. 

"I have a drum that was made for me by my co-worker and it's part of my healing journey, coming to terms with residential school for myself and working really hard to be better, to get rid of a lot of anger issues that I carry, a lot of that stuff," Henry said.

"My co-worker and I had done a drum-making workshop and out of that he made me this drum. So really, really, there's no price on it, as everyone says. That's gone."

Henry said CAIRS has alerted the banks and the RCMP. The organization is asking people to be suspicious if they come across a cheque written from CAIRS' chequebook.

"It was really disheartening," she said.

"I think maybe the person has come to our organization, I think maybe that we have talked with this individual and he's used our services because it was specific things that were missing."

$200 stolen from museum

Another theft took place Monday night at the Copperbelt Railway and Mining Museum in Whitehorse. 

Executive director Angela Drainville said a window was removed. Someone stole about $200 from a locked cash box. 

"I'm disappointed," she said.

"We are a museum and our primary market is children. Just to have someone come in and take our money and take things from us that we have to replace...it's senseless and it's sad." 

Drainville said the museum collection was not damaged.

The break-ins at CAIRS and the railway museum follow a break-in at Whitehorse's Mae Bachur Animal Shelter. 

In recent weeks there have also been break-ins at the Whitehorse Fish Ladder and Whitehorse Boys and Girls' Club.