2021 Annual Grant Recipients
Haldimand Norfolk
Organization: Caledonia Agricultural Society
Project: Riverside Exhibition Centre Teaching Kitchen
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $10,000
Teaching kitchen program which will host events throughout the year to showcase multicultural and ethnic cooking, safe food handling practices, sustainable agriculture and food sources, and cooking from farm to table using local ingredients. No-cost and low-cost programs will be offered to youth and adults. Funds from this grant will be used to purchase key cooking equipment needed to offer the programs.
Organization: The Gathering Food Centre
Project: Riversyde 83: Food Skills Workshops
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $10,000
These workshops will provide participants with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to cook and eat healthy foods for themselves and their families, helping reduce food insecurity in a dignified and non-stigmatizing way. While many workshops will have a specified theme and some may emphasize topics of particular interest to low-income residents, the programs will encourage participation from the whole community, enhancing connectedness and reducing stigma for all. Food skills training will also enhance employability, especially among youth in the agri-tourism and food industries.
Organization: United Way of Haldimand and Norfolk
Project: Path to Possibilities at Trillium Manor
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $20,000
Trillium Manor, owned and operated by True Experience, is one of two affordable supportive housing programs for people living with mental illness in Haldimand County. Path to Possibilities works to support them through the learning process while providing a safe, stable home environment. Residents learn skills such as budgeting, healthy eating, grocery shopping, problem solving, stress management, and interpersonal relationship building.
Huron Perth
Organization: Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health
Project: Elderly Gardening Project 2022 – Long Term Care facilities
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $7,310
Container gardening projects in two local long-term care facilities. The elevated container gardening option makes growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers more manageable and allows accessibility for those residents who rely on wheelchairs and walkers for mobility.
Organization: Huron & Area Search and Rescue
Project: Operation SOTER
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $5,000
In partnership with One Care, HASAR delivers Meals on Wheels program to vulnerable residents in the communities of Goderich, Clinton, Seaforth, Lucknow, Exeter, Brussels and Stratford. Grant funds will be used to fuel and repair company vehicle and provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other equipment for people to be safe while distributing the food.
Organization: Huron Women’s Shelter, Second Stage Housing and Counselling Services
Project: Rural Women’s Employment in Gender Based Violence; Centering gender equity in COVID-19 recovery efforts
Pillar: Employment
Grant Amount: $13,000
This project aims to improve the organization’s ability to maintain a strong and healthy workforce to serve women, providing meaningful employment opportunities for rural women in Huron County, with a focus on skill development, leadership, and gender equity.
Organization: Optimism Place Women’s Shelter and Support Services
Project: Rural Women’s Employment in Gender Based Violence; Centering gender equity in COVID-19 recovery efforts
Pillar: Employment
Grant Amount: $13,000
This project aims to improve the organization’s ability to maintain a strong and healthy workforce to serve women, providing meaningful employment opportunities for rural women in Perth County, with a focus on skill development, leadership, and gender equity.
Organization: Stratford/Perth Shelterlink
Project: Stratford/Perth Shelterlnk service expansion
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $8,440
The goal of the program is to provide youth with the ability to live independently with a focus on finding youth in the shelter with safe, secure, and affordable housing in the community. The program is now accommodating youth with greater needs. Fund from this grant will be used to provide staff training and required equipment for enhanced protocols to allow the intake of higher acuity youth, thus preparing them for stable, affordable housing.
Organization: Technical Training Group
Project: TTG Welding and Metal Fabrication Pathway
Pillar: Employment
Grant Amount: $7,250
Hands on training in welding and metal fabrication, employment preparation and a work placement. This project with collaboration from government, education, business and industry will support the quickest path to employment opportunities for youth for local in-demand jobs/apprenticeships in manufacturing. Funds from the grant will be used to reduce financial barriers for some trainees.
Organization: The Local Community Food Centre
Project: Welcome Kitchen
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $6,000
Isolation has been the most prevalent issue facing many in our community. The Welcome Kitchen will host small groups of individuals that are currently on the meal delivery list. By inviting individuals into the building who have never been before, to cook a healthy meal together and enjoy its sustenance through a communal experience, the intent is to also engage them in other services that the Local Community Food Centre provides that they may benefit from.
London Elgin Oxford
Organization: Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre
Project: Food for all: Community food processing
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $10,000
This is a project involving a number of partners from not-for-profit and for-profit sectors. Utilizing over 1000 square feet of warehouse space, including a newly build kitchen, this project aims to process food that is donated from different sources in the community (Food Coalition, London Food Bank, independent food producers and distributors, restaurants, etc.), and create products with longer and more stable shelf life, and as such, share it with a number of agencies and community groups within London and Middlesex County.
Organization: Growing Chefs! Ontario Society
Project: Community Food Box Project
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $15,000
The Community Food Box Project will act as a pay it forward CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) – where Growing Chefs! Donors and Sponsors will “purchase” bi-monthly food boxes using fresh vegetables grown in Growing Chefs!’ new hoop house to be delivered to families who are food insecure at no cost, right to their homes by leveraging existing resources and communication/support channels.
Organization: Queer Events
Project: Food for Queers
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $20,000
The program provides support by supplying grocery kits and notes of love and support in a low-barrier, accessible way for LGBT2Q+ individuals. Grant funds will be used to increase capacity and the stability of this program, while exploring innovative solutions to for its sustainability.
Organization: YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin
Project: Project Tiny Hope
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $15,000
The project will consist of 40 units, including 20 tiny homes and 20 apartment units with a portion (20%) of those units designed to meet accessible and barrier free design standards. The tiny homes will provide an opportunity for individual living to meet the needs of a diverse population, improve their wellbeing and to place those individuals in an environment where they will thrive.
Organization: Zerin Development Corporation
Project: Barrier Free Banking Access for Tenants in Barrier Free Housing
Pillar: Financial Resilience
Grant Amount: $6,000
This project will focus on increasing access to fair, safe and equitable banking and increasing financial literacy for tenants of the new Zerin on Clarke Road affordable housing building.
Lambton Kent Middlesex
Organization: Craigwiel Gardens
Project: Building A New Craigholme
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $13,000
Grant funds will be used to support the rebuild of Craigholme, the Long-Term care portion of Craigwiel Gardens. Craigwiel Gardens will be adding 9 new beds in the new build for a total of 92 beds. Craigholme will be bright, welcoming, and more spacious overall, featuring private and semi-private rooms as well as enhanced dining and common areas.
Organization: Sarnia-Lambton Rebound
Project: The HUB – Social Enterprise (Thrift Store)
Pillar: Employment
Grant Amount: $15,000
The HUB is a multi-service location that serves youth ages 16 to 24. The HUB is creating a Social Enterprise that will sell pre-loved, donated items from the community. The long-term goals of this business venture are to create retail job opportunities, responsibility, and skills to assist youth in their job search. This project will also aid in the creation of ownership and pride for The HUB youth.
Organization: Women’s Rural Resource Centre
Project: Rural Women’s Employment in Gender Based Violence Work; Centering Gender Equity in COVID-19 Recovery Efforts
Pillar: Employment
Grant Amount: $13,000
This project aims to improve the organization’s ability to maintain a strong and healthy workforce to serve women, providing meaningful employment opportunities for rural women in Middlesex County, with a focus on skill development, leadership and gender equity.
Organization: Youth Services of Lambton County Inc (o/a Huron House Boys’ Home)
Project: Huron House Independent Living Program
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $13,000
This program serves residents aged 16-18 with a full kitchen to prepare meals, a living room, den, laundry facilities, computer access and private bedrooms. The program is geared to boys who have a need to prepare themselves for independent living by learning a variety of skills, such as budgeting, cooking, and cleaning, that will help ensure a successful transition out of Huron House once they turn 18.
Windsor Essex
Organization: Caldwell First Nation
Project: Caldwell First Nation Housing Initiative
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $20,000
This project will aim to increase the Nation’s ability to construct its own affordable and sustainable homes and staff its own citizens to build its community, deliver training and home building education.
Organization: Connections Early Years Family Centre
Project: 6 Cs of Financial Resilience – Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, Control and Contribution
Pillar: Financial Resilience
Grant Amount: $10,000
This project would introduce, enhance and strengthen the financial literacy or knowledge, skills, confidence and motivation needed for people to keep track of their finances, make ends meet, plan ahead, keep informed and choose products and services that work for them.
Organization: COOK-UP
Project: Business Planning and Launch Assistance Program
Pillar: Employment
Grant Amount: $20,000
This program will provide support including business consulting, access to shared commercial kitchens and connections to market opportunities for food entrepreneurs, primarily from marginalized communities, to build and launch sustainable businesses.
Organization: UHC Hub of Opportunities
Project: The Leamington Regional Food Hub Program
Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $20,000
This program will rescue surplus fresh produce from area farms, to wash, dice, package, and flash freeze it. This produce will be distributed to organizations in the Windsor and Essex County area, Ontario as well as Northern rural and remote Indigenous communities.
Waterloo Region
Organization: Community Fridge KW
Project: Community Fridge KW
Pillar: Local Food Accessibility
Grant Amount: $6,000
Public repositories of fresh donated food for anyone to take from, for free in and around Kitchener-Waterloo. The program helps reducing food insecurity by offering a barrier-free source of fresh free food. Reduce food waste by connecting local businesses to share food that might otherwise be wasted. Facilitate organic opportunities for the development of mutual trust, understanding and respect.
Organization: Sexual Assault Support Centre WR
Project: SASC’s Flexible Housing Prosperity Fund
Pillar: Housing
Grant Amount: $24,000 (Grant + sponsorship)
This fund will be used to help survivors of human trafficking and/or sexual exploitation in regards to housing prosperity and stabilization. The flexibility of this fund would provide the ability to meet the differing needs of each person and enable them to obtain and maintain safer housing thus increasing their independence in the long term.