Montreal’s Vital Signs shows city on a roll, but challenges remain

By Marina Boulos

Greater Montreal’s Vital Signs returned for a fifth year in 2011.

In five years, Vital Signs has developed a loyal following of people and organizations who await its publication. It has become a great guide for one’s philanthropic actions. In fact, 98% of our 2011 community grants are in response to a Vital Sign.

Vital Signs is a recognizable brand, and the Foundation of Greater Montreal has begun to provide presentations about it to companies, libraries, seniors clubs, as well as private clubs.

Marina Boulos, President & CEO of the FGM

In five years, one can effectively see if our city has made progress and if certain challenges continue to need everyone’s help. What improvements can we point to? For one thing, Greater Montreal is on a roll. With its high-tech industries and the predicted creation of 60,000 new jobs by 2014, Montreal has some good days ahead… its diversity is a great source of enrichment and a vehicle for advancement.

The unemployment rates amongst immigrants has declined by 18% in one year. Other good news is that the high school drop-out rate decreased by 2.8% in  the past three years. While only 48% participate in some form of physical activity, obesity declined by 4% in the last year.

What are the challenges? The cost of living has risen in Greater Montreal. In one year, the city gained almost 20 ranking spots (from 98th to 79th) as one of the most expensive cities in the world. As well, an increasing number of households with employment income are relying on food banks to feed their families, an increase of 65% in 3 years. And finding housing for families is becoming difficult as three-bedroom apartments are scarce, with a decrease in the vacancy rate of 2.1% in 2010 to 1% in 2011.

Finally, 93.5% of Greater Montreal residents are happy with their lives, almost 5% more than in 2003. That makes me happy, too.

Marina Boulos is President & CEO of the Foundation of Greater Montreal

High school drop-out rates prompt grant to Youth Fusion

It goes without saying that kids generally look up to older kids, and a Quebec program that targets under-performing high schools – with support from the Foundation of Greater Montreal – clearly illustrates that.

Youth Fusion is an award-winning charity that establishes innovative partnerships between high schools and universities, in an effort to counter high-school drop-out rates.

A Youth Fusion participant struts his stuff during the talent show at Saint-Henri High School. Photo by Tristan Brand

It’s an issue of concern to the Foundation, which revealed in its Vital Signs 2010 report that Montreal has a 32-per-cent drop out rate among students, and that a significant number of adolescents over 15 years of age did not complete high school (21%).

“Youth Fusion has proven results – the students enrolled graduate in far greater numbers. It began in one school and has spread to dozens of others across the province,” says Marina Boulos-Winton, the Foundation’s President & CEO.

In 2010, FGM used a donor-advised fund to help refurbish musical equipment in two participating Youth Fusion schools, and the following year supported French, science and math programs for three participating schools.

Youth Fusion pays university students an hourly wage to work with high-risk kids after school on student-directed projects in fields ranging from music and environment to entrepreneurship and robotics.

Rogers Communications recently asked for the Foundation’s recommendations on directing donations to address the province’s high-school drop-out rates, after the issue made media headlines. The company ended up giving $600,000, over three years, to two suggested organizations, Youth Fusion and Allo Prof, which provides phone and online homework help to students and parents across Quebec.

Focusing on what’s important, through Vital Signs

By Marina Boulos-Winton

Experiencing my first launch of Greater Montreal’s Vital Signs was exhilarating. So many people attended, the presentations made by the panellists were remarkable, and the questions and comments from media representatives and the audience were serious and insightful!

We decided to host our October 5 Vital Signs event at the Auditorium of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, a perfect location.

In keeping with the sheer magnitude of this public library, it serves and is accessed by people from all walks of life, including those who use it for their employment search, those who need to learn English or French, those with young children who need a leisure activity, students of all levels, and those either down on their luck or very fortunate, who simply go to the library to pass the time.

At any rate, libraries are an essential part of having an educated and literate population. Hence it was an ideal place to gather our distinguished panellists (Lise Bertrand, Simon Brault, Aïda Kamar, Sidney Ribaux) and an audience of close to 200, which included funders and the non-profit community, to discuss what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to be fixed.

Greater Montreal’s poverty rate is 18 per cent, versus the national average of 13.5 per cent. The city has the second largest population in Canada, yet it’s ranked 20th for level of income. Francophones in Montreal have some of the lowest high school graduation rates, and we rank 29th out of 31 among major North American cities for people attaining a bachelor degree.

While we still rank high in quality of life, will we become a society where the gap between rich and poor becomes even wider, and where no new wealth is being created? Will we have the resources to innovate, compete and create pportunities for ourselves, for future generations and for those newly arrived in our city? Will we become mere transients as we seek jobs elsewhere?

For now, Vital Signs gives the Foundation of Greater Montreal, and those who create funds with us – much like mini-foundations within a foundation – the ability to focus on what’s important, and how together we can invest where it will make a difference.

We hope shortly to announce a partnership to alleviate the rate of high school drop-outs, and in the new year, our philanthropic focus for 2011.

Stay tuned between now and our next Vital Signs report in October 2011 …

Marina Boulos-Winton is President & CEO of the Foundation of Greater Montreal.

Foundation of Greater Montreal gives more than $1.7 million to community

Montreal, June 22, 2010 – The Foundation of Greater Montreal (FGM) will allocate grants of more than $1.7 million to non-profit organizations in the Greater Montreal area.

The total amount includes grants awarded from the FGM’s Community Grants Program sector, as well as donations from individual endowment funds.

The FGM Community Grants Program benefits non-profit organizations in Greater Montreal. The amount of these community funds comes from unrestricted, as well as designated funds.

This year, the FGM is awarding grants totaling $190,000 to cultural organizations, $334,906 to social development organizations, $131,565 to the education sector, $60,000 to environmental organizations, and $177,601 to the health sector, totaling $894,072. Other grants will be announced in October 2010.

The FGM is pursuing its commitment to sponsor projects and programs that meet the needs of the most vulnerable members of society and to improve the quality of life in the region.

For example, the Maison d’entraide Saint-Paul-Émard received a grant for its Campdes P’tits Cuistots. One of their objectives is to educate underprivileged young people about healthy eating, while providing the necessary tools to apply

their knowledge and to share it with their families.

A grant to Fondation Le Plateau will enable the music school to restore 70 alto xylophones. The Quat’Sous s’ouvre à la communauté grant, a Théâtre de

Quat’Sous initiative, will set up a series of activities to reinforce links to the community, more specifically, to provide cultural access to new population segments such as children and cultural communities.

And the Consortium Évolution organization will be awarded a grant for its’ Educ-o-vert project, which will encourage third and fourth grade students to donate an old toy to the Lutins Verts organization, who will restore the toys and sell them in their Biosphere workshop in December 2010. This initiative will teach youth about

overconsumption and its impact on the environment.

A portion of these grants has been allocated to Haitian relief projects, including organizations such as the Haitian community of Montreal office, the Centre d’alphabétisation de NA Rive de Montréal, and the Maison d’Haiti. This FGM grant will help Maison d’Haiti better respond to the needs of victims and bereaved families recovering from the earthquake crisis of January 2010.

“We are especially proud of the number of donations received this year. What a wonderful way to celebrate our 10th anniversary! The quality of projects we received is extraordinary. The Grants Committee decided to allocate a portion of the funds in October of this year, which will be in response to the upcoming publication of Vital Signs,” says Marina Boulos, President and CEO of the FGM.

Of the 150 projects received, 95 were awarded grants. These projects are evaluated with respect to their impact on the quality of life, their viability and practicality, as well as the credibility of the organization.

The Foundation of Greater Montreal Celebrates its 10th Anniversary

“After 10 years of existence, we are happy to recognize that the growth of the FGM will allow us to respond to the ever growing needs of the community of Greater Montreal,” says Marina Boulos.

By the end of first quarter in 2010, the FGM had more than 260 endowment funds totaling more than $102 million (ranging from $10,000 to $24 million), an increase of at least 40 funds since January 1st, 2009.

Since 2003, the FGM has allocated more than $5 million to organizations in the greater Montreal area.

About the Foundation of Greater Montreal

The Foundation of Greater Montreal (FGM) is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the well-being of the Greater Montreal community. It establishes and manages permanent endowment funds and distributes their income in the form of grants to charitable organizations working in the areas of health, social services, arts and culture, education, and the environment.

The FGM, part of a group of 173 community foundations in Canada, has been in operation for 10 years.