Youthopia , Youth for Inclusion Program

In 2011, as part of its BUILDING VITAL COMMUNITIES grant program, the Guelph Community Foundation  awarded $4,450 to Immigrant Services Guelph-Wellington for its Youthopia , Youth for Inclusion, program.

Youthopia set out to engage newcomer youth through the arts with spoken word, drama and media, while building leadership skills and broader engagement in the community.

“Moving to a new school is difficult enough for youth, now imagine being new to the country, city, neighbourhood, and having to function in a second language,” said Roya Rabbani, Executive Director of Immigrant Services Guelph-Wellington.

Over a period of six months, participants met with trained youth facilitators to work on a variety of activities. This process led to a core group choosing to work on a live production to honour the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination . Another group continued to meet weekly to work on smaller arts projects. Youth also participated in community and civic engagement activities in the Guelph community.

What did it mean to youth participating?

Youthtopia’s RiseUp! event poster said it best: “life is no longer about hiding in the shadows or trying to get by – it’s about laughing and crying, and all the things in between; it’s about the opposite of disappearing. Watch as we come out of our cocoons …”

Roya Rabbani, who recently spoke at the Foundation’s Fall Community Celebration, told the audience that two-thirds of Canada’s growth is coming through immigration. Like trees, these newcomers are uprooted from their homelands and transplanted here, and that is a difficult process. “A caring community allows those trees to take root, to flourish and bear fruit,” she said.

Spoken word was one of many activities undertaken.   To view a short clip from one of Youthopia’s Spoken Word sessions, click here.

Andrea Olson is Executive Director of Guelph Community Foundation

Community engagement lends Vital Signs even more value in South Okanagan

By Aaron McRann

After witnessing the success of Vital Signs in other communities, the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan committed to its first Vital Signs report in 2011.

Based on the experience of others, we expected going in to this process that we would have the opportunity to highlight key areas of need in the community. We expected that we would offer a document that could provide an unbiased assessment of the health of our community. We expected that the document would be used by many different groups to inform their plans for the future.

And just months after the launch of our first Vital Signs report, we’re happy to have experienced all three of these wonderful benefits.

South Okanagan's leadership team

However, the side benefits that we have enjoyed by engaging in this process are also worth noting. By engaging an effective Community Leadership Team, made up of prominent leaders from every sector of our community, we have been able to forge much stronger alliances that will remain important for years to come.

The process of working together to craft this first Vital Signs report required commitment, ingenuity, compromise, and imagination from each of our Leadership Team members. This level of engagement not only sold them on Vital Signs as a key tool for driving change, but on the Community Foundation as a leader in steering and coordinating that change for the future.

Another very gratifying “surprise” was the level of community interest in the process. In all, the local newspapers provided eleven articles about Vital Signs including discussions of its roots, its development process, and its outcomes. More than 660 citizens completed our community survey, fully three times our expectations.

The end result is a valuable, unbiased report that truly is the voice of our citizens … awesome!

Aaron McRann is Executive Director of the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan

Vibrant community sport sector an important ingredient in community vitality

By Barbara McMillan

Community foundations understand the value that sport brings to communities, and why programs involving sports are worth supporting.

Whether the focus is on athletic performance or fostering healthy lifestyles, engaging volunteers or cultivating leadership, building confidence or building community, we know that a vibrant, accessible, and adequately funded community sport sector is an important ingredient of community vitality.

We also know that it can be a challenge for sport organizations to access the resources necessary to allow them to meet the demand for their programs, and increase their capacity, their impact or their reach.  And for funders, there may be procedural, capacity or awareness barriers that might limit their ability to support sport organizations in the way they would like.

That’s why more than 60 representatives from sport organizations and community and other foundations, including Ian Bird, Community Foundations of Canada’s President and CEO, recently gathered for a day-long symposium at the UBC John MS Leckie Boathouse in Richmond to explore opportunities to work together to enhance sports philanthropy.

We heard many stories of how community foundations are supporting sport through grants, agency endowments, legacy funds, and infrastructure projects. And we heard about the power of sport to change lives, improve health outcomes, and strengthen community. But we also learned about the regulatory, resource, and turf barriers that can limit capacity and impact.

Initial feedback about the meeting has been overwhelmingly positive. Sport groups and community foundations appreciated the opportunity to learn more about each other and to start a conversation about how we can more intentionally and strategically connect our sport and our philanthropy organizations and networks.

One of the immediate outcomes is that the sport organizations that participated now see community foundations as partners rather than funders.

We’re now pulling together the notes from the meeting, and will be considering how – with some of the many ideas generated and relationships initiated – we will foster a sport and community philanthropy strategy.

As one participant noted: “There is so much value in this discussion, and sharing information may result in movement toward collaboration – let’s keep the discussion going and expand it.”

Stay tuned …

Barbara McMillan is Community Foundations of Canada’s Director of Regional Strategies

You Can Do It Awards give Winnipeg students boost to pursue higher education

By Skana Gee

When Seneca Chartrand arrived at R.B. Russell High School in Winnipeg, she anticipated more school work. She had no idea just how challenging it would be.

But the possibility of securing an award from The Winnipeg Foundation kept her on track, working hard and tackling many challenges.

“A few times she called me from the school to say ‘Somebody has gotten shot, somebody has gotten stabbed across the street.’ That’s something you really don’t want a kid to have to worry about when they’re going to school,” says her mother, Cheyenne Chartrand.

But Seneca persevered, and last June, she received a You Can Do It Award, which provided $1,000 toward her post-secondary education. The teen from the inner-city is now enrolled in the Creative Communications program at Red River College.

“It’s like tapping somebody on the shoulder and saying we know you can do this,” says Rick Frost, The Winnipeg Foundation’s CEO. “It’s encouragement to say, ‘You’re not going to be stopped by financial barriers.’ “

The program began last year, with 270 students from inner-city schools selected, based on attendance, effort, academic achievement, volunteerism and leadership. Because kids can qualify from Grade 5 on, with $1,000 put into a “learning account” each school year, there’s potential for them to earn $8,000 toward their post-secondary education.

A program like this doesn’t happen in a vacuum, of course. It’s a partnership between The Winnipeg Foundation, the Province of Manitoba, Winnipeg School Division and Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council.

Shania Murdock, a Grade 9 student, also received a You Can Do It Award last school year. She already knows she wants to be a teacher.

“For many of our students, it may be the first time somebody from their family has gone on to post-secondary education, so it’s an accomplishment for their entire family,” R.B. Russell vice-principal Chris Goring told the media after the awards were presented.

Skana Gee is Communications Coordinator with Community Foundations of Canada

$1.6-million gift boosts future of local hospice, via Niagara Community Foundation

Thanks to the generosity of Patrick and Nancy McNally, the financial
future of McNally House looks brighter. The McNally’s have donated $1.6
million to establish two endowment funds that will support the ongoing
operations of the organization.

“Nancy and I were approached by Dr. Denise Marshall about the ongoing
funding challenges faced by McNally House,” said Patrick McNally. “The
hospice has an important role to play in our community and we wanted to
find a way to provide some on-going support.  Setting up the endowment
funds was the perfect solution for our family.”

The endowments will ease the annual fundraising burden for McNally
House, which raises more than $600,000 annually from the community.  Until
now, financial support has come from memorial gifts, donations and special
events.  The McNally’s gift will be held in perpetuity in two new endowment funds – the McNally House Endowment Fund and the Patrick and Nancy McNally Family Fund.  The Niagara Community Foundation will hold
and manage the funds, directing a portion of the annual earnings to
support McNally House.

“This is a dream come true,” said Dr. Denise Marshall, Medical Director
of McNally House. “Patrick and Nancy have a profound understanding, not
only of the moral imperative of exemplary end of life care, but of the
need for sustainability of such care. This was evidenced by their
original commitment to the build and now with their wisdom around
ensuring that McNally house is sustainable. They know the numbers.  It
requires $412 a day to operate each of the six patient beds at McNally
house.  But this is a fraction of what it would cost if that same person
had to end up in hospital at end of life.

“This is a magnificent ‘call to arms’ for our entire community – an open
invitation for others to follow suit. I like to think of this as a ‘call
to embracing arms.’”

“As the new board chair, sustaining the operations of McNally House is
one of my top priorities,” said Norm Beal.  “Memorial donations and
events are extremely important in keeping us connected with the
community.  This donation from Pat and Nancy will provide a new revenue
source, for which we are extremely grateful.  It is our hope that their
gift will inspire others in our community to contribute to the
endowments.”

The Niagara Community Foundation has noticed an increase in estate gifts
over the past few years to their various endowment funds.  “By making a
gift through a bequest to an endowment, the donor can continue their
annual giving in perpetuity,” said Alan Goddard, board member of the
foundation.

“McNally House holds a very special place in the hearts of so many in
our community and these new funds will ensure the hospice’s continued
success.”

The two funds to support McNally House become part of the family of
endowment funds held in perpetuity by the Niagara Community Foundation.
Created in 2000 the Foundation has raised more than $14 million and has
granted in excess of $4 million to charities working in the arts, heritage, environment, social services, health, education and community development.
The Foundation works with donors wanting to create permanent legacies to
support causes important to the donors during their lifetime.  The donations to the endowments are never spent, but held in perpetuity with a portion of the annual earnings given to charities.

Car club helping at-risk students for past 15 years, thanks to Fundy Community Foundation

By Skana Gee

Sandy Thurber still remembers the day the Grand Manan Community School student council members came to Fundy Community Foundation looking for a grant to start a car club.

It was more than 15 years ago, and the foundation was just getting up and running in Charlotte County, New Brunswick. Thurber, now the organization’s Executive Director, remembers that the students were worried about education cuts that would see their school lose its shop classes.

The small island school had experienced high drop-out rates, and these savvy students wanted to make school relevant to kids at risk. The car club, they believed, would help.

The students were doing their part with fund-raisers – even chopping and stacking wood – but they needed a $1,000 grant to get started. It was one of the first grants awarded by Fundy Community Foundation, which now has almost $3.5 million in endowments and has granted more than $500,000 to worthwhile projects and initiatives.

And it is still one of the most meaningful. It allowed the students of Grand Manan, one of three small islands served by the foundation, to purchase a 1980 automobile, strip it to the frame and completely rebuild it into a functioning race car. Each year since, a new group of students gets its chance to do the same.

The club is now starting work building a car carrier (a flatbed truck) to use to carry the car to special events. The car, dubbed Thumper, has been driven in races at an actual race track and once even made the ferry trip to the mainland to attend the community foundation’s annual general meeting. And, more importantly, it is keeping students engaged in their education.

The kids tell Ms. Thurber that there are always students with their noses pressed up against the window of the auto shop. Everyone wants to be involved. And they can be, but they must attend classes and keep their marks up – the school has even started a tutoring service to make sure that happens.

With continuing grants and support from the foundation, the school has been able to purchase a second vehicle and help more young people stay on the right path. And it has brought the community together, as people of all ages catch the students’ infectious enthusiasm.

A prime example of the way in which a small amount of money can make a big impact.

Skana Gee is Communications Coordinator with Community Foundations of Canada

CFC’s Benjamin Moore program provides facelift, inspiration

By Michelle Stefan

The Summerland Asset Development Initiative (SADI) is an organization that provides opportunities, activities and resources for Summerland youth.

Volunteers paint up a storm at the SADI centre

We are housed in a building provided by the District of Summerland. This building provides us with the opportunity to run activities, leadership programs and an after-school program for youth. Each year we try to focus on a new building improvement project that improves our building, but also enhances community spirit through these positive changes.

Last year, SADI heard about CFC’s Benjamin Moore Community Restoration Program, which awards cash grants of up to $4,000 plus Benjamin Moore paint valued up to $750 to qualifying community organizations.

We thought it sounded like a great opportunity to spruce up the building and make it a source of pride in our community. We worked with our local Community Foundation of the South Okanagan to find out more about it and put together our proposal. Then we crossed our fingers.

Work in progress at the SADI centre in Summerland

Soon after, we received word that we would receive cash and paint to make our vision a reality. We set to work involving a local painter and SADI supporter, selected two colour schemes and asked the youth what they thought. They were unanimous in their decision and we set to work. We organized volunteers of all ages to help with the painting of a stucco building – no easy task!

It didn’t take long before our building was transformed before our very eyes. Shades of blue, green and orange were tastefully combined to create a fun, vibrant and aesthetically pleasing new space. Youth were so inspired they couldn’t stop painting, and continued to paint all the tables in our lounge area.

Feedback from the community was instantaneous and we heard positive comments for months. Some even suggested it should be the new design scheme for our town. We feel that this project helped us build spirit and pride, not only in our own building and in our youth, but in the community as a whole.

A big thank-you to Benjamin Moore, Community Foundations of Canada, The Community Foundation of the South Okanagan, Summerland Builders Mart, Feels Like Home by Jamie, and the many volunteers who made our vision a reality!

The process was easy and helped us accomplish something that might otherwise not have been possible.

Michelle Stefan is SADI Program Manager

Langar Project brings communal kitchen concept to South Asian seniors in Mississauga

By Skana Gee

Traditional meal-delivery programs don’t necessarily cut the mustard as the make-up of communities evolves to be more ethnically diverse.

For instance, The Greater Toronto Area’s South Asian immigrant population gew by about 50 per cent between 2000 and 2006. And that trend is on full display in Mississauga, where 51.6 per cent of residents were foreign-born in 2006.

So the Community Foundation of Mississauga is always on the look-out for programs and services that serve the area’s diverse needs, including the Langar Project at Punjabi Community Health Services, a community kitchen program aimed at feeding frail seniors in the South Asian community.

The project — “langar” means communal kitchen – received a $30,000 grant from the community foundation to help it begin operations this month. It will engage healthy seniors to procure, prepare and distribute culturally appropriate food to those who cannot cook for themselves. With an aim to providing two meals daily, even on weekends and holidays, it’s a perfect fit for Mississauga, which has a higher proportion of foreign-born residents than other Canadian centres.

“It takes the concept of a communal kitchen into the community. Not only does it provide food, but it also gives seniors a feeling of connectedness and safety,” says Eileen MacKenzie, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Mississauga.

The grant is a good illustration of the knowledge that can be gleaned from Vital Signs – and the community impact that can result.

In 2011, the anonymous donor behind the Pendle Fund decided to fund the first-ever Mississauga’s Vital Signs report and, before the year was out, had also provided $365,000 to address the needs identified in that document.

“They saw the value of community knowledge and the beauty of using that knowledge to inform philanthropy,” says CFM’s Executive Director Eileen MacKenzie. “All of these projects, including the Langar Project, demonstrate a real ability to connect to the community needs identified in Vital Signs 2011.”

In a recent Globe and Mail story about the Langar Project, a caseworker with Punjabi Community Health Services said it makes sense to provide culturally appropriate meals to needy seniors.

“Most of my clients would prefer eating South Asian food because it’s been a part of their diet their whole lives,” said Nirpal Bhangoo. “You can’t really expect them to change at their age.”

Skana Gee is Communications Coordinator with Community Foundations of Canada

Foundations explore ways to unite community through True Sport

By Skana Gee

The Community Foundations of Canada True Sport initiative is picking up steam, moving from a successful pilot project into a new phase of development.

“It’s a unique opportunity to bring communities together with a wide range of partners to build community through sport,” says Cindy Lindsay, CFC’s Director of Member Services.

About 15 months ago, Community Foundations of Canada partnered with the True Sport Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport on a one-year pilot project to strengthen community through sport.

Four community foundations – in Kitchener-Waterloo, Burlington, Winnipeg and Abbotsford – participated in this innovative program, which relied on collaboration, consultation and an asset-based community development approach that connected sport and non-sport organizations to build social capital through sport.

Winnipeg youth play soccer during a tournament funded in part by the CFC True Sport initiative

By early February, Lindsay expects CFC to announce a new slate of potentially four or five community foundation participants.

“We are considering their readiness to embrace the philosophy of the initiative, the ability to nurture community consultation, and the potential to secure matching funds,” says Lindsay.

Indeed, while offering funding from CFC and the McConnell Foundation, the True Sport program also relies on contributions from participating community partners, who can look to the success of the pilot project.

In Winnipeg, for instance, 15 community-led projects received grants, resulting in a baseball festival – led by a coach and students from the University of Winnipeg – as well as a basketball league, a soccer tournament, and other initiatives in the city’s Central Park neighbourhood.

“Each project was unique and was matched by Central Park community resources of volunteer time, donated materials, professional services or cash,” Christina Parsons of True Sport Foundation wrote on The Winnipeg Foundation’s blog.

“By coming together, the community was able to identify its strengths, create connections and build on existing partnerships.”

Let the games begin!

Skana Gee is Communications Coordinator with Community Foundations of Canada

Vital Youth initiative cultivates leadership, philanthropy in Victoria

By Leah Baade

The Victoria Foundation’s Vital Youth initiative is currently entering its eighth year. Working with more than 100 students in seven local high schools, the Victoria Foundation is pleased to offer this experiential learning program that teaches community leadership and philanthropy.

Previously named Youth in Philanthropy, the program has been renamed this year to reflect the valuable community impact of Victoria’s Vital Signs® Students are encouraged to identify their individual and group values and then use the Vital Signs® report to explore challenges and opportunities within their communities.

Victoria's Vital Signs

“This group of students was exceptional – smart, provocative, challenging and engaged. We met early in the morning and in spite of busy schedules one of the team members was able to visit READ,” said Claire Rettie, Executive Director, Victoria READ Society.

“In a social and funding climate that is increasingly challenging, working with these young people provided me with a much-needed burst of energy.”

Last year, student committees granted a total of $17,500 to 16 local charities. Each of the grants made a valuable contribution to various issue areas identified by participants of theVictoria’s Vital Signs® survey.

Participating schools include Belmont Secondary, Frances Kelsey Secondary, Oak Bay High, Reynolds Secondary, Victoria High, St. Michaels University School, and, in partnership with the Saanich Peninsula Foundation,  Stelly’s Secondary School.

For the first time ever this year, and with the support of TELUS, the Victoria Foundation will launch the Youth Vital Signs report as its own publication. The launch will take place on Saturday, November 19th at the TEDx Victoria Youth event.

Leah Baade is Vital Youth and Social Media Coordinator with Victoria Foundation