Impact Stories
Communities across Canada, with the support of their community foundations, are using Vital Signs to identify priorities and to take action to improve local quality of life.
Montreal
Safety
A comic approach - Foundation of Greater Montreal
It’s no laughing matter, but a project that created comic strips on the theme of bullying has ignited the imaginations of youth in Montreal.
Don’t Touch My Board, Man!, aimed at young peopled aged 12 to 17, was held in various locales, including libraries, youth centres, and – due to popular demand – in five Montreal schools, among both francophone and anglophone students.
The program was supported by a $10,000 grant from the Greater Montreal Foundation, after Greater Montreal’s Vital Signs revealed problems relating to hate crimes – documented as being perpetrated mostly by young people – as well as bullying and intimidation.
Don’t Touch My Board, Man! was a collaborative effort of the Blue Metropolis Foundation and the Bibliotheque de Montreal. For more than a month, students expressed themselves on the subject of bullying and taxing – where someone, usually a teenager or group of teenagers, takes something from someone against their will – by creating comic strips. They were guided by professional authors and illustrators, an educational psychologist specializing in bullying, and teachers and facilitators from their schools.
“With many organizations decrying issues of violence, intimidation and discrimination that touch young people, it is obviously an area that needs to be addressed,” says Marina Boulos, President and CEO of the Greater Montreal Foundation.
“Don’t Touch My Board, Man! was an innovative way for youth to explore these troubling trends and reflect on potential solutions.”
When the sessions wrapped, a jury selected the best comic boards, to be published each year in a book. Student submissions were also posted online.
Guelph
Health
Reaching out to young parents - Guelph Community Foundation
Young parents often struggle in a variety of ways. They may not be financially stable. Perhaps they're trying to juggle school, work and parenting. Maybe they just don't have the life experience to deal with some of the challenges that accompany having children.
Alisha, for instance, is attending community college while her partner, Sean - who hasn't worked steadily in quite a while - is home full-time with their two young daughters, aged three months and 18 months. Sometimes the obstacles seem insurmountable.
But help is now available in the form of a Young Parents Resource Night, held weekly at the Community Resource Centre (CRC) in Fergus and thanks, in part, to a $3,000 grant from the Guelph Community Foundation.
"Without the support of the Foundation, this program would not have been possible. We knew there was a need in our community for a program such as this, and the grant provided us with the only opportunity to actually get the program off the ground," says Naomi Melnick, Manager of Outreach & Support Services for the Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington.
The program connects moms and dads aged 16 to 24 with a CRC outreach worker in an effort to address the isolation, depression and frustrations they sometimes feel. It regularly attracts up to a dozen young parents interested in discussing their day-to-day challenges.
There is also much practical help - parents learn about their children's growth and development, learn about education and work opportunities, and discover how best to navigate the health-care system.
As Sean speaks to an employment counselor, Alisha discusses some concerns with the public health nurse. She finds out she has mastitis, and gets the breastfeeding support she needs to continue. Together the couple learns to cook an inexpensive Three Bean Turkey Chili, as their daughters explore play opportunities with program staff.
"We are really excited about the connections that young parents have been able to make with resources in the community. We know that these critical links to services will improve not only their lives, but the lives of their children," notes Melnick.
Saint John
Gap Between Rich and Poor
A vital link - Greater Saint John Community Foundation
The Greater Saint John Community Foundation has been using Vital Signs as a tool for reviewing grant applications since its inaugural report four years ago. Now it's moving to the next level - by asking charities to link their proposal to the issues and challenges examined in Vital Signs.
"It's a pretty major change," says Executive Director Jane Barry.
"There are literally hundreds of charitable organizations and causes in our community and we think we're really fortunate to have so many caring individuals and groups - but we can't possibly provide funding to all of them, so we want to use the information we have about what the greatest needs are, what trends are developing, to make the best use of the funds we have available."
Indeed, Vital Signs data recently led to an established donor making a special gift to help students who are struggling financially.
"When we pointed out that some students need money for urgent personal reasons, such as not having enough to eat, the donor came forward with a gift for two specific schools, one an elementary and one a high school," says Barry.
That donor's $2,000 is helping to ensure kids at those schools have a proper lunch, so they can make the most of each school day.
It's this direct matching of resources with immediate and long-term needs that appeals to the Foundation as it promotes its new granting protocol.
"The Vital Signs reports are useful in our granting work, but we think they are having a wider impact," notes Barry.
A recent forum attracted representatives from many funding bodies that donate to both broadly based and targeted community causes. They were all anxious to learrn more about Vital Signs.
"They were full of questions and found the whole presentation very informative," she says.
Toronto
Learning
Open schools. Safe kids. Strong communities – Toronto Community Foundation
When the school bell rings, signalling the end of another day, many children - especially those who live in poverty - have nowhere to go.
According to Toronto's Vital Signs, the hours between 3:30 and 6 p.m. mark a high-risk period for kids to engage in gang-related or delinquent behaviour, or become victims of crime.
"You need healthy, positive afterschool activities or they're at serious risk. The issue really hasn't changed much since I was young, only now there are fewer programs being provided by schools due to a lack of funding. Now it's more important than ever that we understand how to best use the resources we have," says Rahul Bhardwaj, President and CEO of the Toronto Community Foundation.
That's why the Foundation - in partnership with the Toronto District School Board and the Foundation for Student Success - is introducing a new program to address the problem.
Beyond 3:30 will keep seven inner-city middle schools open between 3:30 and 8 p.m., providing more than 3,000 children with activities, nutritious meals and a safe place to gather.
There will be homework clubs, upgrading sessions, sports, music, art, theatre, community cooking classes, parent information sessions and workshops aimed at helping parents do homework with their children.
"This project is a wonderful example of how we use our Toronto's Vital Signs report to target areas in the city where we can be most effective. With Beyond 3:30, we worked closely with our partners to ensure this was a program that would help youth in these communities succeed," says Bhardwaj.
Beyond 3:30 is modelled after a highly successful pilot project in one of Toronto's inner-city elementary schools, which saw a variety of positive outcomes, including reductions in suspensions and lateness, and an increase in attendance and math scores. Both aim to keep adolescents away from the streets and the malls, and focused on more positive pursuits.
More than 20 Toronto Community Foundation fundholders and donors have supported this important initiative, motivated by the data contained in Vital Signs.
Medicine Hat
Environment
Donating or dumping? - Community Foundation of Medicine Hat and Southeastern Alberta
Medicine Hat's charities knew that illegal dumping at their donation boxes was a problem. They just didn't know what a mammoth problem it was.
But when Vital Signs revealed that two local charities were spending $33,000 annually to dispose of unusable donations dumped on their doorsteps, they were spurred to action. Further research revealed that $100,000 was being spent yearly between four local charities to dispose of unwanted goods.
"That is taking away from programs and services that we all want to deliver back into the community," says Lois Bourassa, executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). "It's very startling, and I think that's what hit the Community Foundation - they could see how ludicrous it was."
The Community Foundation of Medicine Hat & Southeastern Alberta helped facilitate a partnership between CMHA, REDI Enterprises Society, the Salvation Army and the Canadian Diabetes Association to address the problem. It also organized a public event called 'Donating or Dumping?'
The anti-dumping subcommittee has garnered support from local police and media in communicating relevant information to the public and continues to work on the issue.
In August, the CMHA cut the ribbon on a home-grown solution: a set of locally constructed - by Alberta Job Corps members - various-sized wooden lockers for after-hours donations.
"I would say they have been 95-per-cent successful," says Bourassa of the approximately 40 lockers, a couple of which are 12 feet tall to accommodate furniture donations. "And we may have invented a prototype for other thrift stores to consider."
It's this type of action, and collaboration, that makes Vital Signs so valuable, says Jennifer Thompson, the Foundation's community impact coordinator.
"Suddenly, a problem they didn't realize was so big is becoming a lot more manageable," she notes.
Ottawa
Getting Started
Help comes home - Community Foundation of Ottawa
"Before, I felt lost. HIPPY helps me to know what to give to my kids."
That is how Najat, mother of four-year-old Bassil, describes her involvement with Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), a program supported by the Community Foundation of Ottawa since its inception in December 2008.
"Most of these grants are made in close collaboration with the Foundation's donors, who rely on us to identify existing and emerging issues and trends matching their interests. Increasingly, our Ottawa's Vital Signs report is playing a role in informing these donors" says Anita James, the Foundation's Program Manager of Grants and Community Initiatives.
"This year we have quite a few indicators in our report that speak to the need for supports to prepare children and youth so they can be more successful in school and beyond," she notes. "Our report and existing community programs help raise awareness about these issues."
Housed at the Vanier Community Service Centre, HIPPY currently supports 45 culturally diverse families with three- and four-year-old children in Vanier, Overbrook, Lowertown, Centretown, Hunt Club and South Bank.
Home visitors speak a variety of languages and offer weekly, hour-long visits during which they work with parents to role-play educational activities for their children, helping boost their confidence and become their children's greatest teachers. HIPPY also organizes bi-weekly group outings to encourage families to participate fully in their community.
The outings are a highlight for Bassil, who learns about his neighbourhood, makes arts and crafts, and plays games in English, French and Arabic, says Najat.
Calgary
Getting Around
Steering toward a vision - The Calgary Foundation
Building the best assisted seniors transportation system in North America. It's a lofty goal - set by stakeholders concerned about the isolation of elderly residents as documented in Vital Signs - but one The Calgary Foundation is helping to realize.
"That has been guiding our vision and our work as it pertains to seniors, and we've been supporting a number of initiatives in the community that work toward that vision," says Dan Thorburn, Vice-President, Grants and Community Initiatives.
Those include Seniors Social Link: a program organized by the Calgary Seniors Resource Centre, in which Calgary Motor Dealers Association members make their courtesy shuttles and drivers available during down times to transport low-income and/or isolated seniors to social and recreational activities; and Bus Buddies: a program coordinated by ElderNet and Calgary Family Services, which pairs volunteers with seniors as they ride the bus or C-train.
In both cases, the Calgary Foundation has provided funding for a pilot program, about $70,000 to the former and $40,000 to the latter.
But just as important is the leadership the foundation provides as interested organizations move toward the goal, independently and in teams, says Thorburn.
"We actively look for and encourage proposals. We don't just sit here and wait for them to come through the door," he notes.
"This is such a huge vision - it has so many pieces that have to be worked out by so many different groups. Part of our role is to make more organizations aware of this vision so they can see how it aligns with what they're doing, and we can support them in doing what needs to be done."
Kitchener/Waterloo
Learning
Learning from Vital Signs, literally - Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation
As a means of coping with the death two years ago of her 15-year-old son, Suzanna Walter decided to help other teens move forward in life.
The Alex Schmidt Memorial Fund at The Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation (KWCF) is helping to support Pathways to Education, a program for students from at-risk or economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Its goal? Get to school, stay in school, graduate and move on to post-secondary education.
"Alex's legacy will live on in the young lives touched by this fund," says Suzanna, who has also become a volunteer mentor with Pathways.
The program first came to the attention of Foundation CEO Rosemary Smith as KWCF and a partner foundation were putting the finishing touches on the first Vital Signs report for Waterloo Region three years ago.
Because she had Vital Signs in front of her, she knew the community's statistics: despite two world-class universities and the number-one college in Canada, only 47.4 per cent of the population held any form of post-secondary education.
With colleagues at The United Way, KWCF helped organize a forum featuring Pathways and Catholic Family Counselling Centre, which houses the Pathways program in the community. The Foundation had already committed nearly $180,000, through its unrestricted and donor-advised funds, and the people who attended the forum kicked in another $550,000 to see Pathways through its first few years.
The program, hugely successful in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood, has now been expanded to five other communities, including neighbourhoods in Kitchener.
And it's not an isolated case of Vital Signs making a tangible difference, says Smith.
"We have hundreds of these stories, where Vital Signs has pointed out an issue, pointed out a need, and we've been able to connect organizations and people. In doing so, we can see a difference on a human level, with Vital Signs as the catalyst."
Victoria
Health
Putting its best foot forward - Victoria Foundation
The Victoria Foundation is putting its best foot forward with a new program that aims to foster health and self-reliance - through running - among the city's homeless population.
Every Step Counts, launched in February, is a mentored running program for people experiencing housing, mental health and addiction challenges.
"We really made a conscious effort to listen to what Vital Signs was telling us, and try to make a difference in that area," says CEO Sandy Richardson. "Last year was the third year we had done Vital Signs and what kept bubbling up were issues around homelessness."
In response, the Victoria Foundation contributed $100,000 to the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, to support its wide-ranging efforts to address this on-going challenge. But Richardson wanted to do more and was inspired by a running program in Philadelphia.
So the Foundation made a Vital Grant of $25,000 and partnered with Frontrunners Victoria and Victoria Cool Aid Society, a non-profit agency that - among other initiatives - runs the Downtown Community Activity Centre, to get Every Step Counts out of the blocks.
"When you see someone who has been afraid to come out of their apartment for a month coming out to a running group every week, and starting to socialize, it's incredible," says Richardson, herself a runner.
The group began with 12 participants and has now grown to more than 30. Over the last 8 months a number of members have participated in the popular Times Colonist TC 10K and the Sidney Days 5K. Some participants are now looking ahead to October and the Royal Victoria Marathon.
"You feel more alert, you feel more connected to your community, you have the endurance to walk and get your groceries - you have the energy to interact," Drew Barnes, co-ordinator of the Royal Jubilee's psychiatric day hospital, told the Globe and Mail, adding he actively markets Every Step Counts to clients.
"This program actually addresses a multitude of issues identified by Victoria's Vital Signs report," says Richardson. "We are so pleased to see the impact this program is having in our community."
Sudbury
Arts & Culture
Jazzin' up the arts scene - Sudbury Community Foundation
Talk about taking the bull by the horns. Or the horn section.
When the Sudbury Community Foundation's annual report card, Vital Signs, showed the city lagging behind in arts and culture indicators, the Foundation didn't just start a performing arts endowment campaign, it also launched an actual jazz festival.
"We wanted a community project, and jazz was a no-brainer. Jazz festivals are very big events everywhere," says Carmen Simmons, Executive Director of the Sudbury Community Foundation.
A community committee, comprising movers and shakers who love jazz, started the movement, with Science North coming on board as a venue and the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation providing $65,000. Other sponsors and volunteers with event-planning and media relations expertise soon signed up, too.
And Jazz Sudbury's inaugural year has been a treat - it kicked off in March with Cabaret 2009 and Talent Search 2009, a contest for amateur jazz performers. A free concert on Sept. 11 featuring the Shuffle Demons opened the Jazz Sudbury Festival 2009, with the wildly popular Michael Kaeshammer headlining the day-long festival on Sept. 12. Other performers included Joe Sealy & the Jazzbirds, Sudbury Jazz Orchestra, Reg Schwager Quartet, Angela Scappatura, and Jeanette Lambert Quartet.
"It was a resounding success," says Simmons.
The event is a direct response to Greater Sudbury's Vital Signs, which showed median spending on arts grants per capita in 2005 was $1.58 in Sudbury, compared to $4.46 in Thunder Bay and $3.04 overall in Ontario.
"Vital Signs allows us to take a community leadership role," says Simmons. Part of the proceeds from the festival will go to a performing arts endowment fund held by the Foundation, with the remainder helping defray costs.
Oakville
Belonging & Leadership
Putting their faith in Vital Signs - Oakville Community Foundation
When people think of Oakville, they picture a pretty town on Lake Ontario where money isn't a big issue. Indeed, the community has the highest per capita income in Canada. But that doesn't mean it's perfect.
"It's a very wealthy community, so our problems are well hidden," says Anne Miskey, director of community initiatives and marketing with the Oakville Community Foundation.
"One of the issues that was highlighted in Oakville's Vital Signs was a lack of things for youth to do, especially youth in low-income and immigrant families," she says.
That, coupled with a realization that faith communities "are often the first line of help when people are in trouble," prompted the Foundation to begin sharing its Vital Signs results with local churches, synagogues and mosques.
"It's been very exciting, and it's had a huge effect," says Miskey. "We now have a large number of local faith groups who are using Vital Signs and bringing together members of their congregations to look at local issues. It's not about religion, it's about reaching out to their community."
To that end, St. Aidan's Anglican Church, with support from the Foundation, has turned its building into a community space. A new charitable organization, Arts for Children and Youth in Oakville, is now using this space and offering free afterschool programs revolving around drama, music, visual arts and cooking.
"What's really cool is that it's not just targeting disadvantaged youth. It's open to all kids of all ages," says Miskey, who plans to send her own children to the program.
Several of the Foundation's fund-holders are proving financial support, and organizers have applied for further grants, she says. "It fits so well with the needs and the gaps that we have in this community."
Vancouver
Belonging & Leadership
Taking the youth pulse - Vancouver Foundation
Youth Vital Signs marked a chance for young people to voice their opinions and grade life in Vancouver.
Now this unique report will help guide grantmaking at Vancouver Foundation, targeting the top four priorities from Youth Vital Signs: poverty, homelessness, safety and environmental issues.
"It will translate directly into grants. The Youth Philanthropy Council (YPC) will use results from Youth Vital Signs, and the voices of young people in it, to help guide their grant-making," says Vi Nguyen, the Foundation's coordinator of grants and community initiatives, who served as an adult mentor on the project.
The findings will guide the YPC as it gives out approximately $80,000 in grants later this year.
Inspired by the Foundation's annual Vital Signs report, Youth Vital Signs was a community-driven effort masterminded by a diverse team of 19 youth aged 15 to 24.
The survey, which graded and listed action priorities for 12 key areas of life in Vancouver, attracted responses from more than 1,700 youth, with another 3,000 responding to a separate mobile text survey about civic engagement and voting.
The findings were released on June 2 at a meeting of Vancouver City Council. That was followed by a meeting with the city executive, a presentation at the Taking Stock of Youth Well-Being Conference, and ongoing appearances before schools, youth groups and other interested community agencies.
"People really do need to know what youth think in order to improve the lives of youth," said team member Hawa Mire, 20.
"I think it's incredibly unique," Nguyen of the initiative. "The report is great, but what has been really interesting to me as a mentor has been seeing this group come together and work together."
Photo credits
Montreal
Saint John
Toronto
Medicine Hat - Photo courtesy of the Community Foundation of Medicine Hat & Southeastern Alberta
Ottawa
Calgary - Photo courtesy of The Calgary Foundation
Kitchener/Waterloo
Victoria - Photo courtesy Victoria Cool Aid Society
Sudbury
Oakeville - Photo courtesy Kieley Photography
Vancouver
