Hamilton Community Foundation - Initiatives

Initiatives

Poverty Reduction Focus

ALLEVIATION in action…

Through TPT, the Foundation supported Living Rock Ministries to provide breakfast to street-involved youth. 4,320 healthy breakfasts were served to 120 different street-involved and homeless youth, while opportunities for new skills, social services, volunteer work and employment were offered. Over 70% of the youth used the breakfast program as a stepping stone to life skills, employment and educational programming.

We all recognize that children cannot learn while they are hungry. A grant to the HWDSB helped high-need schools to provide assistance with nourishment, clothing, and transportation. In 2008-09, 7,000 individual students were supported with these basic needs.

PREVENTION in action…

Helping children with academic/tutoring support is a key way to increase their competency, raise their self esteem, and ultimately help keep them in school. HCF has supported many initiatives that use college and/or university students to provide academic support to children at risk of school failure. For example, a grant to Student Open Circles allowed 337 McMaster students to provide 8,462 on-site volunteer hours of academic tutoring at 12 different locations within the City. 150 Mohawk College students helped residents deliver 10 programs for children and youth within the neighbourhood hubs to promote healthy child development.

Access to quality recreational experiences is also key in promoting healthy children. While not everyone can access the YMCA, through support from Hamilton Community Foundation, the Y has brought its services to some of Hamilton’s most challenged neighbourhoods. “Virtual Y” programs have been supported at Stinson, Roxborough and Dr. Davy elementary schools.

REDUCTION in action…

A strategy of poverty reduction involves assisting people to access income supports and to work on policies that ensure a just and fair system for distributing social welfare benefits. HCF was pleased to support the Hamilton Council on Aging with their attempts to help low-income seniors access the Guaranteed Income Supplement. For a low-income senior single person, receiving the GIS can mean up to an additional $500 per month, on top of the Old Age Pension. The Hamilton Council on Aging project trained 80 senior volunteers to assist in raising awareness of applying for the GIS and assisting where needed in the completion of the application forms. Over one year 4,000 seniors received information on the GIS and 1,283 were supported to apply for this and other benefits.

Supporting social enterprises is another way of helping to reduce poverty. With a grant to Mission Services, the Social Enterprise “HEAT” generated $21,000 in profits employing 28 people with an additional 16 people being hired through contacts with outside employers. This initiative provided training and ultimately employment for marginalized individuals. The profits from the social enterprise are funneled back into the organization to allow them to carry on their work.