Category Archives: Chosen Charities say Thanks

Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington Says “Thank You!”

Thank You So Much to the 100 Women Who Care Guelph from CMHA Waterloo Wellington!

Hello everyone, it is wonderful to be with you all tonight and to have an opportunity to say thank you to you in person for choosing to support CMHA’s Brief Service model of care at your October meeting.

Helen Fishburn, CEO of CMHA Waterloo Wellington. (Photo Credit:  Crista Renner)

My name is Helen Fishburn, and I am the CEO of CMHA Waterloo Wellington. CMHA Waterloo Wellington is the second largest CMHA in Canada serving more than 22,000 individuals each year and offering more than 100 unique programs and services to all ages: children, youth, adults, older adults caring for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

At your October meeting Lisa Hood shared some information with you about CMHA’s Brief Service model of care for children, youth, and their families in Guelph. This model of care was created as a direct response to the incredible increase in need for service we were experiencing during the pandemic. Our waitlists for service were growing exponentially reaching more than a year, which was simply unacceptable to us. In response our children’s service team developed a new model of care called Brief Service to move children, youth, and caregivers off the wait list and into care faster.

The Brief Service model of care supports children and youth with mental health difficulties, by building skills and addressing immediate needs. The needs of the children and youth we are seeing are different depending on age. For children 6-8 years of age, we are seeing a lot of emotional dysregulation and challenging behaviours, due to lack of socialization during the pandemic. For children 12-14 we are seeing children experiencing anxiety and loss of control resulting in self-harm and suicidality.

The Brief Service model of care is a very innovative way to serve our local children and families. Through this model children and youth up to age 18, receive up to 10, 1-hour, weekly sessions of therapeuticsupport. Parents and caregivers are always involved and are an important part of this treatment modeland are supported to better understand how to help their child.

CMHA’s Family Support Coordination team comes alongside the family at the same time the child is receiving treatment through Brief Service so that the support of the child and the family go hand-in-hand. Families receive support on key issues like Food Security, Financial Security, Housing, as well asgroup and individual support for parents – providing the wrap around care many of our families need.

The impact of this model is significant – 70% of children and youth who have accessed Brief Service do not require additional service or ongoing care. It has reduced the waitlist for ongoing care for children and youth with more complex mental health needs, from one year to four months.

Funds from 100 Women Who Care Guelph provided the funding needed for One Clinician to support 20 children, youth, and their families through 10 weeks of Brief Service Treatment. Your generous supportprovided children, youth, and their families, with the care and treatment they deserve, when they needed it most.

These are exciting days for CMHA Waterloo Wellington as we watch the final pieces of construction happening on our new Children and Youth Services Building located at 737 Woolwich St N in Guelph. This NEW, 48,000 sq ft, three-floor building will create a “one-stop-shop” for over 30 service providers, making it easy and seamless for 9,000 local children, youth up to age 26, and their families to get what they need to reach their full potential.

As part of the building design, we have included a Gratitude Wall which will be located on the first floor across from the main welcoming space where we will be celebrating gifts made to support our programs and services, 100 Women Who Care Guelph will be added to this wall as a way of expressing our gratitude for your incredible support.

Sharon Lewis, Lisa Woodcock and Tannis Sprott make a 100WWCG cheque presentation to Helen Fishburn, Executive Director  of CMHA WW
(Photo Credit: Crista Renner)
That was one BIG cheque! (Photo Credit: Crista Renner)

Community of Hearts says “Thank You!” for our June Donation…

Tannis Sprott and Sharon Lewis make a “Big Cheque” donation to Kyle Hare of Community of Hearts

Thank You So Much to the 100 Women Who Care Guelph from Community of Hearts!

Hello and Good Evening Everyone, 

My name is Kyle Hare and I am the Development and Outreach Coordinator at Community of Hearts Lifelong Learning Centre. Community of Hearts is a not-for-profit organization located in downtown Guelph in the Old Quebec Street Mall which supports youth, adults and seniors (16 years of age and older) with developmental disabilities to achieve the level of independence they desire.

Kyle Hare says a wholehearted “Thank you!” on behalf of Community of Hearts

Community of Hearts began in 2012 in the basements of caregivers seeking to provide quality life and skill-based learning opportunities for their loved ones with developmental disabilities. Noticing a dearth in learning opportunities offered to persons with developmental disabilities (especially after high school), these caregivers worked tirelessly to provide their loved ones with quality learning opportunities, constituting a niche otherwise unavailable in our community.

Since 2016, Community of Hearts has been fortunate to have our Centre in the Old Quebec Street Mall in downtown Guelph. As a charitable organization, the majority of Community of Hearts’ funding comes through us from grants and donations. 

Through a variety of Life Skills based programs, such as our Day Program, our Social Enterprise / Job Skills Program, our Evening Programs and our Sunday Social Club, just to name a few, Community of Hearts provides the opportunity for persons with developmental disabilities to continue learning beyond secondary education and work towards their goal of independence and becoming more active and engaged members of our community. 

At the 100 Women Who Care Guelph and 100+ Men Who Give a Damn Guelph’s combined quarterly meeting in June, Community of Hearts was extremely fortunate to be chosen as the recipient for the quarter’s combined funding. The funding Community of Hearts received from the 100 Women Who Care Guelph and 100+ Men Who Give a Damn Guelph will be used to construct an accessible washroom in our Lifelong Learning Centre. To date, the funding received from the 100 WWCG and 100+ MWGDG has reached just over $25,000. Currently, we are in the process of having the drawings created and soon will be acquiring the permits necessary to begin construction for this amazing project. Chris from FS Build Co., a contractor who has performed renovations in our Centre in the past and also a member of the 100+ Men Who Give a Damn Guelph will be doing the construction. It was funny, because the day after the past meeting, Chris had messaged me saying “Congratulations on your win!” and I thought to myself “Wow, good news travels fast!” and he told me about how he was actually “A member of the 100+ Men Who Give a Damn Guelph.” This was a nice reminder of how wonderful and well-knit our incredible community truly is. 

As for most if not all charities and not-for-profit organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic had a tremendous impact on Community of Hearts. Not only did we suffer from a decline in participant numbers, but also, many of our participants suffered from isolation, affecting both their personal growth and development of social skills during this time. For that reason, we are very happy to be back in-person in the Lifelong Learning Centre, and are all very excited to be getting this incredible project underway. An accessible washroom in our space means that we will be better able to serve a larger demographic of people in our community who would wish to access our programs and services, better supporting them on their journey towards personal independence.

It is a pleasure to be here alongside all of these other phenomenal organizations and to know we have such wonderful resources and support in our community. Best of luck to this evening’s presenters. No matter what the outcome is, we are all winners for simply being here tonight and for the changes that we play a role in making each and every day. Together, we can and are making our community a better place. 

I would like to express a giant thank you once again to the 100 Women Who Care Guelph for all of the incredible work you do and have done for our wonderful community and for allowing me the opportunity to speak here on behalf of Community of Hearts. As someone who is fortunate to see great changes occur each day with the People We Support at Community of Hearts, I have come to understand that the biggest, most positive changes happen by having someone first believe in you, empowering you to believe more in yourself. Thank you for believing in us. We are so very grateful at the Lifelong Learning Centre.

Thank you and have a great evening,

Kyle Hare

Art Not Shame says “Thank you!” for our April Donation

Michelle Peek, Executive Director, Art Not Shame

Thank you so much for your time and for being part of these incredible groups. I know that collectively, you are each making a big difference in our communities and I hope you know how much your donations mean to small, local organizations like ours. 

A few months ago, I spoke to the 100 Men and 100 Women to tell you about our organization, Art Not Shame. 

We were absolutely thrilled to be selected as a charity for both groups, AND selected as a finalist with 100 Women in April. As a small, grass roots local organization, every single dollar goes directly toward our mission and we are in a very exciting stage of growth this year. 

Located in downtown Guelph, we are a community-engaged, multidisciplinary arts organization serving youth and adults in Guelph and across Ontario. Art Not Shame was founded in 2017 from the belief that we all belong, we all deserve and need community, and we all have something unique and creative within us.

The organization was created to address the lack of informal and welcoming spaces and sense of belonging in a community that play a vital role in our sense of ourselves, the health of our communities, and our collective mental health and well-being.

It was inspired, in part by the memory of my brother James, who died by suicide 23 years ago. On the surface, James had everything. When he died, it was a shock to our family, his friends, and the wider community, and it devastated us all.    

We ran a golf tournament in his memory for 17 years. And that golf tournament created a beautiful and supportive community that offered the permission to be vulnerable, and perhaps most significantly, the space to show up in our grief and humanness without apology.

When the golf tournament ended, I took what I knew about mental health, the arts (I am a self-taught photographer), community work, belonging (I have a PhD on love and belonging, but the real learning was in the living), and launched our first workshops series in 2017.

I wanted to create spaces and programs that welcomed people as they are, in their whole humanness, without need for apology, in the hopes that it would make the world a more inhabitable place for those who suffer like my brother James did. 

From that first program in 2017, we’ve reached over 5,650 people (from Guelph and virtually to participants across Ontario), collaborated with 40 community organizations, employed 38 artists, and grown our team from 1 full-time position to 4 full-time equivalents (all through individual donations and one-time grants). Our revenue has grown year over year since we began. 

We’ve seen a 557% increase in our reach annually since March 2020. And most importantly, we typically see between 75 and 90% increases in well-being measures as a result of participating in our programming.

This year, together with many partners and friends, like you, we are thrilled to be in the process of transforming a vacant street-level storefront at 119 Wyndham St Guelph into 2,602 square feet of permanent, fully accessible space for Art Not Shame programming and other community organizations and arts practitioners working in the service of well-being who have been priced out of downtown.

The donation from 100 Women Who Care is vital to making this happen. Your gift will go directly towards making this space and our programs truly accessible and welcome with the purchase of 8 flip top tables around which people will gather and create, and 4 height adjustable tables and workstations to meet the diverse needs of the people who will use this space.

We can’t wait to welcome you to our new space once it’s ready. Our renovations have begun and we have a tentative opening date this fall. 

I will share additional updates as our new space emerges and our expanded programming begins. You can follow along on our website as well, or stop by and peek in our windows at 119 Wyndham St N. 

Thank you so much for your time and your heart. With deep gratitude from the entire Art Not Shame team, we thank you.

Food4Kids says a wholehearted “Thank You!” for our January 2023 donation…

Terrie Jarvis, Program Director of Food4Kids Guelph expressed her organization’s sincere thanks for our January 2023 donation. Here’s what she had to say…

It’s hard to know where to start in thanking all of you, my colleagues at 100 Women Who Care Guelph, for your generosity in supporting FOOD4KIDS GUELPH with your donations in the past quarter.

Tannis Sprott and Sharon Lewis make a 100WWCG cheque presentation to Terrie Jarvis, Program Director of Food4Kids Guelph.

100 Women Who Care Guelph

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Notes from Terrie Jarvis – Food4Kids Guelph Appreciation

Just to recap the role of this charity, now five years old …

  • Food4Kids addresses a situation that most people haven’t thought about, that a number of children in our very own community are at risk of going hungry at weekends.
  • That’s because about 5% of the children attending local schools live in families that are struggling to make ends meet, with not enough money left over to properly feed their families after paying for rent, transport, clothing, medical and other essential expenses. 
  • Those of us with children or grandchildren in our lives can predict the first thing most kids say when they walk in the door: I’m hungry! What can I eat? 
  • But some children often go home to almost empty cupboards and fridges. 
  • Those kids really depend upon getting some free food at school, Monday to Friday, through the many wonderful breakfast and snack programs run at most schools in Guelph. But then what do they do on weekends?
  • Sadly, weekends can be a terrible struggle for them with inadequate food at home, and these elementary school children are too small and young to solve the problem for themselves.
  • That’s where the Food4Kids program kicks in, by providing the most needy children with a nutritious weekend food bag to take home from school.
  • Currently, we are supporting 400 school children out of the 700 we think need our help in Guelph, and we are at 30 out of 39 elementary schools.
  • Through our bulk buying, we are able to provide each child with a great food bag containing 16-18 healthy items, for the low cost of around $15 per child per weekend. And what a difference this makes!
  • By feeding the children on the weekend, it helps their whole family by reducing stress and allowing them to spend limited funds elsewhere.
  • And during school holidays, when schools are closed, Food4Kids provides grocery gift cards to help the families purchase food.

So right now, Food4Kids is spending your donations on food to provide healthy weekend food bags for kids that really, really need this support from our community.

Collectively, our 100 Women team donated $13,775 to help the Food4Kids Guelph program.

And saving the best news for last, this generous donation has allowed us to take all 20 children off our waiting list to start receiving weekend food bags, and there’s enough money left over to create space for another 5 children as well!

Thank you so much for helping Food4Kids to help even more children in Guelph, who no longer leave school on a Friday wondering how they will be fed on the weekend.

And thank you also for the wonderful volunteering from 100 Women who have stepped up to help on a regular basis. We welcome any of you to find out more from us about how YOU could become a Food4Kids volunteer, too.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for making a difference in children’s lives!

(Right to left) Tannis Sprott, Peggy Brightwell, Sharon Lewis and Miriam Vince 
make a 100WWCG cheque presentation to
 Food For Kids Guelph
(Right to left) Tannis Sprott, Peggy Brightwell, Sharon Lewis and Miriam Vince make a 100WWCG donation to Food4Kids Guelph!

Goderich to Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail Says “Thank You”

Tannis Sprott makes a 100WWCG cheque presentation to
G2G Executive Director Doug Cerson  and Executive Co-ordinator Willow Hall 

Hello everyone,

It’s so good to be with you all. My name is Willow Hall I am the Executive Coordinator for G2G Rail Trail Inc.

First, I extend my gratitude on behalf of our organization, stakeholders, and trail users to the 100 Women Who Care Guelph Organization. Together as individuals, you represent a powerful example of what can happen when people band together to create change within their community.

Working in collaboration with the City of Guelph and local stakeholder organizations we have developed a plan to create a launch point at York Road Park right before the Guelph “Covered bridge”. The launch point will include an 8-foot double-sided Kiosk adjacent to the parking area.

This will be the first kiosk of its kind in Guelph and will direct those wishing to participate in the G2G Rail Trail Experience to KM 0 of the trail. The map board will also include emergency and location information for those who are unfamiliar with the area. Working with the city the map board will also highlight local trail sections for the community to enjoy.

The installation of the kiosk and map board is anticipated for the spring of this year. The map board will be created with the required accessibility features to ensure it meets AODA standards,

Through the support of your organization, a strong message has been sent to the City of Guelph Staff and Counselors. Safe, accessible, and easy-to-navigate pedestrian pathways are essential to the people of Guelph. As a direct result of your group’s support for this project, conversations have taken place with the city of Guelph that allows G2G Rail Trail a seat at the table. We are currently in conversation with the City and like-minded groups to create further signage and wayfinding along the trail that will enable trail users to easily navigate to the start of the Kissing Bridge Trailway. All of this would not have been possible if not for your group’s investment in your community’s assets.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you tonight. I would be happy to chat or answer any questions you may have after the meeting.

Willow Hall ([email protected])

Executive Co-ordinator

G2G Rail Trail Inc. 36- 620 Davenport Rd Waterloo, ON N2V 2C2

Registration #83590 6231 RR 0001

Compass Community Services Says “Thank You!” For Our June Donation

Tannis Sprott makes a 100WWCG Cheque Presentation to Compass Community Services

Compass Community Services has grown in size and complexity since its inception in 1964 as a prevention-oriented program of the Children’s Aid Society. As the needs of the community grew and changed, the program incorporated as an independent non-profit agency. Formerly Family Counselling and Support Services for Guelph-Wellington, the agency rebranded to Compass Community Services in 2021. The change reflects the evolution of the organization, its current vision, and range of services.

The name Compass Community Services was chosen to capture the reliable, trusted direction, and support the agency brings to community members. Compass is an integral part of the community and provides mental health and social services to individuals, families, and children. These services guide people through life’s challenges, whether they are emotional, developmental, or professional. The programs deeply impact people’s lives.

Compass provides a full range of services to help people deal with relationships, emotional wellbeing, and physical and/or emotional trauma as well as service coordination and intensive behavioural consultation for adults and children with developmental disabilities. Agency services also include weekly no appointment Walk-in Counselling and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

Your donation for our Telephone Support program currently has four service areas: Distress Line (a call in service), TeleConnect (a call out service), LGBTQ+ (a call and text service); and, Seniors Offering Support (a call out service recently acquired in April ‘22). These services operate 14 hours/day/365 days a year. None of these services currently have permanent annualized funding. We are grateful for support from the United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin and private donations, such as yours, to be able to offer the service. Weekly calls of individuals in distress, suicidal situations, alleged abuse, depression, anxiety, trauma and more are increasing every month (see image below) saving $1M+ in emergency services. 

Thank you on behalf of our entire community and for saving lives. We will continue to be there for anyone who needs us with your help.

Compass Community Services

Telephone Support

Nightingale Centre Says “Thank You!” for Our April 2022 Donation

You’ve helped us provide some light in the darkness for grieving families….

Dr. Laura Brown from the Nightingale Centre, accepts 100WWCG’s “Big Cheque” for our April Donation.

The Nightingale Centre for Grieving Children, Youth, and Families is so grateful for the donation from 100 Women Who Care.  The Nightingale Centre is a young organization; we only came into existence in 2019, one year before the pandemic. It was founded because a few individuals who work in mental health services with grieving families, and a few individuals who had experienced significant deaths in their family, recognized the need for a dedicated centre to support the unique needs of grieving children and families.  Research has shown us that children grieve differently from adults and these differences are crucial in understanding how to support children through the anticipation, immediate aftermath, and long-term management of a significant death in their lives.  Parents and caregivers, who are typically grieving themselves, need guidance in how to support their children through these periods while also supporting themselves through their own grief. 

This is where the Nightingale Centre comes in for families of Guelph and Wellington County, and where your donation dollars have made a significant impact for these families.  

To begin, your dollars helped fund the spring 2022 programs for the Family Bereavement Program and the Youth Bereavement Program. These programs bring grieving children and adolescents together with trained facilitators and volunteers, over several weeks, to help them identify their feelings related to their grief, give words to their feelings and experiences, and coping methods to manage them, and help them feel less alone and like they are part of a community of others sharing this significant experience.  In addition, the parents receive support and guidance in what to expect from their grieving children and youth and how to support them during their own grief journey.  Your dollars helped us pay for our facilitators for these groups, amazing women who are incredibly dedicated to the work that Nightingale does and its mission to help these vulnerable families.

Secondly, your donation dollars helped fund the purchase of the therapeutic materials we used with the different groups in the Family Bereavement and Youth Bereavement Programs.  While the groups have been online, packages of materials have been put together by the facilitators and distributed to the families prior to the sessions so that they are accessible to the children and adolescents during each session.  These materials include art supplies, related readings, and building materials – all with the mind to facilitate activities to help them through their grief journey. In addition, the parents receive information packages about how to continue to support their grieving children.  We know that this is a long journey and it’s important that these parents have material to which to refer in the coming months and years following the end of the programs.

We have also used your donation dollars to expand our library of children’s books and other resources that are helpful in opening the discussion of dying, death, and grief with children, and providing parents, caregivers, community support people, and educators, with the words and tools necessary to support these children outside of Nightingale. This furthers our goal of helping our community become more grief literate for our children, so they are supported well beyond specific mental health services, and no longer left out of conversations and experiences that have such a huge impact on their lives.

Our families tell us constantly how grateful they are that we are in place for them.  They feel supported with their unique needs and that the programs are a safe place for them to express themselves to compassionate, like-minded individuals. The children find words to explain how they’re feeling to parents, caregivers, friends, and teachers so that they can get their needs met more readily.

The pandemic has been devastating for organizations, especially young charitable ones like the Nightingale Centre. But your donation dollars are helping us to continue our support of these families during dark times in their lives and helps us to help them find some light.

Thank you so much.

The Nightingale Centre for Grieving Children, Youth, and Families

Guelph Community Health Van Team Says “Thank You” For Our January 2022 Donation

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Tannis Sprott presents a cheque to members of the Guelph Community Health Van Team

April 8, 2022

Thank you to ‘100 Women Who Care Guelph’!

The Guelph/Wellington Van Team would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to 100 Women Who Care Guelph for their generous donation to our Mobile Community Health Van Program. The Van program provides accessible harm reduction support and supplies, social support, and nursing care to individuals in Guelph and Wellington County. Our outreach team includes a registered nurse, peer support worker, and social support worker all of whom work to build relationships with those who visit the van, as well as build connections to other community and health services.  We also collaborate with other local services and agencies such as Legal Aid to bring information and referrals to folks who can’t easily access mainstream support.  

Sanguen believes in providing barrier-free health care and support using an interdisciplinary approach.  We provide Hepatitis C testing, information and treatment, wound care for abscesses and blisters, vein care, rapid testing for HIV and Hep C, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and counselling on safer sex and birth control. We also provide COVID-19 testing and vaccination, overdose prevention support and naloxone, and collection of used injection equipment. The Community Health Van also distributes food, hygiene items and clothing on our regular stops across Guelph and Wellington County.  With generous support from organizations such as 100 Women Who Care Guelph we are able to purchase essential items for the van such as socks, hats, mitts, snacks, hygiene products (sunscreen, soap, shampoo, and sanitizer), blankets, clothing, and phones.    

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the way individuals who face barriers to care have been able to access support in the community.  Over the past two years the Community Health Van has been heavily focused on providing as many items as possible to help alleviate the lack of access to resources, service, and basic necessities due to the pandemic. Some of these items include diapers, footwear, meal replacements, pet food, and camping supplies. With new stops added to Wellington County (Harriston, Palmerston, Arthur, Rockwood, Mount Forest, Erin, Fergus), we are working to better support harm reduction, overdose prevention and social support for those facing barriers in rural areas.

Thank you to 100 Women Who Care Guelph for choosing us as the recipients!  With your support we can continue our work to bring health care and support directly to those who need it in Guelph and Wellington County!

With many thanks,

The Guelph/Wellington Van Outreach Team

Guelph Y Camp says “Thank You!” For Our October 2021 Donation

Tannis Sprott delivers our October donation to YMCA of Three Rivers.

Here for Good, Because of You

Thank you for your generous donation to our March Break Camps. The YMCA is Canada’s largest camp provider, and locally, the YMCA of Three Rivers is well-known for providing safe and inclusive camp experiences for all children ages 4 -12 years. Through camp, children are provided a chance to learn, grow, and explore in a place where they feel they truly belong. Together, children from across our community come together to try new activities and build lasting friendships. 

While COVID-19 disrupted what camp has looked like for us, we’re looking forward to welcoming more children back to our Guelph Y Day Camps in 2022. And, your support of nearly $12,000 couldn’t have come at a better time. 

For many families, March Break Camp is necessary child care to allow them to continue work. At the Y, we’re committed to providing equitable access to all. In 2019, of our 118 Guelph March Break Campers, 47% were subsidized. That’s 56 individual children who might not otherwise have had the chance to experience Y camps. 

Families in our community continue to struggle with the realities of the pandemic. From school shutdowns to remote learning, balancing working from home and caring for your family to layoffs and job uncertainty, our families need access to subsidized March Break programming now more than ever. And, thanks to your generous gift, we can meet this need. 

Through your support, you’re providing children the opportunity to get outside, have new experiences, and connect with friends – all of which contribute to their improved health and well-being. On behalf of all our campers – thank you. 

Sincerely, 

The YMCA of Three Rivers Philanthropy Team: Chantelle, Patricia and Victoria

Torchlight Services Expresses Thanks for our June Donation

Torchlight Services Receives the Donation Cheques From 100WWCG 

September 23, 2021

Dear 100 Women Who Care,

It has been 3 months since Torchlight received the great news that our organization was the successful charity.   Your generous donation enabled us to continue to engage with our participants in a meaningful way through the Connect Virtual Program.

The Connect program offers virtual programming to underserved (due to pandemic restrictions) and isolated participants with disabilities.

Your donation amounted to just under $10,000.  This allowed us the opportunity to continue to connect our participants with their community through the purchase of outside instructors.  We were also able to re-hire our student program facilitators.

Your donation not only helped Torchlight Services and our participants, but it also supported small local businesses and students who have been struggling locating employment during this pandemic.

I know that there are many worthy charities that need support, especially during this time; and Torchlight is grateful for your generosity. 

Thank you for the work you do in our community. 

Sincerely,

Kim Court,

Program Co-ordinator, Torchlight Services [email protected]