Project Lifesaver gets a boost from 100WWCG

Guelph families who live with the fear of a loved one wandering due to Alzheimer’s, autism or other types of cognitive impairment received a helping hand from 100 Women Who Care Guelph.

The Project Lifesaver program, offered by Victim Services Wellington, can give these families great peace of mind. By wearing a small wrist transmitter which sends out a radio signal 24/7, 365 days a year, specially trained police officers are able to quickly track down the most vulnerable among us.

All too often in Canada those with a tendency to wander lose their lives, in spite of frantic searches conducted by family and emergency services. Time is of the essence, and by wearing a wrist transmitter, that time can be reduced to as little as 30 minutes, 95% less time than without.

As with all things desperately needed, there is a waiting list of families waiting for a transmitter. With a gift of over $12,000 from 100 WWCG, more transmitters can now be purchased to deal with that backlog. Project Lifesaver is not a replacement for a caregiver, but with a successful find rate of 100%, it can reduce the stress on family members immeasurably.

This donation marks the end of the third year of supporting Guelph charities for 100 WWCG, reaffirming their compassion for others and their connection to community. For more information or to join, visit www.100womenwhocareguelph.com.

“Ed Video’s Syrian refugee project receives funds from 100 Women Who Care Guelph”

Ed Video has been a vital part of Guelph’s arts community for 40 years, working tirelessly to foster and promote the creation and exhibition of independent media arts. Indeed, the “Ed” in the name refers to “Educational”, and while training is their primary function and essential to the success of any artistic endeavour, Ed Video offers up equally important but more intangible supports – belief in individual artists’ creative ideas, and a ways and means to bring those ideas to life.

Ed Video believes art is essential in bringing us all together as a community. They are proud to mentor artists, assisting them in taking their creative ideas through to completion, showcasing the diversity and different viewpoints that flourish among the people in our region.

A continuing challenge for Ed Video is to be able to provide the necessary technical equipment to facilitate these projects. Presently they are supporting the “Sense of Wonder Project”, working with d/Deaf youth to connect us all – d/Deaf and hearing – by exploring what we share in common rather than what makes us different. They are also offering a Technical Skills Development Program for Women in Video and Film, designed to bring women’s technical skills up to the same level as their creative skills.

The third program they would like to offer is an opportunity for Syrian refugees living in our community to tell their own personal stories, to help us share in their journey, giving us greater understanding and insight into what it means to be a refugee. Thanks to a generous donation from 100 Women Who Care Guelph, Ed Video will be able to purchase the extra equipment needed to make this project a reality.

The mandate of 100 WWCG is to support those in need in our community, and this quarter they are proud to be a supporter of the arts. Their next quarterly meeting will be held on Monday, July 10, 2017. Go to www.100womenwhocareguelph.com for more information or to join this group of compassionate and caring women.

“100 WWCG Tops $100,000 Mark in Giving to Guelph”

Last night at the end of their 10th meeting, 100 Women Who Care Guelph succeeded in raising over $100,000 for local charitable organizations. The latest recipient of their collective donation was the Start2Finish Running and Reading Club, which plans to start up a new club at Westwood Public School, the fourth in this city.

Start2Finish is dedicated to the elimination of child poverty by empowering children for life through improving their literacy skills along with their physical fitness and social and behavioural skills. This work is done through a volunteer led weekly after-school program offered to children in grades 3 – 6. The running component involves 45 minutes of physical activity through the use of circuit training and active games, followed by a healthy snack, a “word of the day” character-building portion, and finishing with reading one-on-one and in small groups with a mentor. The end of the 32 week program culminates in the Start2Finish 5K Running & Reading Challenge, and an awards ceremony recognizing each child’s achievement at the end of the school year. Along the way, the children learn to love to move, to read, and to find increasing confidence in themselves, all vitally important skills to finding their way in life.

100 WWCG was pleased to help provide the opportunity for 60 more children in our city to participate in and benefit from this important program.

Over the course of two and a half years, 100 WWCG has raised close to $119,000 in support of local charitable initiatives. To become a part of this collaborative effort visit their website at www.100womenwhocareguelph.com to sign up and join the other 150+ women in Guelph who have a passion for supporting those in need in our city.

Parental Support Group awarded $15,000 for conference

Troubled teens acting out – in trouble at home, at school, with drugs, alcohol or the law – and desperate parents, feeling isolated and looking for ways to cope with nowhere to turn. Or is there?

The members of 100 Women Who Care Guelph learned of the local chapter of The Association of Parent Support Groups in Ontario (APSGO) at their first meeting of the year last night. At APSGO, weekly parent support groups are led by trained and experienced parent volunteers, people who have experienced similar parenting challenges and have found their way through the crisis.

Rosemary Fernandes-Walker, who heads up the Guelph chapter, assured everyone there was no problem new under the sun that they had not heard of. APSGO is there to provide support to parents; not to change the child, but to help parents acquire the strategies, support and practical techniques essential in dealing with disruptive behaviour, because for each of us the only behaviour we can control is our own.

APSGO was awarded $15,000 from 100 WWCG to support an upcoming conference here in Guelph. Their goal is to connect the parents and parent volunteers with professionals, working on ways to achieve the end goal – that of improving the relationship between parent and child. A worthy goal that spoke to the hearts of 150 caring women of Guelph.

Alzheimer’s Minds in Motion Program receives $15,100 in funding from 100 WWCG

Alzheimer’s – a word that comes fully loaded with dread, anxiety, sorrow and increasing isolation, and a disease more Canadians are diagnosed with every day.

The impact on both the person living with dementia and their care partner is enormous, but there is help out there. 100 Women Who Care Guelph chose Alzheimer Society Waterloo Wellington’s Minds in Motion program to be the recipient of their July 2016 donation of $15,100.

Minds in Motion is a community-based social program offered to people with early to mid-stage signs of Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners. It offers physical activity and mental stimulation, both of which are critical for brain health. Equally importantly, it offers a supportive social network to help combat the increasing isolation that accompanies the diagnosis.

As of 2011, 747,000 Canadians were living with Alzheimer’s disease. That figure is projected to grow to 1.4 million by 2031. Programs like Minds in Motion are of immense importance to our community, and organizations like 100 WWCG, whose mission is to support the most vulnerable among us, help to ensure that no one feels alone in dealing with this disease.

100 WWCG Press Release – Tuesday, April 12, 2016

100 WWCG donate $14,100 to North End Harvest Market

The story of a local grassroots organization creating a market to offer free fresh fruits and vegetables to low income individuals and families in order to meet their healthy food needs touched the hearts of 100 Women Who Care Guelph. The North End Harvest Market, a part of the Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition here in Guelph, was the recipient of  a $14,100 donation from 100 WWCG.

The goal of the Market is not only to help improve the diets of their clientele by providing healthy food alternatives, but also to feed their souls by creating a welcoming community where they are treated with dignity. The volunteer run organization provides a fun, family centred experience by offering entertainment for the children while shopping at the Market. There are 150 people per week served by the Market, which is supported by donations of food from local farmers, or funds from groups such as 100 WWCG, who have whole heartedly embraced the concept of investing in our local community by supporting such groups as the North End Harvest Market. Visit their website www.100womenwhocareguelph.com for more information or to become a member.

100 WWCG Press Release – Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2016

Family & Children’s Services gets seed money for new program from 100 WWCG

Children are among the most vulnerable in our society, a fact Family & Children’s Services here in Guelph knows all too well. A youth who has been in their care who reaches the age of 18, and does not choose to continue their education, can suddenly find themselves bereft of all forms of support, both emotional and financial, and very much alone in the world.

The transition from youth to adult is tricky for everyone, but without “the bank of mom and dad”, even the smallest of setbacks can make that process a much more difficult one. Two very poignant stories led to 100 Women Who Care Guelph awarding $13,800 to Family & Children’s Services.

In one case, a young man had procured employment, but needed $300 for car repairs in order to get to work. No car – no job, as simple as that.

In another, a 21 year old woman diagnosed with breast cancer was in desperate need of funds to purchase medication and a prosthesis, along with covering travel expenses to and from life saving medical appointments.

In response to these needs, and many others like it, Family & Children’s Services is seeking to start a fund called the Transitioning Youth Program, which can be accessed at need to help these young men and women and ensure a successful transition into adulthood. Supporting those most in need is the reason 100 WWCG come together every three months, and they are proud to be a sponsor of that fund.

Dunara Homes for Recovery got a major boost to aid in their mission to assist those among us living with mental illness last night in the form of a $12,400 donation from 100 Women Who Care Guelph. The road to recovery is a fragile one, full of speed bumps and detour signs, where even the simplest things like buying a bus pass, doing your own laundry, or learning social skills that many of us completely take for granted can be enough to stall that journey. Dunara Homes offers an essential service to those coming from institutional care as they learn to reengage with the community and live fulfilling, healthy and independent lives. They have been quietly doing this valuable work in our community since its formation in 1981 by the original members of the Schizophrenia Society of Guelph. The description of that work obviously resonated with the members of 100 WWCG, who were delighted to offer their assistance. There is so much stigma surrounding mental illness on the negative side of the balance sheet, 100 WWCG made the decision to contribute to the positive side instead. Not equal yet, but a step toward balance.

100 Women Who Care Guelph completes it’s inaugural year with a donation of $12,500 awarded to Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis, bringing the total amount invested in Guelph charities this year to $46,600. This group was created in the hope it would have a big impact on our local charities, and has proven to be successful on all counts.

GW WIC Transitional Housing and Support Program is the fourth charity to be awarded funds by the group. This program provides counselling and levels of services so desperately needed by women and their children who are experiencing or have experienced abuse, helping them to start over, with both practical and emotional support.

This was the fourth quarterly meeting of 100 WWCG, which has seen its membership grow steadily from an initial 88 members in October 2014 to their current 125 members. Word of the group is spreading throughout the community, thanks in part to appearances on Rogers Inside Guelph program on October 27, 2014 and Talk Local Guelph on April 7, 2015, as well as the members themselves encouraging their friends to join.

The next meeting will be held Monday, October 5 from 7 – 8 pm at the Delta on Gordon. There is no upper limit on membership, so visit www.100womenwhocareguelph.com to sign up, and help make an even greater impact on our local charities.

It was another successful meeting of 100 Women Who Care Guelph, held at the Delta on Monday, April 13, where Rainbow Day Camp was voted the winner and received $12,700 to assist their efforts in providing a unique summer day camp experience offering a variety of camp activities for children from Guelph and surrounding areas.

They offer two distinct programs: Children’s camp which is a summer day camp experience in an inclusive and fun environment for children of all abilities from age 4 – 10; and Teen Camp program which provides opportunities for teenagers with special needs to have a summer camp experience with one-on-one support in a caring and open environment which embraces diversity and encourages personal growth, according to each individual’s uniqueness, strengths, needs and abilities.

The donation will allow Rainbow’s Teen Camp program to rent a larger space from the University of Guelph, where their summer camps are held, essentially allowing them to almost double the available spaces and offer more teens this invaluable experience.

This was the third quarterly meeting of 100 WWCG, which has seen its membership grow steadily from an initial 88 members in October 2014 to their current 127 members. Word of the group is spreading throughout the community, thanks in part to appearances on Rogers Inside Guelph program on October 27, 2014 and Talk Local Guelph on April 7, 2015, as well as the members themselves encouraging their friends to join.

The next meeting will be held Monday, July 13 from 7 – 8 pm at the Delta on Gordon. There is no upper limit on membership, so visit www.100womenwhocareguelph.com to sign up, and help make an even greater impact on our local charities.