40 London-area social agencies to receive $4.65M in grants from United Way Elgin Middlesex

Forty London-area social service agencies will receive a total of $4.65 million worth of grants from the United Way of Elgin Middlesex in support of 53 programs aimed at preventing and reducing poverty, and helping local population groups who are most impacted by poverty.

Among the agencies receiving funding is CMHA Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services, who will receive a total of $340,000 from the United Way, with $200,000 going toward its outreach programs, and $140,000 being put toward its 24/7 telephone support services.

Family Service Thames Valley will receive $250,000 for subsidized counselling services for individuals, couples and families, while Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre will receive just over $146,000 for its Ashamaawaso food program, and $96,400 to sustain its food insecurity and basic needs program, according to United Way.

Other agencies receiving funding include: Anova, BGC London, Changing Ways, Community Living London, Daya Counselling Centre, London Abused Women’s Centre, London Cares Homeless Response Services, London Intercommunity Health Centre, March of Dimes Canada, Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration, Pathways, and Youth Opportunities Unlimited.

Officials with the United Way Elgin Middlesex say the money comes as part of its Community Fund Investments initiative, which was revised last fall to prioritize poverty reduction and prevention programs.

The fund was opened to all registered charities who met several criteria, including that the programs submitted “reduces or prevents poverty in our community,” and “prioritizes service to one or more equity-seeking populations.”

“If we think of what we’ve learned through the pandemic, one thing that has become abundantly clear is that gap between who are thriving in our community and who are barely scraping by just continued to grow,” said Kelly Ziegner, president and CEO of United Way Elgin Middlesex.

“Our board and our allocations volunteers that make these funding decisions really decided that now is time to hunker down, double down on programs and services that are addressing a community’s most urgent needs.”

At least 121 applications were received by the United Way, seeking a total of almost $14 million in funding.

“It was like a 3:1 ratio of requests to funding available, so it speaks to what the need is out there in the community to serve people,” Ziegner said.

For agencies selected to receive funding, money will begin flowing at the start of April, according to the United Way. A second funding stream made up of one-time, smaller project grants up to $15,000 will be announced later in the spring.

In all, $805,000 will go toward basic needs and emergency support programs, $455,000 will go toward intimate partner violence programs, $316,410 to housing stability programs, and $270,000 for education programs for children and youth, the agency says.

At least $426,602 will go toward Indigenous-led programs, Ziegner said, a seven per cent year-over-year increase in funding.

Ziegner estimates that at least 36 per cent of Indigenous people in the local community live at or below the poverty line, while 52 per cent of children in foster care are Indigenous, while only accounting for 7.7 per cent of the local child population.

“We felt it was really important to ensure that some of our community’s most marginalized and historically marginalized people had access to programs and services at a time when they need it most,” she said.

“In our efforts toward reconciliation as an organization, we really made it a big focus to ensure that we were increasing the level of funding available to those agencies that are supporting indigenous people around our region.”

A full list of agencies receiving grants can be found on the website of the United Way Elgin Middlesex.

— with files from Devon Peacock