May 6, 2011

The Toronto Community Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of our 2010/2011 Vital Ideas grants. This year, thanks to the generosity of two Community Foundation fundholders and through a special partnership with KPMG, Vital Ideas grants were awarded to 11 high-impact non-profit organizations. .

Vital Ideas grants are provided by the Community Foundation from its Vital Toronto Fund grant program which focuses on identifying and investing in Toronto’s most high-impact organizations and initiatives. The grant program provides recipients with up to $30,000 over one year to increase their capacity in order to expand their reach, share their experience, and better sustain their impact.

It identifies high-impact organizations that build on successful methods of service delivery and continually adapt and innovate. Beyond ‘band-aid’ solutions, the organizations work for social change by addressing the root causes of the trends identified in the Toronto’s Vital Signs® Report.

“Our foundation is focused on ensuring the vitality of Toronto,” said Toronto Community Foundation’s President & CEO Rahul K. Bhardwaj. “To this end, we invest in high-impact organizations so they can continue to meet the needs of the communities they serve by addressing complex issues, such as the growing income gap between the rich and poor, the ripple effects of the experiences of newcomers, and harnessing the potential of youth in high-needs neighbourhoods.”

Please join us in congratulating this year's Vital Ideas award recipients:

Clean Air Partnership, Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation
Clean Air Partnership has an extensive track record as a provider of community outreach and applied research for healthier, sustainable urban communities. A Vital Ideas grant supports Clean Air Partnership's Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation to build public and expert support for improved conditions for all users of streets through their “Complete Streets by Design” visual resource development.
Learn more about Clean Air Partnership's Vital Ideas grant ››

Greenest City, From the Ground UP
Greenest City works for social change by including typically disengaged groups in food and gardening programs in order to build community connections, develop skills and knowledge, and reduce social isolation. A Vital Ideas grant supports the eventual expansion of Greenest City’s community-based food programming to new sites.
Learn more about Greenest City's Vital Ideas grant ››

Hot Docs, DocStarter.com
Established in 1993, Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market. Hot Docs runs an internationally renowned 11-day film festival, education programs, monthly screenings, conferences, and events for filmmakers. A Vital Ideas grant supports the creation of DocStarter.com to ensure that domestic documentaries in development are promoted and sustained. This project is unique in that it promotes civic engagement, and allows Torontonians to support issues that are relevant and important to them in an interactive environment.
Learn more about Hot Docs' Vital Ideas grant ››

Manifesto Community Projects, A How To Guide
Manifesto is a non-profit, youth-led organization that unites, energizes, supports and celebrates Toronto’s vibrant and diverse music and arts community. Manifesto produces events and initiatives that engage Toronto’s youth to use the arts as a tool for positive social change at the individual, community and city level. Manifesto aims to engage youth, bridge the gap between community organizations and cultural institutions, and produce initiatives with high quality production and grassroots authenticity. A Vital Ideas grant supports Manifesto’s rapid local growth and international expansion as a major Toronto festival dedicated to empowering and including young people, artists, and the entire community.
Learn more about Manifesto Community Projects' Vital Ideas grant ››

Promoting Education and Community Health (PEACH), School Away from School, Youth Resiliency Model
PEACH promotes the educational and social well-being of very marginalized teenagers in Toronto’s Jane and Finch community. Programs promote youths’ ability to stabilize themselves and bounce back from adversity in order to stay engaged with their education during a time of crisis. A Vital Ideas grant supports PEACH’s innovative and life-changing program and enables its compelling model of school board and community agency collaboration to be documented and communicated in order to position it for future expansion into new neighbourhoods. 
Learn more about PEACH's Vital Ideas grant ››

Sheena's Place, Young Adult Eating Disorder Support Groups
Sheena’s Place offers hope and support to people with eating disorders and their families, partners, and friends through support groups, and educational resources. In 2010, 1, 100 people received critical supports, and more than 171,400 individuals were reached through their educational website and awareness events aimed at reducing the stigma associated with eating disorders.  Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness – it is estimated that 10 percent of individuals with anorexia will die within 10 years of the onset of the disorder. A Vital Ideas grant supports Sheena’s Place to expand their successful support group model to reach university and college students. With about 192,000 students enrolled at GTA universities/colleges, there are an estimated 5,700 struggling with eating disorders.
Learn more about Sheena's Place's Vital Ideas grant ››

Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI), Opportunities Account for Youth in Care
SEDI’s aim is to reduce poverty by increasing social and economic opportunity for low-income Canadians. Their work focuses on financial literacy, saving and asset-building as well as entrepreneurship. A Vital Ideas grant supports SEDI in partnering with Children’s Aid Societies to implement effective financial literacy and savings programming aimed at youth in care that will break the cycle of dependence and poverty among this extremely vulnerable population.
Learn more about SEDI's Vital Ideas grant ››

Social Planning Toronto, Lost in the Shuffle: Translating Research into Action
Social Planning Toronto’s mandate is to create a liveable, affordable city by addressing four priority areas through community engagement, policy analysis, and research: labour markets and income security; education and human development; housing and community infrastructure; and public finance and resource allocation. A Vital Ideas grant supports translating the research into action by creating a resource that captures the impact of homelessness on children’s school success and shares best practices to improve their educational experience. The resource will help shelters and schools to address this complex issue, and to share strategies for removing barriers that vulnerable children and youth face.
Learn more about Social Planning Toronto's Vital Ideas grant ››

Toronto ACORN, Closing the Gap
Toronto ACORN believes in transforming the conditions that adversely affect low and moderate income families. Toronto ACORN organizes tenants to build skills so they can work for long-term socio-economic change. A Vital Ideas grant supports the communication and replication of Toronto ACORN’s tenant organizing model for use by other organizations so that more low and moderate income Torontonians can become leaders in advocating for better housing conditions.
Learn more about Toronto ACORN's Vital Ideas grant ››

Toronto Foundation for Student Success, Model Schools for Paediatric Health Initiative
The Toronto Foundation for Student Success operates as the arm’s length charitable foundation of the Toronto District School Board created to ensure that all students are ready and able to learn. They initiate and provide ongoing support to programs that deal with the hunger, poverty, and violence experienced by students in Toronto. A Vital Ideas grant supports the Toronto Foundation for Student Success to develop more health clinics in schools. A research-based business case for the Model Schools Paediatric Health Initiative will communicate the impact of this initiative to funders and help to lobby the government for secure funding and changes to the health delivery model in Ontario.
Learn more about the Toronto Foundation for Student Success' Vital Ideas Grant ››

Working Skills Centre, Enabling Immigrants Through Volunteering          
Working Skills Centre empowers immigrants to fully participate in Canadian society by providing education, work experience, and settlement services that ultimately lead to employment. Settlement information and referral services are provided to 4,000 immigrants annually. A Vital Ideas grant supports Working Skills Centre to develop partnerships with Volunteer Toronto and Toronto employers so employers are better equipped to host supportive and meaningful volunteer opportunities for immigrant women to improve their chances of entering the workforce.
Learn more about Working Skills Centre's Vital Ideas grant ››

More Information
Learn more about our Vital Ideas grant stream ››