Supporting Healthy Communities

Vision and mission:

We are aware that there is enormous potential for good, for intelligent action, in people and in communities. What is needed is some nudging to unleash this energy through some financial support at the right time and in the right hands.

We aim to support initiatives that originate in communities, which will increase the quality of life for those communities. Working with MakeWay, our advisors on meaningful Indigenous grants, we are able to build relationships with the grantees.

Within our Indigenous grants program, we seek to enable Settler-Indigenous reconciliation by enacting the following principles:

1) Funding grass-roots Indigenous initiatives, and offering charitable housing for non-registered initiatives through our administrative partner MakeWay.

2) Including operating costs as part of the grant designation, rather than exclusively funding project-based initiatives.

3) Providing multi-year funding for organizations and long-term projects.

4) Simplifying our application and reporting structures.

Our granting is guided by the following principles:

Listening and Learning, becoming informed, being open to new ideas, especially the people most affected by our support.

Looking for change agents, being strategic, avoiding the ‘bandage’ approach and in particular, finding and supporting enlightened, imaginative leaders. (Ashoka Canada).

Collaborating with others to increase the effect of support.

Allocating time and funds in order to share our learnings with others.

Being mindful of the abilities of the grant-seekers and maintaining our role as a funder with humility.