In 2020/21, the United Way/Centraide SDG took on a leadership role in our community to distribute funds from the Government of Canada and fundraising initiatives to support local programs and services helping those impacted by COVID-19. These included the Emergency Community Support Fund and New Horizons for Seniors funded by the Government of Canada along with local and national (distributed by United Way Canada) fundraising through the Local Love in a Crisis campaign.
In total, $762,967.88 was distributed into our community, funding 33 organizations and 58 programs that addressed new needs created by the pandemic. But we didn’t do this work alone. In March 2020, United Way/Centraide SDG created the Regional Emergency Response Council with the Social Development Council of Cornwall, bringing together 20 agencies, non-profits and service clubs throughout SDGCA to evaluate and define the most pressing needs that our community is facing to ensure that the people who need help are being reached.
In partnership with the Regional Emergency Response Council, we reviewed numerous applications and made the final funding recommendations based on where the money was needed to help those most impacted by the pandemic. Below is a breakdown of the organizations, programs, and investments through the funding mentioned above that covers many of the new programs created within the last year in SDGCA.
COVID-19 Emergency Community Support Fund through the Government of Canada
Local charities in SDGCA received a boost of $536,577.10 in federal funding to help them adapt and increase frontline services for vulnerable populations during COVID-19. ECSF funded 32 agencies and 45 programs in SDGCA to help adapt their services for the most vulnerable that address the ongoing challenges we’re seeing with COVID-19. It was delivered through two rounds of funding from the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) – a $350 million fund announced by the Government of Canada in April 2020.
| Organization | Funding | Program/Description |
| Agape | $5,000 | Hot meals TO GO – purchase take-out containers and specific food items to support the hot meals to go program |
| Agape | $1,500 | Tech Medic – assist in minor repairs, updates and other problems that the foodbank users may be experiencing with their phones and allow them to remain connected to the services they depend on. |
| Association des Femmes Immigrantes Francophones Cornwall-SDG (AFIF) through the SDC | $12,000 | Services aux femmes et enfants issus de l’immigration – support the school work of francophone children from immigrant families with online activities for women and girls, tutoring, cooking classes, arts and crafts workshops, at-home sporting challenges, story-time, and other activities that will help break the isolation that many of these newcomer families are experiencing because of COVID. |
| Association des Femmes Immigrantes Francophones Cornwall-SDG (AFIF) through the SDC | $5,000 | Soutien Scolaire – continue some of the work that began with immigrant children during the summer camp program. Support them in their language and other school-related learning with which they may be struggling because of online schooling, or other COVID-related complications. |
| Autism Society of Ontario | $2,500 | At-Home Activities Project – financial support to allow the Autism Society of Ontario translate some of the activities they would normally be doing into a virtual world. |
| Bereaved Families of Ontario – Cornwall and Area through the SDC | $5,000 | Peer Grieving Programs During the Pandemic – train volunteers to fill a gap in services directly related to mental health requests and grieving because of COVID-19. |
| Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cornwall and District Inc | $10,000 | One on One Mentoring in a Virtual World – support staff to access the necessary technology for all of the Big and Little matches; the creation of virtual platforms, events, and learning activities and supervision of the current matches; and development of virtual screening and matching of new Bigs and Littles to support children who may be adversely living the isolation. |
| Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cornwall and District Inc | $5,000 | Virtual Mentoring/In-School Mentoring – funds will ensure the successful launch of the In-School mentoring normally offered by the BBBS of Cornwall and Area in a virtual format. |
| Boys and Girls Club Cornwall/SDG | $15,000 | Activity Kits and Subscription Boxes – maintain relationships with children and youth as well as provide families with valuable resources including crafts, activities, challenges, snacks and personal hygiene products. |
| Canadian Mental Health Association – Champlain East | $55,000 | Community Mental Health and Addiction Services – assist clients struggling with the Mental Health side effects of COVID-19, or for whom COVID-19 has impacted negatively their already vulnerable mental health, access to food, transportation, PPE, technology. This will assist in access to virtual health services and enhance mental wellness. |
| Canadian Mental Health Association – Champlain East | $42,100 | Stay Safe, Stay hydrated – mass-produced water bottles with kid-friendly and family-centered Mental Health Resources printed on the bottles. They were distributed in October to all Kinder-gr 3 students across the 5 Boards in our region. |
| Canadian Mental Health Association – Champlain East | $1,000 | Suicide Prevention For the Whole Community – invested in purchasing a license to allow multiple community partners to train their staff and volunteers in Suicide prevention. |
| Centre Charles-Emile-Claude | $6,000 | My Centre without a Wall – help propel their programming into the virtual world and support the purchase of technology necessary to do so. |
| Centre Charles-Emile-Claude | $5,000 | Sacs de divertissements – create bags of activities that will help keep clients occupied and stimulated. This aims to reach out to the clients who were unable to join the virtual activities that were launched from the first round of funding. |
| Centre de Santé Communautaire de l’Estrie | $10,000 | Expansion des services en lien avec la COVID-19 – funds will benefit the most vulnerable CSCE clients in the SDG region, giving access to rural clients such as in the Maxville and Crysler area easier access to the Green Food Box initiative, allowing clients with Chronic illnesses better monitor their health and well-being with necessary equipment such as blood pressure machines, and assisting seniors in our region be ready for a medical emergency such as COVID by filling out and preparing a Vial of Life. |
| Children’s Aid Society of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry | $15,000 | Together At Home – offer activities for children/youth to keep them busy during the pandemic. Care packages will be created by CAS, for CAS families, and other vulnerable families identified by the Regional Emergency Relief Council, including the local Health Unit. These packages include arts and crafts supplies, outdoor games, toys, puzzles, board games, and activities to keep children busy, stimulated, and active. |
| Clinique Juridique Roy McMurtry Legal Clinic | $12,800 | Increased Capacity for Legal services (housing, income security & employment) – provide legal education, assistance and representation to people living in poverty with a particular focus on employment, income security and housing legal needs that are associated with response and recovery from COVID-19. |
| Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario (211) | $8,000 | Communicating the Community Navigation of Eastern Ontario (211) to the most vulnerable – conduct a postal-code specific mail-out in regions where we know demographically there are higher levels of lone-parent families, seniors and/or people living to inform them of the services provided by 211. |
| Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien through the SDC | $1,550 | Nourritures adaptés aux enfants en besoins en collaboration avec les écoles – a gift card to a local grocery store to give families in the school board struggling the ability to purchase food and hygiene products during the pandemic. |
| Eastern Ontario Training Board | $10,000 | Newcomer Employment and Welcome Services (NEWS) – newcomers to the SDG region will be assisted on various levels regarding their health and safety including support for employment, access to food, etc. A laptop loaning program will be put in place to allow some of the families to follow online training during their isolation period upon arriving in the region. |
| Habitat for Humanity Seaway Valley (Cornwall & The Counties) | $15,000 | Ensuring the survival of the Re-Store and Habitat for Humanity in our Region – keeping ReStore open to the public with the proper equipment and staff compensation. The funding fills the gaps, protect staff and customers and ensure the survival of this program in our region. |
| House of Lazarus Matilda Resource Centre Inc. | $6,000 | Housing Advocate and SDG Landlord/Roommate Registry – establish a housing advocate position within local foodbanks and create a landlord and roommate registry that will help ease the burden of finding housing during the crisis. |
| House of Lazarus Matilda Resource Centre Inc. | $12,114 | Housing Support During the Pandemic – provide assistance to the vulnerable population that has been hardest hit during the pandemic and ensure their housing stability. Assist in paying rent, hydro, and other bills while also welcoming them into the network of food banks and finding long-term solutions to the problems. |
| House of Lazarus Matilda Resource Centre Inc. | $5,000 | Winter Support – funding will support both the snowsuit fund that has seen an increase in demand and a decrease in support because of COVID-19, as well as the Heat for the Holidays program that provides logs to homeowners in Dundas County that heat with wood stoves to cut the cost of hydro. |
| Inspire Community Support Services | $5,000 | Food Hampers and gift cards for most vulnerable clients – provide food hampers to families who’s food needs exceed the offer given within the food hamper initiative because of specific needs (dietary or other) of their children. Assist families with the purchase of specific needs (clothing, medical supplies, cleaning supplies) that they cannot access during COVID-19 for financial or safety reasons. |
| Inspire Community Support Services | $5,000 | Winter Wellness Baskets and Delivery Service – provide drop-off baskets during an in-person socially distant check-in, that includes products the most vulnerable families need, and activities to help them keep their children with special needs stimulated and occupied over the pandemic. |
| L’Association canadienne française de l’Ontario – Stormont, Dundas et Glengarry (ACFO SDG) | $15,000 | Services d’urgences en appui aux immigrants et immigrantes – mobilize the volunteers and the community around the most vulnerable immigrant families in the region. Provide food security, online activities and webinars, and the equipment to participate in this online world. |
| L’Association canadienne française de l’Ontario – Stormont, Dundas et Glengarry (ACFO SDG) | $5,000 | Expansion of Support Services for the immigrant families – a continuum of the first round of funding, but to support the hardest hit, and largest families. |
| Maison Baldwin House | $15,000 | Support Packages for Discharging Clients – COVID-19 restrictions have made it nearly impossible to adequately support all of the women and their families that need access to the shelter and assistance in relocalization. These funds will be used to support the women to get the support necessary to get back on their two feet. |
| Maison Interlude House Inc. | $7,500 | Subvention additionnelle au logement – support women, victims of violence, to be able to leave their abuser and have access to a place to live along with necessary items during a period when lodging is difficult in the centres because of COVID-19 restrictions. |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | $20,000 | Safe Return to the Classroom For All – AMBE (Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Eductation) procured the basic PPE necessary to open their schools. |
| Optimist Club of Cornwall through the SDC | $85,000 | Essential Needs Assistance Program (Food Hampers) – Individuals, families, and seniors identified through the collaboration of the members of the Regional Emergency Response Council as well as through referrals through 211 obtained to access an emergency hamper of food that was delivered to the home. |
| Seaway Seniors Club | $5,000 | Leisure Kit Program During COVID-19 – support for a program that fills the gaps regarding the seniors who were unable to join the virtual programming funded earlier this year. |
| Seaway Seniors Club | $6,000 | New Curbside service, phone/video conference contacts with clients – provide online programming for the regular clients of the programs to assist in curbing loneliness and isolation and ensure the well-being of the seniors. |
| Seaway Valley Community Health Centre (SVCHC) | $6,136 | Urgent Supplies for Clients During COVID-19 – supply SVCHC clients with the items needed to do the monitoring and maintenance of some of their health checks within the comfort of their own home. |
| Sexual Assault Support Services for women of SDG&A (SASS) | $20,000 | Sexual Assault Counselor: rise in demand following COVID – a part-time staff to provide counseling to survivors of sexual violence in response to COVID-19 as we anticipate an influx of new clients. |
| Social Development Council of Cornwall and Area (SDC) | $5,000 | Emergency last resort fund – Created a referral line for a very small amount of the population who are not currently being serviced by programs and whose needs are not being met. These funds will allow the members of the RERC to spend money in a crisis situation to which none of the community members have the capacity to act at this time. |
| Société Alzheimer Society of Cornwall & District | $7,000 | Activation Kits – provide activation and stimulation to persons living with Alzheimer/Dementia. The Kits include personalized activities (such as cards, puzzles, colouring books, board games). As well as educational resources for caregivers (such as links to helpful videos and education pamphlets). |
| The Hub for Beyond 21 Foundation (Beyond 21) | $4,120 | Re-Opening Social Inclusion and Learning Program – assist Beyond 21 in the costs related to bringing back small groups to an in-person environment. Cover costs related to cleaning, sanitizing and PPE. |
| The Hub for Beyond 21 Foundation (Beyond 21) | $4,500 | Social Inclusion and Learning for adults with Developmental challenges – launched programming online to reach out and support vulnerable clients and their families who are suffering as they continue to be the sole caregiver for these high needs individuals |
| United Way/Centraide SDG | $40,000 | Masks for All – UWC SDG bulk-purchased masks for the community. Local agencies were invited to request masks to distribute to their clients, and masks were also distributed to the community through the use of the City of Cornwall Pop-up Shops and the delivery of masks to the Rural Municipal offices. |
| United Way/Centraide SDG | $757.10 | Plexiglass for UW office – allow the UWC SDG to safely reopen their office to clients seeking support for their OESP and LEAP applications |
| Vista Centre Brain Injury Services | $5,000 | Transportation to programming during COVID-19 – safe transportation to medical appointments and to be able to participate in the Vista Centre groups has become complicated for these clients, many of which are medically fragile. This money will ensure they can take safe transportation and remain active and healthy during the pandemic |
| York Centre Supervised Access Centre | $5,000 | Centre York Centre Supervised Access Centre PPE project – provide the PPE and new resources and equipment necessary to ensure the children can still see their parents in person at our centre. Plan was reviewed by the EOHU. |
| York Centre Supervised Access Centre | $5,000 | Safe Exchanges for families in crisis during a crisis – provide financial support necessary for the sanitizing, cleaning and PPE necessary to keep the York Centre open and operating for families that haven’t seen their children for long periods of time because of COVID. |
New Horizon for Seniors
Funded by the Government of Canada, United Way/Centraide SDG received a New Horizon for Seniors investment of $98,000 to support agencies and programs to help the most vulnerable seniors in our community who are most impacted by COVID-19. Four agencies and eight programs were developed in SDGCA to ensure our seniors were protected, their basic needs were met and there were activities in place to address their increased isolation with the pandemic regulations.
| Organization | Funding | Program/Description |
| Carefor Health and Community Services | $70,000 | Emergency Food Hamper Program for Seniors – create and distribute Emergency Food hampers for vulnerable seniors across the entire SDG region with local organizations. |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | $8,000 | Equipment for Safe/Efficient Feeding of Residents –equip the senior home with a warming tray and equipment to facilitate seniors eating in their own rooms while the dining room is closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | $1,000 | Activities for Isolated Seniors – games, arts and craft items, and other items for organized fun activities at the centre while seniors cannot receive guests. |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | $500 | Akwesasne Garden Initiative (Senior Residence) – assist Akwesasne Council in building a raised garden bed for the seniors in care who cannot leave or receive visitors during the pandemic. |
| Optimist Club of Cornwall | $1,000 | GoFeedMe – purchased gas cards to be distributed to the volunteers who are doing the shopping and delivery of groceries and prescriptions for seniors or other isolated citizens in the community. |
| Seaway Valley Community Health Centre | $1,000 | Seniors Staying Connected – helped pay to refurbish, and reset laptops, as well as purchase the necessary power cords so that the technology that had been donated to the Regional Emergency Response Council could be given to senior care centres and help seniors stay connected with family over video chat, as well as be able to teleconference with their health care professionals. |
| Seaway Valley Community Health Centre | $1,500 | Protecting Vulnerable Seniors – bulk purchase of non-medical masks to be distributed in the last phases of the Emergency Food Hampers as well as with the Longer-term care for Seniors initiative. |
| Seaway Valley Community Health Centre | $15,000 | Food Security, Hygiene and Longer-Term Care for the Most Vulnerable Seniors – purchased grocery gift cards that will be used by staff at various organizations across town to purchase non-perishable food items, sanitary, and hygiene products to be distributed to the most vulnerable seniors that were identified during the Emergency Food Hamper Program on an as-needed basis. |
Local Love in a Crisis
With the money raised in our community and centralized funds from United Way Canada from national fundraising initiatives, we were able to invest $19,125.67 into SDGCA to further support the ECSF funded projects and other local projects. The money raised supported seven organizations and seven programs.
| Organization | Funding | Program/Description |
| Canadian Mental Health Association – Champlain East | $2,000 | Extra support for Stay Safe, Stay Hydrated – supplement the remaining budget to order reusable water bottles with mental health messaging for schools. |
| Centre 105 | $1,048.49 | Access to Public Restrooms – access to public bathrooms for those in need during lockdown from 9-noon every day that Centre 105 was open for their food distribution program until other public bathrooms became available. |
| Children’s Christmas Fund | $5,900 | Food for school-aged children – worked directly with 4 local school boards (CSDCEO, CDSBEO, UCDSB, CEPEO) to create a gift card program. Families that each school board identified as being potentially at-risk regarding food security were awarded a gift card for a local grocery store that collaboratively oversaw the project ensuring families procured healthy food and snacks. |
| Cornwall Community Hospital | $1,500 | Phone Plans for Mental Health Clients – partnered with the Cornwall Community Hospital Mental Health Department to ensure that their most vulnerable clients had cell phone plans that would allow them to stay connected with their service provider during the crisis |
| House of Lazarus Matilda Resource Centre Inc. | $5,000 | Housing Support during the Pandemic – funds to further assist vulnerable residents affected by COVID overcome financial issues related to their housing. |
| Mohawk Council of Akwesasne | $1,500 | Gardens for Akwesasne Students – The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne along with the Akwesasne Mohawk Board of Education was helping to build raised garden beds at the homes of any interested family with school-aged children. We helped support this program with a small donation. |
| The Optimist Club of Cornwall | $1,000 | Extra Support for GoFeedMe – Offer an additional $1,000 in gas cards to the volunteers of the GoFeedMe initiative detailed within ECSF funding |
| United Way SDG | $1,177.18 | Extra Support for Masks for All – UWC SDG bulk-purchased masks to provide the community for free. |