Read to Your Baby offers a prescription for lifelong learning

A physician’s prescription for learning invites parents to share the gift of literacy with their kidsRead-to-Your-Baby

There isn’t a pill to improve lit­eracy. But a new program is offer­ing a prescription that’s getting families off to a great start.

Read to Your Baby provides family physicians with the tools to start important conversations with parents about reading, including a free picture book (available in English and French), a fun “prescription” for daily reading and an invitation to get a library card for the child. It all takes place at the 18-month well baby visit.

“We’re educating parents as the primary educators of their chil­dren,” says Evette Sauriol, early literacy specialist with Affiliated Services for Children and Youth. “We believe the gift of literacy supports children in reaching their full potential.” Research shows reading to preschoolers gives them the literacy skills necessary for early school success. Story-time also strengthens the parent-child bond.

The program is working: an evaluation by the Best Start Early Years team showed that more than 80 percent of parents who weren’t reading to their child previously said being given the book has made a difference to their literacy activities.

Read to your baby #2An HCF grant will allow Read to Your Baby to expand from 49 to 150 physicians—covering half of the babies born in the city each year—as well as support an aware­ness initiative to ensure long-term sustainability of the program. HCF also connected Read to Your Baby to First Book Canada, an organization that provides access to new books for children in need. Additional funding for book purchases has come from Telling Tales. The prescription pads were developed by the Canadian Pae­diatric Society and printed by the Offord Centre for Child Studies.

The program is founded on strong partnerships with healthcare, early learning and education groups and the library. Dr. Jean Mullens, a family physician with the Hamil­ton Family Health Team, is a true champion. “Parents are thrilled to get the book from our nurses and are usually reading it to their baby when I come into the room,” she says. While some of the families Jean sees may be economically disadvantaged, she stresses that this is a universal program. “All parents need the reminder to read to their babies.”

Responding to a critical need

Responding to a critical need
Cutting treatment delays for abused children 

It’s hard to accept that children as young as three are being sexually abused. But that is a reality the Community Child Abuse Council faces squarely every day. They provide proven treatment, education, and prevention programs to Hamilton’s abused children. 

Timely treatment is transformative for children who suffer sexual abuse and the devastating effects of that betrayal of trust, says the Council’s executive director Karen Smith. “The good news is that when children receive prompt treatment from our professional clinicians, they do recover from this trauma and live healthy, productive lives. We know that. But the longer they wait for treatment, the worse their symptoms get.”

When the Council came to Hamilton Community Foundation and explained that referrals to their program were so high that children were waiting too long for treatment, we responded.

The Edith H. Turner Foundation Fund provided a grant. HCF also approached The Lillian and Marvin Goldblatt Family Fund, which has a similar focus on children and youth. Deeply moved by the situation of these youngsters, this fund too stepped forward with additional support.

Together these grants allowed the Council to cut the waiting list by 70 percent – saving many young children lifelong turmoil. 

HCF fundholders Pioneer Energy Foundation and the Losani Family Foundation Fund also generously support the Council, and Karen says she is grateful to HCF for shining light on this issue. Some donors have even offered help to raise awareness about the need to have stable resources for these essential services.

“The bigger picture is this,” says Smith. “We can give kids their lives back when we’re able to treat them early – but if resources don’t allow that to happen, the future of our community suffers as much as these young people do. The long-term solutions to child abuse are a responsibility of the whole community. Support from HCF and its donors create a vital ripple effect. By facing the reality of child abuse, they help us open a community conversation about how thriving children are essential for thriving communities.”

Love of community translates into meaningful results

The Dougher Community Fund grew from a quiet appreciation of life in Dundas
Dundas Symphony

Grants from the fund are dedicated to enabling others to have the same opportunity, now and forever.

The donor had a single goal: to ensure future residents would enjoy the community’s many assets as she and her family had. It only made sense then that the first grant, in 2012, went to Dundas Community Services to reach out to the town to determine its highest needs. Focus groups, a community open house and an online survey pointed to priorities that included resources for seniors, accessibility for those with physical disabilities, poverty reduction, envi­ronmental education, youth engagement and access to the arts. As a result, these became the focus areas for the Dougher Community Fund.

Since this review, the fund has supported 15 projects, including playground naturalization, family art days, restoration of the Desjardins Canal, an information program for seniors, a youth centre and an assistive devices program.

This year, a grant to the 36-year-old Dundas Valley Symphony Orchestra will help its music reach new ears. “We want to attract a broader audience and expand our repertoire by con­necting with choral groups,” says president Olga Hencher. The grant will be used to hire vocalists and coaches, purchase music and pay for addi­tional rehearsal space to prepare for the group’s annual lineup of six free concerts.

Another grant is providing a part-time community garden co-ordinator for four Dundas affordable housing sites. “We want to increase food security, reduce isolation and build capacity among Dundas residents, especially seniors,” says Matt Bowen of City Housing Hamilton. “A staff person is critical to getting the project off the ground in a way that meets tenants’ needs and is sustainable.” When the project wraps up this fall, tenants will have a how-to handbook, a cookbook and connections with other food security programs, such as the Good Food Box, to see them through until the next growing season.

With its “forever focus” on the quality of life in Dundas, The Dougher Community Fund is a textbook case of helping people give in a way that has meaning to them and impact in their community.

Shirley Elford

shirley_elford

Describing herself as “an ordinary person who gets a lot of joy out of giving”, Shirley is excited about seeing her gift to HCF at work during her lifetime.

Shirley Elford – a celebrated glass artist known for her stunning Juno Awards sculpture, beautiful angels, one-of-a-kind pieces, and her commitment to the Hamilton community – holds back tears as she describes how she felt when the first grants were made from her fund at Hamilton Community Foundation.

“ I was so happy I sat down and cried,” she said about the three grants made last December to support children’s mental health. “It felt so good to know the fund was already making a difference.”

When she established The Angel Fund in 2003, Shirley planned to finance it from a life insurance policy in her estate. But this year, she chose to make an outright gift when she discovered she had cancer.

“ I realized that I wanted to begin to see the impact of my donation in my lifetime,” she says, “and I’m so glad I did. The joy I get from knowing this fund is already supporting mental health is profound. And the idea that it will keep giving and giving and giving is just wonderful.”

A member of Hamilton Community Foundation’s board of directors from 2001 to 2006, Shirley is a passionate advocate of HCF and many other Hamilton organizations. Her volunteer résumé is as full and varied as her award-winning artistic career – a career that started late. She was already 36 and the youngest of her children had entered high school when she applied to the Ontario College of Art.

“ I needed something that was just me,” she says of that time in her life. “I was Bill Sinclair’s daughter, I was a wife, I was a mother. I craved an identity that was just me.” Shirley excelled at OCA and discovered the very difficult medium of glass. Her stunning body of work is proof that she mastered the challenge.

Describing herself as “just an ordinary person who gets a lot of joy out of giving,” Shirley stresses that philanthropists don’t have to be wealthy. “I guess my brother and I learned about giving from my father. Dad was a generous man in his time. He always said that, if nothing else, you can give of yourself and then you’ll really find out what you’re worth. I don’t have millions to give, but I feel like a multimillionaire in my heart because my gifts come back to me tenfold.”

In 2010, Shirley created the Gift of Today Fund choosing turquoise, the signature colour for ovarian cancer, to represent the fund’s purpose. This fund supports a diverse array of initiatives that increase the scope and availability of assistance and education both for those experiencing ovarian cancer and for friends, families and professionals involved with their care.

Excerpt from 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Annual Reports

Marchese Health Care 50th Anniversary Legacy Fund

Marita Zaffiro Marking a milestone.

Marchese Pharmacy on James Street North has been a crucial neighbourhood resource for five decades.  To mark the milestone, owner Marita Zaffiro established the Marchese Health Care 50th Anniversary Legacy Fund at Hamilton Community Foundation in 2011.

“It’s about acknowledging the people of Marchese, past and present,” Marita says about her gift. “Through all the years and all the changes, Marchese has held an important place in the north end community. I’m glad we can celebrate that legacy with this fund, today and into the future.”The fund will support projects recommended by the Foundation which give Hamiltonians opportunities to improve their employment potential and quality of life. Its first grant is already helping the YWCA build a business plan for a downtown café: the social enterprise would offer healthy food to the community, generate revenue for Y programs, and also provide meaningful employment for their clients. “

I appreciate that the Foundation is examining the impact of its work and trying to make links between grantmaking and social enterprise,” says Marita. “HCF is an acknowledged leader in the sector and it is taking an innovative approach that aligns well with my personal and business philosophy of working collaboratively, creating synergy and sharing success.”

 

Seniors Spin the Wheel of Fitness

It’s hard for older adults in Flamborough to get to senior-focused exercise classes. That’s why a grant from HCF is helping Flamborough Information and Community Services to expand the Wheel of Fitness, an educational exercise program that helps seniors from isolated rural communities get moving.

There is a definite need. A key recommendation in the province’s Living Longer, Living Well report is to provide more services that encourage seniors to stay healthy, active and well-connected, including accessible exercise classes.

The classes target functional fitness and daily living activities, and are offered in six Flamborough communities every week for 10 weeks. Playing off a game show popular with seniors, the “wheel” is a teaching tool, emphasizing exercise principles and reinforcing the theme that “exercise always wins.”

Anyone can participate, regardless of medical conditions or financial circumstances. Pre- and post-participation surveys evaluate success and help seniors figure out their next steps. 

Learning to Save the Monarch

Learning to Save the Monarch - Monarch Butterfly

Monarch butterfly numbers are in freefall. A January 2014 count by the World Wildlife Fund shows North America’s population has hit an all-time low – and may disappear completely.

That’s not news to the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club. But it does make its latest project, with partner Environment Hamilton, all the more important.

Supported by an HCF grant,“Transformations: Hamiltonians creating and restoring monarch habitat” aims to create monarch butterfly and pollinator habitat at several Hamilton sites, a solution scientists recommend to help the species. It will teach youth about the importance of the monarch and other pollinators in sustaining plants in natural, agricultural and urban landscapes, environmental threats and, most important, what they can do to help.

Students will grow pollinator-friendly plants such as bee balm, milkweed and coneflower from seed in their classrooms, then head out to do the planting at the Naturalists’ Club’s Lands Inlet site and the remediated Rennie landfill in the Red Hill Valley.

The grant will also help families to find out more about the project at four community days. The public can learn about the importance of monarch habitat at the planting sites and other events held across the city,  including “build your own pollinator box” workshops. 

Accessing Funds for Education

HCF is helping more families put money in the bank for higher education through a program to increase access to the Canada Learning Bond

Studies show that youth who have even modest education savings are 50 percent more likely to go on to post-secondary schooling than those who have none.  Targeted directly at low-income families, the Canada Learning Bond is a federal government program that contributes up to $2,000 towards a child’s post-secondary education.

Although parents don’t have to make their own financial contribution to qualify, they do have to apply, and barriers such as paperwork, dealing with a financial institution and low awareness mean that some 900,000 children across Canada are not accessing the funds they are entitled to.

Locally, HCF is working with a multi-sector partnership to raise awareness and get more families registered.  Led by the Best Start Network, the group recently mounted a two-day “sign-up fair” at Mission Services where families could get help to fill out forms and establish savings accounts. The federal government also chose the fair as a pilot program, enabling the group to leverage additional funds for outreach.

Financing is only one piece of increasing post-secondary access, but results show it’s a critical one.

Teens with cancer find support at Wellwood

Adolescence is hard enough – now consider the additional impact of a cancer diagnosis on a teen or on a young adult anxious to get on with life.  A grant from HCF is supporting Wellwood Resource Centre to help this vulnerable group.

The Canadian Cancer Society reports that adolescents and young adults have unique needs for psychosocial support that aren’t being met as they straddle the pediatric and adult oncology worlds.  Isolation both from fellow patients and from the day-to-day experiences of healthy friends has a profound effect.

Wellwood’s experience confirms this finding.  Meeting the needs of this group is both a strategic priority and the focus for programs that will bring together adolescents and young adults with similar experiences to ease feelings of isolation and find meaningful support in an accessible, inclusive, safe space.  Families will also find information and support.

Special efforts will be made to address the needs of young women, who have unique physical and psychological pressures due to fears and grief about infertility, body image and relationships.

The project will use Wellwood’s time-tested self-help model, which engages clients in information-sharing, exploration and problem-solving. Project partners include Hamilton Health Sciences, Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre, VON, Canadian Cancer Society, The Well and YWCA.

Investment Fund : Making a Positive Impact

Investment Fund Making a Positive Impact - Mustard Seed Bakery

A bustling new addition to Hamilton’s food landscape represents two milestones:  the city’s first co-op grocery store and the latest loan from the Hamilton Community Investment Fund (HCIF).

Like all co-ops The Mustard Seed, located just west of Locke Street on York Boulevard, is member-owned, though you don’t have to be a member to shop there. Its emphasis is on offering locally produced, sustainable food and creating a “positive impact on our local economy, our community, our health, and our environment”.

“As a social enterprise, The Mustard Seed was a clear match for us,” says Annette Aquin who heads up the Foundation’s impact investing program.  “It touches many of our investment themes to create positive change, especially in the surrounding neighbourhood.”

The HCIF offers financing to Hamilton-area charities, non-profits and social enterprises. It’s one component of the Foundation’s impact investing portfolio that seeks to put more HCF assets to work in support of our mission.

Mustard Seed CEO Graham Cubitt says that the HCIF loan process was beneficial in ways beyond generating capital.  “It helped us to make sure we had good answers to important questions about our feasibility, long-term goals, and ability to repay,” he says.  “It was a good education and we’re happy knowing the loan interest is going back into the Foundation’s other good works.”

Watch Annette and Graham talk about HCIF and the Mustard Seed at here.

The store opened in January with 1,220 members and added another 200 in the first month.

Excerpt from Legacy newsletter, Spring 2014