Welland, ON – Last Friday, Jeff Burch, MPP for Niagara Centre, met with the team at the Centre de santé communautaire Hamilton/Niagara (CSCHN) to celebrate $266,400 from the Government of Ontario through two Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) grants.
“I remain a strong supporter of the staff and volunteers of the Centre de santé communautaire Hamilton/Niagara,” said Jeff Burch. “I’m delighted to see the initiatives this organization is taking to build and grow its programs. OTF’s investment plays an important role in ensuring the health and vitality of our francophone community.”
A Resilient Communities Fund grant of $196,900, awarded in May 2023, enabled the CSCHN to offer the Investir dans mon avenir (Investing in My Future) program, which follows a specific curriculum based on an intersectional feminist approach and the social determinants of health to support women in leaving the cycle of violence.
A capital grant of $69,500 was awarded in September 2023. This will meet a community need by enabling the CSCHN to purchase a larger capacity vehicle to safely transport their Niagara clients, more specifically newcomers.
“The capital grant will enable us to better serve our clients who face barriers to getting around. With public transit more difficult to navigate in the region, this vehicle will be a great help to us,” says France Vaillancourt, Executive Director at the CSCHN. “With the mini-bus, we’ll be able to introduce many families to Canadian culture by taking them to various activities, festivals and even to the sugar shack!”
“The funding received through the Resilient Communities Fund is extraordinary. This investment will enable us to provide employability and entrepreneurial empowerment training to francophone women aged 16 and over living in the Niagara and Hamilton regions,” explains Loubna Moric, Acting Director of Sexual Assault and Violence Programs and Community Initiatives at the CSCHN.
With a mandate to provide health, social and community services in French, in order to improve the health and quality of life of Francophones in Hamilton and Niagara, the CSCHN manages community programs based on the needs of the community it serves. Programs are built and implemented taking into account professional best practices, codes of ethics, approved management systems and Canadian Centre for Accreditation requirements as part of the accreditation certification (December 2020) and performance indicators from their many regional, provincial and federal funders.
“The work that the CSCHN does makes such a difference for the new and existing Francophone community in the Hamilton and Niagara regions,” said Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. “That’s why the funding my ministry provides through OTF is so important. Our government is committed to ensuring programming that assists in the well-being and safety of the Francophone community continues to be supported across our province.”
The mission of the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Ontario government and one of Canada’s largest grantmaking
foundations, last year OTF invested more than $110 million in 1,022 community projects and partnerships. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
France Vaillancourt,
Executive Director
