The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia is pleased to announce its 2016-2017 Compass Group Canada Community Grant has been awarded to four organizations with mental health and food-based mandates; and its Pictou County Community Grant has been awarded to three organizations in Pictou County focusing on mental health-based programming. $14,110 in funding was awarded to The Youth Project, Veith House, Affirmative Ventures, and Hope Blooms through the Compass Group Canada Community Grant. $17,137 in funding was awarded to Pictou County Roots for Youth; Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health; and Mental Health & Addictions, Pictou County (Nova Scotia Health Authority).
The Compass Group Canada Community Grant and Pictou County Community grant are part of the Foundation’s “Named Grants” program, which allows contributing organizations or individuals to allocate funding to support mental health programs in specific areas or with specific functions.
Compass Group Canada is a market leader in contract foodservice and support services, serving millions across the nation. This grant funding is made available to support educational programs that focus on healthy eating and food preparation for Nova Scotians who are impacted by mental health concerns.
Four projects have received 2016-2017 funding from the Compass Group Canada Community Grant:
- The Youth Project’s “Youth Project Food Programming” will address food insecurity among LGBTQ youth in Nova Scotia. It will allow LGBTQ youth and their allies to develop a sense of community, gain practical life skills, and change the way they think about cooking and nutrition.
- Veith House’s “Building Community in the Kitchen: A Program Targeting African Nova Scotian and African Descendant Men” will help build relationships with the Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative by directing participants in cooking workshops and building food-related skills and security.
- Affirmative Ventures: Caldy Grange Supportive Housing’s “Healthy Eating” will allow volunteers to help the residents of this supportive housing unit plan and prepare 24 simple meals.
- Hope Blooms’ “Global Good Food” will continue to engage inner city youth in planting, growing, harvesting and cooking culturally relevant food. It will also allow the thriving social enterprise to host monthly community meals aimed at bringing families together to celebrate their cultural foods, customs and traditions.
The Pictou County Community Grant has been made possible by Models for Mental Health, an annual fundraising event organized by Pictou County natives Shawna Coleman and Lily DeYoung; and employee giving at Northern Pulp.
Funding will support:
- Pictou County Roots for Youth’s “Spreading the Word: How to Access Mental Health Services in Pictou County,” an awareness program designed to help youth better navigate the mental health system in their community.
- The Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health’s “Impacts of Mental Health on Sexual Health.” Through a series of free workshops, the program will present a variety of topics that will educate individuals on the interconnection between mental illness and sexual health.
- Mental Health & Addictions, Pictou County’s “HEADSTRONG- a Youth Anti-Stigma Initiative.” HEADSTRONG will involve day-long youth anti-stigma summits for students and teachers from several high schools. The group will hear first-person stories and engage with individuals who have lived experience with mental illness (referred to as contact-based education), challenge their own stereotypes, and begin to plan what they can do in their own schools over the course of the academic year.
“The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia is thrilled to see citizens and organizations stepping up to make a difference in the communities they care about,” says Starr Dobson, Foundation President & CEO. “These programs will impact the lives of countless Nova Scotians directly and indirectly. We look forward to hearing stories of how these grants are working to change the way people think about mental health.”
The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia distributes funding to programs and services across the province on a quarterly basis. Funding for 2016-2017 Community Grants and Nova Scotia Health Authority Mental Health & Addictions, Central Zone grants has also been released this month. Visit mentalhealthns.ca/grants to learn more.
About the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia
The Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia is a registered charity dedicated to improving the lives of Nova Scotians living with mental illness and their loved ones. We raise funds for vital programs and services that help make this possible, province-wide.
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Contact:
Colleen Fraser, Communications Coordinator
Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia
T: (902) 464-3210
E: colleen.fraser@nshealth.ca
Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia
Suite 1120, 300 Pleasant Street
Dartmouth, NS B2Y 3Z9