March 4, 2021 Winter Edition |
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YWCA Halifax - Making an Impact on Gender Equality
in Nova Scotia
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In 2019, Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) became one of the founding partners of the Equality Fund, a groundbreaking collaboration with the Government of Canada that will deliver new momentum for women’s movements in Canada and around the world. As the first step in this multi-year collaboration, CFC and CFNS launched a Pilot Fund for Gender Equality.
This Pilot Fund sought to support actions that advance gender equality, as broadly defined, through three core themes:
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Peace - Supporting girls, women and trans* people as they build lives free from gender-based violence;
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Power - Shifting economic, political, and social power, as well as power over one’s own body, towards increased equality between genders;
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Planet - Strengthening participation, leadership, and climate justice for girls, women and trans* people as they building more sustainable futures.
Through the Pilot Fund, 112 projects were supported in 40 communities, highlighting a diversity of efforts and impact areas. One of the recipients in Nova Scotia was the YWCA Halifax. We wanted to share with you their story of impact for this transformative program, which is now in full rollout across the country.
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Hearing Them: Survivor Stories by the Numbers
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“All the money was taken. We could only keep gifts as long as we made money.”
– Hearing Them survey participant
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People with experiences of commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking have a unique and important perspective to offer. They are the real experts of their lives and have first-hand knowledge of the policies and programs intended to support their needs. Hearing their voices is foundational if we, as a community, are to move forward to heal trauma and support survivors.
YWCA Halifax has been active in addressing gender-based violence for a very long time.
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Over the past several months, CFNS has been implementing several Government of Canada-funded programs in Nova Scotia, resulting in millions of dollars going into communities across the province.
Most recently, the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative launched on February 9th. The Healthy Communities Initiative is a $31 million investment from the Government of Canada to support communities as they create and adapt public spaces to respond to the new realities of COVID-19. We are proud to be working with CFC and the Government of Canada and other community foundations in Atlantic Canada to provide $1,478,150 of funding to support organizations that are showing creativity and resourcefulness in creating solutions that enable people to connect and access public spaces safely while still respecting public health measures.
Applications for Round 1 close on March 9th for this initiative.
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In addition, the following programs have wrapped up their second round of funding:
Launched on May 19, 2020, CFNS, with funding from the Government of Canada invested $1.12M in Nova Scotia through the ECSF towards provincial charities and qualified donees supporting populations experiencing heightened vulnerability during this crisis.
As Canadian communities work towards a just recovery and a future grounded in gender equality, the Fund for Gender Equality supports ambitious, provincial projects that advance gender equality.
The IRP was designed to help social purpose organizations scale up their social enterprises to prepare to accept investments. The objective is for these organizations to be able to participate in the social finance market and generate a return for investors while having a positive impact on their communities.
We would like to acknowledge the following organizations that have helped make these programs possible.
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Last month CFNS unexpectedly lost one of our long-time supporters, Mary Ann Fulcher. Choosing to make Nova Scotia home over two decades ago, Mary Ann was passionate about her commitment to the province, and she, along with her husband Wayne, dedicated much of their time towards the betterment of Nova Scotian communities. For those of us who had the pleasure of getting to know Mary Ann over the years, we all feel her tremendous loss. She will always be remembered in our hearts. |
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Scholarship & Bursary Season |
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It's that time of year again when students are starting to apply for scholarships and awards to fund their post-secondary activities. CFNS is excited to be able to offer multiple scholarship opportunities thanks to the generous donations of our fundholders. Most of our scholarships and bursaries have deadlines that range between April 30 and May 15. If you or someone you know might be interested in exploring these opportunities, we invite you to visit the scholarship section of our website.
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A Home of Their Own Fund was established in December 2020 to steward community contributions towards a project to build equity, safety, and generational change for African Nova Scotians.
In a year characterized by the Black Lives Matter movement and a growing desire to bring justice, healing, and freedom to Black people across the globe, a team of community donors have come together to contribute to this wave of vital change by establishing this Fund. Nova Scotia, in particular, has a history fraught with housing injustice and community upheaval for the African Nova Scotian community, as exemplified by the razing of Africville in the 1960s.
This Fund will help to provide homes in an equitable housing project(s) for African Nova Scotians and help to demonstrate that there are people who care and want to help effect change.
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Computers for Evelyn Richardson Memorial Elementary School (ERMES) |
The employees of Acadian Seaplants learned that the students of ERMES in Shag Harbour did not have enough computers to accommodate the requirements that COVID-19 placed upon the school so they decided to take it upon themselves to raise enough funds to purchase 25 new Chromebooks.
To accomplish this, they reached out to CFNS to establish this fund.
To find out more about how you can help accomplish their goal, you can visit their fund page.
“Our company is committed to supporting the communities we call home. We are extremely fortunate to have partnered with the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia to help us raise funds to build stronger communities by helping our youngest students get Chromebooks so their learning can continue during COVID.” - Aubrey Hillyard, Acadian Seaplants
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Community Foundations of Canada |
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Trust-based philanthropy is being embraced by a growing number of foundations as a way to alleviate power imbalances between funders and grantees while fostering more productive and informative relationships. Driven by the central philosophy that funders should approach grantee relationships as learning partnerships, a trust-based approach encourages multi-year unrestricted funding, streamlined reporting, and transparent and responsive communication.
On January 13th, CFC and Philanthropic Foundations Canada co-hosted a webinar on Trust-based Philanthropy that gives participants an understanding of the premise of trust-based philanthropy and a look at other community foundations that are embracing trust-based approaches and how these practices align with the organization’s values.
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The Nova Scotia Nonprofit COVID-19 Coalition will be hosting monthly Virtual Open Forums on the third Tuesday of every month. These hour-long forums feature a variety of topics and special guests that are geared towards those working in nonprofit, charitable, or social enterprise fields. If you would like to join the Coalition or receive notice of these Open Forums, we invite you to click on the button below to opt-in.
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The Halifax Chamber of Commerce Business Awards will take place on Thursday, March 25, 2021, from 4:30 - 6:00 pm. This year a new category has been added - Not for Profit of the Year and we encourage you to show your support and extend congratulations to the first-time nominees: Easter Seals Nova Scotia, United Way Halifax, Solutions for Kids in Pain, Adsum Association for Women & Children, and Feed Nova Scotia. Click here to register.
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Member of Community Foundations of Canada |
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Community Foundation of Nova Scotia | cfns-fcne.ca |
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