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OTF press release  

More Than $33.6 Million in OTF Grants to 494 Local and Province-Wide Community Groups - Funding fosters economic opportunities for Ontario communities

Toronto, April 2, 2009 – Today the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) announced that 494 not-for-profit and charitable organizations in Ontario will receive funding totalling $33,671,600. The Hon. Aileen Carroll, Ontario Minister of Culture, said that many of the latest OTF grants will help people overcome barriers to employment and self-employment, develop literacy and work-related skills to ultimately broaden their work choices and improve their quality of life.

"The Ontario Trillium Foundation’s grants provide positive economic impact and help build stronger communities in Ontario,” said Carroll. “OTF grants support the Government’s efforts to help people and communities increase their opportunities for success and build for the future.”

“Not-for-profit organizations play a vital role in sustaining and strengthening local economies,” said Helen Burstyn, Chair of the OTF Board of Directors. “These organizations and the volunteers who support them are working wonders in their communities. They are fostering green job creation and social enterprise; expanding festivals, sport championships and other tourist attractions; and improving community facilities to increase their use and boost their revenues.”

The grants announced today represent a total of 458 Community grants worth $27,539,900 and $6,131,700 in Province-Wide grants made to 36 umbrella organizations in Ontario.

New grants under OTF’s Future Fund program will be announced shortly. This funding will support innovative initiatives that create opportunities for communities, networks and individuals to participate fully in Ontario’s labour market.

Click here for the complete list of grants.

Some of the new projects Ratified by the Ontario Trillium Foundation Board of Directors on March 6, 2009.

Active Circle c/o Motivate Canada
$400,000 over two years to build capacity among youth and community leaders to develop, implement, and sustain culturally relevant sports and recreation programs in remote and underserviced Aboriginal communities.

Alternative Transportation
$158,100 over 22 months to help make Ontario a leading bicycle-tourism destination. Partnerships and plans will be developed for the Bike Train to transport cycle tourists between major cities in Ontario. (Another OTF grant will support this activity)

Association for Canadian Educational Resources
$99,300 over 18 months for a project co-ordinator to replace the retiring volunteer president and to develop a vision and plan for the organization that will continue to deliver relevant environmental learning experiences for children.

Augmentative Communication Community Partnerships Canada
$158,800 over two years to conduct workshops to develop leadership and enhance the community engagement of people with communication disabilities by developing supports to increase their capacity to communicate and participate more fully.

Canadian Conference of the Arts
$116,400 over two years to build provincial membership, assume leadership in policy research, organize public engagement activities and conferences, and provide internships for emerging arts professionals in cultural policy.

Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute
$200,000 over two years to host the 2010 International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health. A summary of the knowledge generated will be disseminated in a series of community-based training workshops for practitioners across Ontario.

Canadian Women's Foundation
$450,000 over five years to support the Canadian Centre for Women's Economic Development to help low-income women in Ontario to increase their economic self-sufficiency.

Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR)
$292,500 over two years to create the Ontario Episodic Disabilities Network and related  information and referral centre which will identify and respond to provincial issues and needs from a cross-disability perspective.

Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation
$161,600 over two years to address problems of air quality in rental and multi-unit accommodations by providing educational resources. This will help ensure healthy, green living environments for Ontarians including individuals with environmental sensitivities.

Centre for Social Innovation
$66,700 over one year to document the centre's shared-space model to enable other organizations to open similar spaces in Ontario. A Web-space and the Cookbook for Shared Spaces will include recipes and how-to's for all aspects of the work.

EcoSource Mississauga
$203,200 over two years to create youth adult partnerships that address environmental concerns across Ontario.  Ecosource will research best practices, reach out to youth projects across Ontario, host a symposium and create a youth network.

Environics Institute for Survey Research
$150,000 over one year to conduct the Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study, surveying First Nations, Metis and Inuit people living in urban centres of Ontario in order to advance the conversation with Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Environmental Program Development in Three Ontario First Nations c/o  Environmental Defence Canada Inc.
$130,200 over 18 months to build environmental programs that engage youth leadership and public participation within three First Nations communities.

FitSpirit Community Organization/Organisme communautaire FitSpirit
$125,300 over 18 months to train athlete mentors and deliver physical activity, nutrition and self-esteem programs for girls aged 13 to 17 years. Girls across Ontario will be inspired and motivated to lead more active healthy lifestyles.

HIGH FIVE - Offord Sport Review and Development c/o Parks and Recreation Ontario/Parcs et Loisirs Ontario
$249,400 over one year to conduct research on children's mental health with respect to competition and early sport specialization. Findings will be incorporated into the HIGH FIVE quality assurance program to improve sport experiences for children.

Inclusive Recreation Steering Committee c/o Community Living Thunder Bay
$40,000 over one year to host Recreation-Able, a three-day, inclusive recreation forum that will provide recreation and leisure professionals with the education and resources to increase access to recreation for people with disabilities.

National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation
$98,700 over one year to develop a provincial framework for a youth mentoring initiative that will match First Nation, Metis and Inuit youth with mentors to guide and support them as they search for ways to succeed.

Noojimawin Health Authority
$45,600 over six months to conduct research and an environmental scan that will help develop an emergency preparedness plan for both urban and rural Aboriginal populations in Ontario.

Ontario Nonprofit Network c/o Centre for Social Innovation
$338,500 over three years to strengthen and develop organizational capacity. Links will be built between sub-sectors and organizations in Ontario's not-for-profit sector to support the dissemination of new ideas, approaches and knowledge.

Ontario Shelter Research Committee c/o Women's Shelter, Second Stage Housing & Counselling Services of Huron
$248,200 over two years to complete the first phase of research to develop an inventory of Ontario shelter services for abused women, and identify the roles shelters play in linking women to community-based services.

Ontario Social Economy Roundtable (OSER) c/o Canadian Community Economic Development Network
$170,500 over two years to develop the organization through a strategic consultation process. A common understanding of social economy will result, and two practitioner summits and a report on the potential impact will be produced.

Ontario Volleyball Association
$205,000 over three years to purchase six complete, portable court systems including floor tiles, poles and nets that will enable more communities to host large-scale events and developmental programs for coaches, athletes, and officials.

Picasso Pro c/o Creative Trust for Arts & Culture
$215,000 over 30 months to build a network for artists with disabilities that will connect those with hearing and other disabilities to performing arts companies, train youth artists and transform creative practices in Ontario's arts sector.

Tafelmusik
$250,000 over three years to build a Web portal and engage young people, educators and province wide audiences in orchestral music through digital recordings, webcasts, podcasts, social networking and educational gaming. 

Theatre Ontario
$76,600 over two years to hire staff and build Web tools to improve services, communications and expand membership through virtual networks for theatre artists, semi-professional and amateur groups.

Your Spirit is Your Voice c/o Tikinagan Child and Family Services
$133,800 over one year to develop radio programming in Treaty #3 and Nishnawbe Aski Nations Territories in order to explore the strength and resilience of community members who have survived the residential school experience.