Stories

London Community Foundation’s Community Vitality grant program – one of the Foundation’s largest funding streams – has awarded a record $1.53 million to support nine transformative projects by organizations in London and Middlesex County.

Alarmingly, 4 in 10 Black homes face food insecurity, and 46.6% of Black children live in food-insecure households. The Type Diabeat It Kitchen Project directly addresses these challenges by developing its 1.5-acre agricultural site.

This project works to offer hands-on employable skills for Indigenous students in the area of STEAM with a focus on AI, 3D Design, and Coding. This opportunity provides direct experience with these technology tools to Indigenous youth who will be able to build the confidence needed to reduce Indigenous inequity in STEAM-related career roles.

This project improves the services that Southwest Middlesex Health Centre provides to Indigenous patients. It includes timely access to mental health supports and foot care, and ensures all staff are trained in culturally safe health care so that Indigenous patients feel respected, safe, and represented while receiving care. 

Progressive Animal Welfare Services is dedicated to supporting the welfare of humans and their animal companions by subsidizing and improving access to veterinary care for members facing homelessness, domestic violence, and poverty, or living with disability.

Ontario Nature and Chippewas of the Thames First Nation will collaborate to improve climate resiliency, restore native habitat, educate the public and First Nations members on the environment, and foster cross-cultural knowledge sharing.

Many of the 4 million Canadians with criminal records face significant barriers to employment due to stigma, despite critical job shortages in many industries. Employment not only offers a sense of agency and belonging but also serves as a crucial protective factor against homelessness, addiction, and recidivism. This project will implement and evaluate a "fair chances" employment pipeline program over an 18-month period.

The Learn to Grow, Grow to Give Project combines food literacy/education and food security programming in innovative, efficient ways by growing and providing fresh, healthy foods for food-insecure families, while delivering equitable, accessible food education programming for children, families, and schools.

The Forest City Film Festival is expanding its Indigenous Program, Community Day, and Deep Dive Screenings. Doing so will deepen and transform our regional audience by supporting Indigenous cultures, connecting our various communities, and creating conversations around important local issues.

Our vision is to ensure no one impacted by dementia goes unsupported; however, we are not currently reaching lower income, newcomer, racialized and other underserved populations. This project aims to take the first steps in addressing this inequity.

The Paul Seed Fund, held at London Community Foundation, today announced grants totalling more than $235,000 to boost live music performances in London by creating connections and opportunities for musicians, venues, and audiences. The grants will support live music activities coordinated through the London Arts Council and the London Music Office over the next year.

Following Pansy Estrellita Vishnu’s passing in 2022, her family established Pansy’s Pet Charity Fund in her honour. The funds distributed by Pansy’s daughters honour her legacy by supporting others who love and protect animals, not just in London and Middlesex, but across Canada and beyond.

The Health and Homelessness Fund for Change today announced $4.8 million in capital funding for Indwell to support the renovation of a century-old building in the Village SoHo community, which will create 96 new highly supportive housing apartments.

With the generous support of our Community Fund donors and fundholders, Thames Talbot Land Trust recently registered Middlesex County's first Conservation Easement Agreement (CEA) with Livingstone Farm, Komoka.

The Health and Homelessness Fund for Change today announced $5 million in capital funding to Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services to help create 115 new highly supportive housing apartments.

Chuck the Fire Truck, a children’s book authored by Ken McLarnon was self-published in 2024 with funds raised being donated to the Robb Family Trust, a donor-advised fund that supports many initiatives and organizations in and around London, particularly in the arts.

Just as we were getting settled in a post-pandemic world, our country is now unexpectedly caught in a full-on tariff war with the United States, coupled with the musings from the 47th President about Canada becoming the 51st State. This time, we can’t help but feel that “this time”, things feel uncomfortably ominous.