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Making a Difference: 2021

At Kindred Foundation, we fund and partner with charities who are working hard to make Canada and the world better.  We also develop and run our own programs and projects that we feel will make a direct and positive impact for individuals, especially for youth and their families who experience unyielding health challenges.  In doing this, we are attracted to seemingly intractable problems, scientific uncertainty, and stacked odds.  These challenges, that we also call our three pillars of support, include: childhood, adolescent and young adult cancer research and clinical trials, youth mental and physical health, and community support primarily in the areas of food security and end-of-life care.

Our Process

We want to see positive change happen, and to do this we know that we must invest our time, energy, and expertise to deeply understand the problems, the organizations working to solve these problems, and where the greatest chance of success lies to make progress and find solutions.

For the charities that we support, we work hard to get to know their community, the problems faced, their leadership, and how they are making a difference.  We believe in building relationships with those that we support and doing this takes effort.  We also do our research.  We study each organization – examining financial documents, annual reports, Google reviews, LinkedIn profiles, and many other public records.  We also connect with related experts and academic research consortiums who are working to understand the problems and the spaces that the charities are operating within.  We try to learn as much as possible so that we can make good decisions on how to invest Kindred Foundation’s charitable dollars.

Supporting the now while providing funding for an improved tomorrow.

We know that there will be mistakes.  We will invest in charities that ultimately won’t survive or meet the needs of the communities they serve.  We know that no outcome is guaranteed and that finding even the smallest solution to a tough problem is unbelievably hard.  We are willing to accept this, as long as we are always learning from every decision that we make.

We find ways to partner that will provide charities with the tools they need to be more successful.  Every charity is different, and we know that a solution for one charity may not work for another.  We don’t impose our values or ideas on how things should be done – we are not the experts, the charities are.  Because Kindred Foundation is based on a resilient endowment fund model, we can provide sustainable and reliable funding; however, we are also aware that we can’t be a charity’s only source of capital.  We refuse to be complacent, and we expect the same of the charities that Kindred Foundation supports.

Kindred Foundation is built on optimism.  We believe that by working together, we can be a part of finding solutions, even to those problems that seem unsolvable. 

Learnings from 2021

There are three issues that we see as exceptionally concerning for Canada, and for the world.  Finding solutions to these issues are important to Kindred Foundation as a whole, and to each of us individually at the Foundation.

Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer

Over the course of the pandemic, Canada has learned many lessons.  Some of these include our lack of biomanufacturing capacity, a complicated and often negative relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, and an overly complex health regulatory environment that creates barriers instead of providing access to clinical trials, cutting-edge treatments, and drugs.  These challenges translate across illnesses and are experienced deeply for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer. 

Canadian children with cancer do not have access to the same high-quality and efficacious clinical trials and treatments that are found in the United States.  Canadian pediatric oncologists are often leaders and significant contributors to North American childhood cancer research consortiums; however, Canadian children do not often benefit from the clinical trials that come out of these groups.  Canada is falling further and further behind as treatments such as CAR T-cell therapy and immunotherapeutics surge forward in other countries. 

Youth Mental Health

As we close on our second year navigating through the pandemic, it has become very clear that our youth are struggling[i] more than ever.  We have only scratched the surface of understanding how isolation, lockdowns and physical distancing are impacting kids.  Mental health, especially youth mental health, will be the next health crisis, bringing forward a tsunami of need that our medical systems will not be able to handle.  Health system reports are showing that there are not enough inpatient beds for youth mental health and illness.  In particular, youth eating disorders[ii] and self-harm have grown significantly over the pandemic. 

The mental health challenges faced by Black and/or LGBTQ2S+ youth are even more acute as they are faced with additional challenges of racism, lack of acceptance, and other major issues.  In comparison to their peers, Black and/or LGBTQ2S+ youth are often the last to receive the care that they desperately need due to barriers navigating medical systems, unmanageable costs, and lack of support from their immediate support network.  In addition, it is more likely for these youth to have an altercation with police on their pathway to receive mental health care, creating even more distress and increased acuity.

Community Support: Food Insecurity

The latest report from Statistics Canada[i] shows that in 2019, approximately one in ten live in moderately or severely food insecure households in Canada.  It is estimated that this statistic will change significantly as new reports emerge on the pandemic years for 2020 and 2021.

Many people who were just getting by prior to the pandemic, were no longer able to make ends meet once going into lockdown after lockdown.  Food bank, meal and sharing programs saw a significant rise[ii],[iii] in the number of people relying on their services.  Skyrocketing housing costs, rising food costs and the pandemic have created a perfect storm of challenges that are disproportionately impacting those who are financially insecure. 

The increased demand and higher food costs have also seriously impacted charities providing food to those in need.  Food is a fundamental necessity in life, and when this is not easily acquired, it causes a cascade of issues[iv] that become increasingly difficult to solve.

Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer 

• Kindred Foundation partnered to fund a Canadian adolescent and young adult oncology  (AYA) grant focused on the "Molecular Classification of Primary CNS Tumours in  Adolescent and Young Adults." The proposal from Dr. Uri Tabori, Dr. Julie Bennett and  Dr. Cynthia Hawkins was selected by the C17 Research Network for funding in the  Canadian AYA Oncology Grant Competition. This study is funded by Canadian Cancer  Clinical Trials Network (through collaboration and financial support from the Canadian  Partnership Against Cancer Corporation and Health Canada), Michael Kamin Hart  Research Fund (AYA Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Center) and Kindred  Foundation. 

• Created a partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada to co-fund two pediatric blood cancer research innovation grants that will run over a two-year period. The application window opened in 2021 and the scientific peer-reviewed competition and awards will take place over 2022. 

Youth Mental and Physical Health 

• Funding provided to researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University to provide physical and mental health programming for children with developmental disabilities and their families/caregivers. Research will focus on understanding the needs of the children and their caregivers to ensure that programs and supports are carefully designed. 

• The following unrestricted donations were made to organizations providing youth  mental health support 

  • • • Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council (Waterloo, Ontario). 

      • Brigadoon Village, programming to children with health conditions or other life challenges in Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia). 

      • Pegasus Riding Association Nurturing Challenged Equestrians (PRANCE – Port  Elgin, Ontario). 

      • OK2BME (Waterloo, Ontario). 

      • One Voice, One Team (Brampton, Ontario). 

      • LGBT YouthLine (Toronto, Ontario). 

• Kidthink Children’s Mental Health Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba).

End of Life Care 

• Designed and implemented the first Kindred Cares Grant for residential hospice and pediatric palliative care programs, projects, and research in Ontario. The applications  were all reviewed by an expert committee resulting in funding eight different initiatives  with the following: 

  • • Darling Home for Kids - Operational funding for supporting children and families access hospice palliative care services.

    • Emily's House - Funding for "Emily's House at Home", a pilot program to help with providing hospice care in hospital, at home, in transition, virtually, and at Emily's House to ensure that Families are supported no matter where they are.

    • Hospice Peterborough - Funding for a supportive care counsellor to provide grief support to families. 

    • Hospice of Waterloo Region - Programming for bereaved children and teens to process grief through art and music. 

    • Hospice Wellington - Support for the Art and Narrative Therapy research project utilizing art and storytelling to gain insight and personal perspectives through grief, working towards increased resiliency. 

    • Hospital for Sick Children Pediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) - Identifying the key components of family meetings for children with serious illness from the perspective of caregivers. 

    • Hospital for Sick Children Child Life - Using social virtual environments and virtual reality for adolescents to connect and interact with others when in hospital or at home through personalized avatars. 

    • Nipissing Serenity Hospice - Expansion of the grief, bereavement, and wellness program to provide comprehensive spiritual psychosocial, and emotional care to caregivers, families, and residents.

• Two unrestricted donations to Huron Shores Hospice and Hotel Dieu Shave Health and  Rehabilitation Centre. 

Food Security Programs 

• Friday Night Community / Meal Bag Program (Burlington, Ontario). An unrestricted donation supporting the provision of a “take-home meal bag” that consists of prepared meals as well as fresh produce, bread, hygiene, and baby items. 

• Weston Area Emergency Support (Weston, Ontario). An unrestricted donation to support their food security operations. 

Other 

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). An unrestricted donation to support operations and research for childhood diabetes.

Kindred Foundation will be working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada to co-fund two pediatric blood cancer research innovation grants. We will also work to provide funding that will bring innovative research and clinical trials to Canada for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer. 

Kindred Foundation is working to expand the Treats & Treasures Cart program to more hospitals across Canada to ensure that childhood cancer patients and their families can experience a small moment of joy during very difficult days. The Kindred Cares grant for residential hospice and pediatric palliative care programs, projects and research will also run for its second year. 

Kindred Foundation hopes to donate more than $1 million to Canadian charities in 2022. 

We look forward to building deeper relationships with the charities we already support and building new partnerships with charities across Canada. We are excited by what 2022 will hold,  who we will meet, and all the new things that we will learn. 

Our Big Goal 

For Kindred Foundation to be built on a $24 million endowment fund by 2024. 

We will work to achieve our big goal through: 

• High investment returns. 

• A perpetual endowment fund model. 

• Low administrative expenses. 

• Strategic impactful giving.

To Close, With Kindness 

If you are a Canadian charity that is doing excellent work and changing the lives of people who need help, reach out to us. We would love to meet you, learn more about the work that you are doing, and see if there is an opportunity to partner. 

As we enter 2022, everyone at Kindred Foundation wishes you good health and happiness.  Take care of yourselves and each other. 

2021 Making a Difference Report (PDF)

1Financial Post. December 14, 2021. “Canada’s Youth Are Not Alright: New Poll Reveals Why More Mental Health  and Substance Use Supports are Needed.” https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/canadas-youth-are-not alright-new-poll-reveals-why-more-mental-health-and-substance-use-supports-are-needed 

2 CBC News. December 10, 2021. “I Stopped Eating: Rise in Eating Disorders Seen Among Ontario Youth During  Pandemic”. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/eating-disorders-youth-mental-health-covid-pandemic 1.6280815 

3Statistics Canada. January 7, 2022. Canada Income Survey: Food insecurity and unmet health care needs, 2018  and 2019. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220107/dq220107f 

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4Food Banks Canada. Hunger Count 2021. https://hungercount.foodbankscanada.ca/ 

5 Community Food Centres Canada. Beyond Hunger: The Hidden Impacts of Food Insecurity in Canada. https://act.beyondhunger.ca/page/66634/action/1?ea.tracking.id=cfccca 

6 PROOF: Food Insecurity Policy Research. Household Food Insecurity. https://proof.utoronto.ca/food-insecurity/