Grant Awardees

Black Men’s Therapy Fund (Trustee: Black Mental Health Canada INC.)

Initiative Title: “We Are Each Other's Harvest: Storytelling and gardening as pathways to Black flourishing and mental wellness”

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Funding Amount: $29,024.00

• An eight-week wellness program that guides youth through writing their own personal story.  The program includes guided group discussions and workshops, with the tactile experience of gardening, resulting in a community meal and celebration with the food the youth grew over the sessions.

Prince Edward Island Writers’ Guild

Initiative Title: “Queer Youth Writing Club”

Location: Charlottetown, PEI

Funding Amount: $6,600

• A writing club for 2SLGBTQ+ youth and allies in Prince Edward Island.  The club guides the youth through their creative expression and provides a place for peer-based support, resulting in a published anthology.

QMUNITY, BC’s Queer, Trans and Two-Spirit Resource Centre

Initiative Title: "BBB Program: gender-affirming chest-wear for youth"

Location: Serving all of British Columbia

Funding Amount: $30,000

• Bras, Binders and Breast Forms Program (BBB Program) provides free new and used gender-affirming chest wear to transgender and gender-nonconforming youth.  The program is supported by the QMUNITY Youth Worker who provides one-on-one support to the youth and their families.

Quadrangle

Initiative Title: “The Quadrangle Community Counselling Line”

Location: St. John’s, Newfoundland (serving all of Newfoundland & Labrador)
Amount Funded: $30,000

• Supporting the free-to-use remote and in-person counselling services for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community of Newfoundland and Labrador.  The Counselling Line is staffed by 2SLGBTQIA+ counsellors and this funding will provide 200+ hours of mental health counselling to youth across the province.

Art + Health (Trustee: Taibu Community Health)

Project Title: “and still I rise: Mental Health Support for Ethiopian and Eritrean Youth with Experiences of Gender Based Violence”

Location: Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (Ontario)

Funding: $37,000

• Group therapy sessions: 8 group workshops over an 8-week period.

• One-on-one therapy: Done in partnership with Women’s Health in Women’s Hands that includes 10 individual sessions with a therapist for two participant cohorts.

• Food box subscriptions to the one-on-one therapy participants in partnership with FoodShare Toronto and Kitchen Table Talks.

• Referral Hub: Connecting therapists, social workers and participants to culturally appropriate resources.

• Social Media: Providing information on mental health, gender based violence and other key topics.

Black Women in Motion (Trustee: The Neighbourhood Group Community Services)

Project Title: "The Care Exchange Program"

Location: Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (Ontario)

Funding: $30,000

• A 12-week queer and trans survivor capacity-building program that will enhance survivor resiliency, self-advocacy and coping skills. 

• The program will train eight Black 2SLGBTQQIA+ survivors from the Love Offering Community Emergency Relief Fund as Community Caregivers. Community Caregivers will be responsible for facilitating bi-weekly 2SLGBTQQIA+ specific group healing circles for the larger survivor network.

The Good Guise x The Black Men’s Therapy Fund (Trustee: SKETCH Working Arts for Street Involved and Homeless Youth)

Project Title: "Rooting Mental Wellness"

Location: Toronto and Greater Toronto Area (Ontario)

Funding: $25,800

• The Good Guise will offer eight 1.5-hour workshops at various Toronto Public Library locations on various mental health topics that include consent, mental health, harm reduction and positive forms of masculinity.

• The Black Men's Therapy Fund will offer eight concurrent land-based, participatory mental wellness workshops to Queer, Trans and differently-abled young Black men.  Participants will meet weekly to care for a communal garden and through “earthwork” to cultivate healing while engaging in facilitated dialogue on mental wellness and positive masculinity.

• Engage in a wider social media campaign and the creation of a workbook zine.

QMUNITY, BC’s Queer, Trans and Two-Spirit Resource Centre

Project Title: "BBB Program: gender-affirming chest-wear for youth"

Location: Serving all of British Columbia

Funding: $35,900

• Bras, Binders and Breast Forms Program (BBB Program): Providing free new and used gender-affirming chest-wear to transgender and gender-nonconforming youth.

• Creating capacity for the QMUNITY Youth worker to provide more one-on-one support to youth and families.

Uzima Women Relief Group International

Project Title: "Immediate Provision of Mental Health Services Directly To Black Youth in Toronto and the GTA"

Location: Neighbourhood improvement areas such as Scarborough Village and Malvern (Ontario)

Funding: $36,608

• Recruitment of Black youth including 2SLGBTQ+ youth to create an advisory committee.

• Workshops and focus groups, mentorship and referral program, provide information, prosocial activities and other wrap-around supports (e.g., housing support) with 50 youth participants.

YNOT: Youth Now On Track Services

Project Title: "10 Steps Mental Health Mentorship Program"

Location: Supporting youth in the Toronto, Downsview, and Weston areas (Ontario)

Funding: $23,050

• Empowering youth with tools, skills and knowledge and understanding of mental health and illnesses by training youth participants to gain knowledge in understanding and identifying triggers on mental health challenges and illnesses. Parents and youth will learn online communication and social media literacy on cyberbullying on issues of mental health and illnesses and 2SLGBTQ+. The organization will have enhanced social media presence connections to collaborate with external agencies as needed.