Announcing the 2024 Vital Impact Fund Recipients
See the full list of recipients below and learn more about the projects they'll be carrying out over the next year!
The County Foundation is pleased to celebrate the recipients of the inaugural Vital Impact Fund.
The Vital Impact Fund was established by The County Foundation in 2024 as a new signature fund that unites the work of our Vital Signs data collection and our grant programs to better serve the needs of the Prince Edward County community.
Vital Signs® is an ongoing national, community-driven data program that consolidates snapshots of the trends and vital issues that impact Prince Edward County. The County Foundation uses Vital Signs reports and data, conversations with community leaders and experts, and our grant knowledge to inform the decision-making process as part of the Vital Impact Fund.
The 14 initiatives listed below address one or more of the 9 key areas identified in the national, community-driven Vital Signs® data program: Community, Economy, Education, Environment, Food Security, Health, Housing, Safety, and Transportation. Each of the recipients pictured above is holding at least one icon that represents the Vital Signs areas that their initiatives will be targeting - although many overlap across multiple other areas!
2024 Grant Recipients
The 2024 Vital Impact Fund grants, totaling $206k, will benefit 14 organizations who over the next year will be addressing needs in our community identified by Vital Signs. Below is a breakdown of the recipients, their plans, and how the initiatives relate to Vital Signs. We thank everyone who applied and we look forward to seeing positive impact that this work will show over the next year.
Alternatives for Women: Community, Safety
Funding will support a new 12-week program called 'Caring Dads.' The program works towards the end of gender-based violence and violence against children with intervention and education of fathers who are at risk of causing harm to their children and their mothers. Caring Dads aims to teach men skills to improve the safety and well-being of their children and the children’s mother.
County Kids Read: Education
Funding will support County Kids Read’s capacity-building initiatives, including partnership program enhancements, event program enhancements, and enhancement of evaluation frameworks to track impact of programs. 'Securing a Sustainable Future' aims to address PEC's lagging early development and educational outcomes. By giving children the opportunity to take home and keep their own new books, County Kids Read will help children and their families access the extensive benefits of a comprehensive home library.
County of Prince Edward Public Library & Archives: Community, Education
Funding will support creation of a new collection of international language (non-English and non-French) books to the children's book collection. The project addresses changing demographics within Prince Edward County, which includes a rise in the population of 0–9 year-olds due to new families moving to PEC (Vital Signs 2024). A Library for Everyone aims to enhance feelings of inclusion and belonging within the community as demographics shift.
Department of Illumination: Community, Education, Food Security
Funding will support the continued operation and growth of The Art Kitchen program, a free weekly drop-in that provides art supplies and instruction, along with healthy snacks and free books (provided by a partnership with County
Kids Read).
This initiative follows the 2023 relocation of The Art Kitchen from downtown Picton to Macaulay Village, as the community, despite its higher than average population density (400+ people in a few square kilometers compared to 24.4 per kilometer in the rest of PEC) can face additional barriers to access due to its geographic isolation and limited public transportation.
The Art Kitchen's targeted approach puts community first and foremost to supplement some of those other supports in a consistent and easily accessible way.
Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation: Community, Education, Food Security, Health
Funding will support the Food for Learning (FFL) program, which provides students with nourishing in-school breakfasts to reduce food insecurity in children and youth. Support from the Vital Impact Fund will address the effects of rising food and grocery costs (which saw an 11.4% year over year increase in November 2022), which places strain on FFL programs through the increase of operating costs and the number of families who depend on these programs.
The HUB Child & Family Centre: Community, Economy, Education
Funding will assist the HUB Child and Family Centre's childcare services by covering leasehold improvements for a new 49-space childcare centre. This expansion of childcare spaces addresses the urgent need for childcare in PEC, evidenced by growth of the HUB's waitlist from 0 children in 2013 to 424 children in 2024 (Vital Signs, 2024). This new location blends with the HUB's vision of a "community within a community" and its mission to provide a variety of quality services and supports to enhance the well-being for all.
Picton Community Gardens: Community, Environment, Food Security
Funding will be used to upgrade the community garden fence to a 7' permanent perimeter fence to reduce theft and vandalism, supporting sustainable operations for Picton Community Garden’s activities. In the eight years since its creation, the Picton Community Garden has had a multi-faceted impact on its local community. In addition to re-purposing a former town dump into space for over 30 gardeners, the Community Garden also supplies fresh produce to several Food Bank programs in Picton.
Picton United Church Food Bank: Food Security, Health
Picton United Church Food Bank's objectives address a sharp increase in demand, which rose from 2,321 individual users in 2019 to approximately 4,600 in 2024. Vital Impact Funding will be used to support the Foodbank's services for clients, which include the distribution of 200 $50 grocery gift cards, purchasing of personal hygiene items for clients, and the purchase of fresh produce and meat to assist clients with health alternatives to dietary intake.
Pinecrest Housing: Community, Education, Housing
For Pinecrest Housing, support from the Vital Impact Fund will assist with the hiring of coordination and administrative staff of their affordable housing initiative for seniors. This development project addresses the urgent need for affordable housing, as the number of subsidized units in PEC has remained unchanged since 2018, while households in need have nearly doubled from 230 to 433 (Vital Signs, 2024).
Prince Edward Collegiate Institute: Community, Education, Environment, Food Security, Health
Vital Impact Funding will go towards remaining costs for PECI's construction of a learning garden and outdoor classroom. This new learning space aims to create an environment that is welcoming and safe for all students, whose diverse voices will be included throughout the design process. The learning garden will also support PECI's distribution of weekly food baskets to families in need, which has experienced a rise in demand over the past two years.
Reaching for Rainbows: Economy, Education, Food Security, Health
Funding will support Reaching for Rainbows’ operational costs, allowing the organization to expand their programs for young girls aged 6-9 and continue to provide wrap-around support for program participants in Picton.
Reaching for Rainbows currently provides 30 spaces for afterschool childcare throughout the week and hopes to increase capacity in the next 3-5 years to expand their program into other municipalities in PEC.
theROC Youth Services: Education, Food Security, Health, Housing, Safety, Transportation
Vital Impact Funding will contribute to the continued operation the ROC's Youth Inclusion Program (YIP), which offers a safe, stigma-free space where youth can openly discuss their struggles and access immediate mental wellness support. Funds will support staff positions and will also be used to improve the ROC's strategies for youth engagement, feedback, and participation.
The Corporation for the County of Prince Edward - Tree Giveaway: Environment
Funding will be used to improve the scope and reach of the Prince Edward County's 'Tree Giveaway Program,' which provides free saplings to PEC residents. The expansion of this high-demand program aims to double the number of trees given away from 2000 in 2024 to 4000 in 2025, while also improving the variety of tree offerings with diverse native species.
The Corporation for the County of Prince Edward - Future of Food Security in Prince Edward County: Food Security
The Future of Food Security in Prince Edward County represents a collaborative effort to fight food insecurity PEC by reviving and building upon the work of The Food Collective. Vital Impact Funding will support the collaboration's identification of key actions and opportunities to address food insecurity, the development and implementation of a communication strategy, and the hosting of facilitated discussions regarding food security. The Future of Food Security initiative seeks to respond to the increase in moderate-to-severe food insecurity for Hastings-Prince Edward, which rose to an estimated 10% of the population in 2021.
The 2024 Vital Impact Fund grants, totaling over $206k, will benefit the organizations listed above as they work to make a difference across these vital sectors in our community.
The Vital Impact Fund is generously supported by contributions from the Wynne Thomas Estate, the Kathy & Douglas MacPherson Estate, and from The County Foundation’s discretionary funds.
In addition to the above recipients, the Douglas & Kathy MacPherson Estate also generously supports:
- The Macpherson Award: Funded by the Douglas & Kathy MacPherson Estate, annual bursary of $2,000 for 3 County residents ($6,000 total) studying in the fields of Arts & Science, Skilled Trades, or Agriculture.
