Presentation on Major Grants

Posted by David Holden

Paul Gagnon introduced our guest speaker, Major Donations Committee Chair, John Boyd.

John Boyd and David Bromwich acted as moderators (and cheque and Rotary Book presenters). John introduced eight representatives from eight organizations that Rotary’s Large Donation committee has chosen to support this year and between them they read a summary of each projects’ value statement. Each of the eight will be invited back to the club in the future to talk about their organizations in more detail.

John Boyd with Mink Le, Alberta Network of Immigrant Women	The Alberta Network of Immigrant Women: Integrity Leadership Program Alberta Network of Immigrant Women was incorporated under the Alberta Society’s Act as a not for profit in 1986. Their work focuses on issues that impact the lives immigrant women and their families, and includes programs relevant to employment, health and wellness and leadership programs. The Focus of the Integrity leadership program is to support the understanding, the importance of comprehensive learning, tools required to make wise decisions, and what it means to be responsible, resourceful and resilient when assuming a leadership role. The Alberta Network of Immigrant Women achieves this goal through case studies, books/articles, conversation and learning journeys, guest speakers, and experiential group activities. The course of five modules, the opening and closing retreat offered in its entirety requires 50 hours of learning. Every year the program through an intensive application and an interview process selects 10 participants for the program. On completing the program participants can be involved with the program as guides or as co-facilitators for the next cohort of participants. Alberta Network of Immigrant Women is hopeful the program participants involve themselves in local, provincial and national decision making processes. Seek representing on community boards especially in non-immigrant serving organizations or culturally focused organization. And consider volunteering outside of their ethnic/cultural communities.
Phil Libin with Mary Ellen Nielson, ARBI	Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured ARBI’s mission is to transform the lives of individuals with acquired brain-injury through rehabilitation and community integration. Our vision is to ensure everyone with a brain injury lives the best life possible. ARBI provides intensive community-based rehabilitation and family support in a nurturing environment. With personalized rehabilitation, and lots of encouragement, survivors can once again enjoy fulfilling lives in their communities. Dedicated to Making Life Better, the ARBI team helps clients achieve meaningful goals so they can attain their best possible quality of life. ARBI’s On-Site Program is an intensive rehabilitation program with the goal of providing a bridge from medically delivered rehabilitation, to community-based programs that will sustain long-term recovery and reintegration into the community. Each individual receives a personalized program based on his or her specific goals. These goals can be as diverse and varied as our clients; they can range from walking, getting dressed, and speaking again, to – in one client’s case – having a tea party with his three year old daughter. An integral part of the On-Site Program is the use of iPads loaded with a suite of rehabilitation specific apps. These iPads, through simple wear and tear, and hardware obsolescence, have begun to break down and no longer support the latest apps. ARBI is thrilled to be able to partner with Rotary Club of Calgary Downtown to replace its inventory of iPads so that clients can continue to receive the most up-to-date and effective rehabilitation.
John Boyd and Dean Svoboda, Autism and Asperger	Autism Aspergers Friendship Society of Calgary (AAFS) Thanks to the Rotary Club funding, The Autism Aspergers Friendship Society of Calgary (AAFS) will be the pilot site for Break the Barrier (BTB); a new software suite created to empower people with disabilities and revolutionize the way AAFS operates. This project is in partnership with Fresh Focus Media (FFM). BTB will transform AAFS from a Grassroots style of operation into an organization which operates effectively and efficiently. It will drastically enhance the ‘business’ side of AAFS so we can focus our resources on the development and delivery of programs. The software takes advantage of today’s technology such as; RFID (Radio Frequency Identification, QR Coding and Augmented Reality to improve the level of care available for the members of our community. Break the Barrier will revolutionize AAFS and provide a model for other organizations to replicate. The long term impact on the non-profit and disability care sector is immeasurable. We are thankful for the Rotary Club and the amount of support you provide to groups in our great city.
	Discovery House Discovery House provides safe housing and essential supports for women and children fleeing domestic violence as they transition out of short-term shelters and the community. To accomplish this Discovery House offers two programs: a shelter program with 19 furnished apartments with 24-hour security offering families safe haven for up to one year as they heal and a Community Housing Program connecting 100 families with a home of their own in the community while providing an array of support services. Discovery House has not been able to upgrade its information technology infrastructure since 2009. Last year, we amalgamated a satellite office to our premises increasing the number of staff in our shelter by 18, to a total of 46. Our need to upgrade key aspects of our IT infrastructure is now paramount. The additional staff has overloaded our current system causing frequent interruption of internet service on a daily basis. Our case workers are unable to perform their jobs on-site and are forced to leave the office to seek connectivity in coffee shops or other establishments. This has resulted in significant challenges for the case managers to deal with their client’s issues in an effective manner. Your generous donation will propel us into an exciting time that will consist of upgrades to our hardware and internet service throughout our building, offering our all our employees and clients uninterrupted access to the World Wide Web. On behalf of everyone at Discovery House, thank you for partnering with us.
David Bromwich and Roxanne Cote, Distress Centre	Distress Centre Calgary Distress Centre Calgary (DCC) ensures everyone has a place to turn to in a time of crisis by providing 24 hour crisis support, professional counselling and referrals - all at no cost. It's not up to us to define what the crisis is--it's different for everyone. We don't judge. We're here to listen and connect you with the help you need. Our Mission: Provide compassionate, accessible crisis support that enhances the health, well-being and resiliency of individuals in distress. Vision: Everyone is heard. Our Values: Accessibility, collaboration, compassion, excellence, inclusivity, innovation, leadership, partnerships, respect, and volunteerism. Project Funding: The Counselling Program has been an integral part of Distress Centre’s crisis intervention service delivery since its inception in 1969. For 46 years the Counselling Program has been meeting the complex and varied needs of individuals, couples, and families in crisis. The implementation of a new reporting system is one of our strategic priorities and will ensure that Distress Centre captures the full and complete range of our counseling activities. It will allow easier access to critical information for funding opportunities and reporting to our current impact funders, as well as ensure timely responsiveness to external requests for counselling data. Together these improvements will translate to better tracking of client outcomes and ultimately better service for our clients.
David Bromwich with Helen McPhaden, Stardale	Stardale Women Stardale Women’s Group has for the past twenty years provided educational programs and public awareness, community action research for Indigenous women and girls. Currently, within Calgary our focus is the Stardale after school program to help prepare girls ages 10 -17 for the important tasks of finishing school, commencing an independent and self-sustaining life upon leaving school, and optimistically venturing out into the world to engage in the realization of the opportunities awaiting them. Stardale helps the girls in developing a positive outlook toward the hopes each of them hold of achieving their potential in important aspects of their lives, including education and training, sustained employment, strong families and any other advantageous circumstances that may occur as they progress toward adulthood. A central objective underlying all of Stardale’s activities is to provide our girls with a preview of their lives-to-come so that, from the present, they can actively imagine themselves in the future experiencing a positive and fulfilling role in the adult lives they will soon be living. Stardale’s programs also help our girls combat boredom and isolation and the weekly gatherings foster peer support and a sense of belonging. Our girls enjoy nearly all of the activities they take part in at Stardale which, by virtue of their simply participating, helps them develop important life skills, including better problem solving, more effective social cooperation, increased communication mastery, together with the greater certainty they personally feel in their self-presentation and poise. All of this naturally leads them toward feeling higher levels of confidence and self-esteem
John Boyd and Richelle Kenn, Meals On Wheels	Meals On Wheels To build a stronger, caring community, Calgary Meals on Wheels promotes health and independence by providing nutritious meals to anyone in need of our services While Home Meal Delivery is what Meals on Wheels is known for, Calgary Meals on Wheels has been providing support to vulnerable students in Calgary since 2000. They offers their own student programs and has active partnership with Boys and Girls Club of Calgary, Calgary Police Services, and the Province of Alberta, to provide nutritious meals and snacks to children in need across Calgary. These programs and partnerships address the local issue of childhood hunger, support early childhood learning, mental and physical development, and builds a stronger, caring community for Calgary’s kids and their families Since moving into their new facility in 2013, their student programs have experienced such tremendous growth that their most recent request to the Rotary Club of Calgary was to fund a new van specifically for the student programs. Before moving into their new home, Calgary Meals on Wheels supported 8 schools on their hot soup program. Today, they are currently serving a total of 132 schools and are dedicated to serving as many as possible. This new van will be used to feed hungry students across the city who otherwise, might not have had a meal. On behalf of Calgary Meals on Wheels, a deepest and most sincere thank you to the Rotary Club of Calgary for supporting these programs and contributing to the essential purchase of a new van.
	The Legacy Children’s Foundation The primary purpose of Legacy’s Gift of Music Programs is to assist at-risk and deserving youth in completing their education and staying on a "positive life path" by creating long-term mentorship and musical opportunities for youth who are living in poverty, at high risk of dropping out of school early and engaging in violent gang and criminal activity. This is accomplished by providing donated/refurbished instruments and weekly individualized music lessons within existing community-based settings such as schools and service agencies, and through studio and workshop opportunities that introduce participating youth to possible careers, and to other youth from a wide range of different cultures - all provided by experienced, talented, and caring long-term mentors/instructors. The programs, over the past 14 years, throughout various jurisdiction in Alberta have been 80% successful in achieving its program objectives of assisting youth in attending school regularly, completing their education and staying out of trouble with the law…the majority of our participating youth have been involved with the same instructor for 6-8 years. In 2016 a Gift of Music student from Calgary performed with her hero, Lights, at the Juno’s in Calgary…you can find out all about her and catch this performance at Sam Spensley’s Journey to the JUNOS. President Sid thanked John and Brom for their efforts (selecting these recipients as well as their presentation to the club).