2021 Community Grant Recipients

General community grants represent the bulk of our funding to local charities and organizations. These grants are awarded once per year and range between $500 – $7,500. In 2021, we granted a little over $160,000 in the greater Fredericton region. Our focus of this granting is on charities that deliver resources, programming or opportunities in one or more of the following areas: Arts, Culture & Heritage; Belonging & Engagement; Environment & Animal Welfare; Food Security, Housing & Economy; Health, Wellness & Recreation; and Literacy & Education. Check out our grant recipients below!

Adult Literacy Fredericton

This grant will support the Adult Literacy Fredericton tutoring program. With the help of expertly trained volunteers, Adult Literacy provides a one-on-one comprehensive literacy program for all reading levels that helps adults improve their reading, writing and numeracy skills. They help learners to achieve their literacy goals at home, at work, or in the community by providing programs that are relevant to their needs. Adult Literacy helps adult learners achieve their goals, whatever they may be: getting a new job, progressing to a higher level in an existing job, being able to read to their children or grandchildren, or simply for pleasure. Being able to upgrade their skills or start a training program, join a club in their community, increase their self-esteem and feeling of value in the community makes each learner feel like they are a part of something bigger.

Amount received: $1,000 | Literacy & Education

Aids New Brunswick

This grant will support the community room, snack, and hygiene provisions at AIDS New Brunswick. Their services help clients meet their basic needs by providing snacks, a place to hang out, and harm reduction equipment. Although clients have access to community meal programs, clients have expressed a need for more food throughout the day between meals to keep them going.

Amount received: $2,396 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

Autism Connections

This grant will support Camp Marvel at Autism Connections! Autism Connections hosts 45 campers over the course of the summer; they participate in safe, inclusive and engaging activities including crafts, games, outings and more. Unique to Camp Marvel, all children enrolled are provided with a one-to-one ratio between staff and campers which allows for individualized programming to ensure all children have a safe and amazing experience at summer camp. Staff are partnered with campers based on the needs of the child to make sure they are best accommodated and can make memories at Summer Camp that all children deserve.

Amount received: $5,000 | Belonging & Engagement

Beaverbrook art Gallery

This grant will support “A is for Art” kits which promote literacy and creativity by combining art-making with the stories of local authors. Through this program, participants will obtain a deeper awareness of our rich cultural heritage and current working authors and artists. Through the combination of literacy and art-making, children's reading comprehension will be further developed, enhancing their creative thinking and building their confidence.

Amount received: $3,350 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fredericton

Big Brothers Big Sisters are receiving two community grants to support two of their programs. The first was for their Matching program, a community-based one-to-one mentoring program for young people who face adversity and are in need of an additional consistent and supportive developmental relationship.

They also received support for their In-School Mentoring program. A school-based one-to-one mentoring program for elementary school students in need of an additional consistent and supportive developmental relationship.

Matching Program Amount Received: $6,000 | Belonging & Engagement

In-School Mentoring Program Amount Received: $5,000 | Belonging & Engagement

Canadian Rehabilitation Council for the Disabled (Easter Seals New Brunswick)

We’ve provided support to Easter Seals for Camp Rotary. Camp Rotary, located on Grand Lake, provides a summer camp experience for people with disabilities. Outdoor activities are designed so that participants can enjoy games and activities at their own pace and are led through fun activities and challenges that promote independence and confidence. Involvement in all activities encourages participants to develop transferable skills and interests that they can pursue year-round. Discovering abilities and overcoming the challenges associated with a disability is very important for participants. The camp atmosphere provides encouragement and moral support.

Amount Received: $2,000 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

Chipman Youth Centre

This grant will support the Chipman Youth Centre after-school program. The Centre offers youth a safe environment and a supervised program for children after school. Children participate in games, arts and crafts, and the Respect program. They learn new skills, feel included in a group setting, and get lots of physical activity. They learn and practice basic life skills such as table manners and respectful behaviour. Youth participate in fun activities with their peers and develop friendships they otherwise may not have. During the summer months, they offer a day camp program 5 days a week.

Amount Received: $3,000 | Belonging & Engagement

CNIB Foundation

This grant was to assist with the Virtually No limits program at CNIB. For New Brunswickers who are blind or partially sighted, physical distancing has presented a unique set of challenges that can contribute to feelings of isolation that many already experience daily. During this unprecedented time, one of the simplest and yet most impactful things we can do is reach out to each other and offer support.

To combat the negative ramifications that isolation can have, CNIB has adapted many of their core programs. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed CNIB to develop a robust offering of virtually-delivered programs that range from technology training, peer support, and leisure. These programs can be accessed by anyone that needs them, and are not restricted by transportation challenges, or physical distancing.

Amount Received: $5,000 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

Ducks Unlimited

This grant is for the Ducks Unlimited Canada Wetland Education program. This program aims at fostering awareness and knowledge of the inherent value of wetlands and encourages support for their conservation. With the increase in technology and the increase in urban settings our youth are becoming more “plugged in”. Getting youth outside to experience our natural world is of the utmost importance especially now during this time of Covid-19.

Amount Received: $2,100 | Environment & Animal Welfare

Fredericton Community Kitchens

This grant is for their implementation of the "Food for Thought" software to allow for the expansion and growth of the Student Hunger Program. The Fredericton Community Kitchens are looking to implement this software into how their current lunch & backpack programs operate. This will allow teachers and administrators to easily update lunch & backpack information that is seamlessly sent to their Student Hunger coordinator. This will prevent children from slipping through the cracks.

Amount Received: $7,500 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

FREDERICTON HERITAGE TRUST

This grant will support the “Building Art – James Charles Dumaresq", a six-part online documentary series to explore and celebrate the architectural heritage of a man, family, profession, and his architectural works in the community of Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Amount received: $5,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

Fredericton Homeless Shelters

This grant is to support the shelters in achieving a 93% sustained housing rate. The addition of in-house mental health supports creates an even stronger model for the Shelters. Many of their residents are now getting the support they need in a timely manner so that they have the coping mechanism and a trusted support worker as they get ready to leave the Shelter to a home of their own. This grant will support the addition of an outreach position which will enable the Shelters to move toward their objective of achieving a 93% sustained housing percentage. The outreach worker will provide on the ground support for residents once they’ve moved into their new homes and support a continuum of care. Currently running at 86.5%, the addition of an outreach position can make sure the apartment door opens before the eviction notice is issued.

Amount Received: $6,510.35 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

Fredericton Playhouse

Through InterMISSION, the Fredericton Playhouse will host and support local artists to develop and hone their craft with the support of its professional technical staff and experts in the field. The entire Playhouse facility, specialized equipment, and expert technical personnel will be available to residents. Where there is a gap in what the Playhouse can provide, or where there is an expert who will enhance the residency’s success, the Playhouse will help artists secure funding to hire mentors, designers, and other expertise. These experts are often people with whom the artists have long wanted to work and represent potential lifelong partners in artistic success. This developmental component provides mentorship, education, and training which will assist and augment the artists’ growth.

Amount Received: $5,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

Frontier College

We’ve provided funding to the Student Success program, which provides free literacy support and tutoring to help children and youth in Fredericton succeed in school and reach their full potential. This includes specific programs for newcomer students. From September to June, Frontier College offers the following one-to-one tutoring programs: ESL support, homework support and guided reading in both official languages, along with small group tutoring and homework and reading clubs.

Amount Received: $5,000 | Literacy & Education

Habitat for Humanity Fredericton Area Inc.

This grant will support the building or renovation of six homes in Fredericton, Oromocto and Minto which will allow six families to transition to affordable homeownership and engagement from hundreds of volunteers! More families will have a home of their own that is safe, energy-efficient and affordable for the long term. Habitat families will also be investing in their most valuable asset, providing them with the potential for long-term financial stability.

Amount Received: $5,000 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival Inc.

This grant will support Harvest Jazz & Blues and Shivering Songs in hosting a new, free, all-ages outdoor concert series adjacent to the All-Wheels Sports Plaza in downtown Fredericton. The live music sector is unequivocally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic - one of the first industries to close, artists and music professionals have spent a full year being unable to sustainably pursue their craft. Harvest is passionate about supporting the Atlantic Canadian music ecosystem and supply chain whilst touring has largely stopped by offering performance opportunities to artists in the region. These events support more than simply the artists - the job opportunities trickle through the ecosystem of industry professionals, providing employment to bookers, promoters, sound technicians, stagehands and more.

Amount Received: $7,500 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

Jeunesses Musicales du Canada - Fredericton

Jeunesses Musicales du Canada - Fredericton (JMC) continues its mission of disseminating classical music to young audiences by offering educational tools and entertaining musical activities, live and digitally. This grant will support JMC workshops and concerts designed for young audiences to provide an opportunity for teachers to access rich, professional material to complement the school music programs. These offerings are giving children access to a diverse music world in terms of styles of music, the instruments, the new-coming artists with whom they can relate as contemporaries.

Amount Received: $3,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage | Literacy & Education

Kings Landing Foundation

This grant will be used for Visiting Cousins Program bursaries for children in financial need. Fourteen children from families who may otherwise be unable to attend can participate in this immersive educational camp. Teachers, parents, and families say that the children who have participated have gained a remarkable improvement in their self-confidence and pride in their new abilities.

Amount Received: $5,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

L'Arche Fredericton Inc.

L'Arche Fredericton is partnering with Open Your Art to offer three sessions of art classes for adults with intellectual disabilities and their friends. L'Arche Fredericton seeks to make known the gifts of all people. Through the act of creating beautiful art, participants will have the chance to learn and grow in confidence and knowledge about themselves. Both Open Your Art and L'Arche Fredericton are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment where all participants are safe to express themselves. Participants will develop skills not just in art, but in social interaction and building friendships.

Amount Received: $2,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

L'Arche Fredericton is continuing its partnership with Greener Village to offer weekly cooking classes to adults with intellectual disabilities and their friends. Participants (both with and without intellectual disabilities) will learn valuable skills surrounding health, nutrition and food safety. In the spring and summer sessions, they will also have the opportunity to spend time in the Greener Village kitchen garden, learning about garden-to-table eating! Moreover, the safe and welcoming environment of the Greener Village kitchen will allow relationships to continue to develop, and new friendships to form.

Amount Received: $3,000 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

Liberty Lane Inc.

The Children's Program at Liberty Lane has been created through the combination of evidence-based approaches to developing emotional regulation, social skills, wellness and resiliency. It will help children to recognize emotions and engage in appropriate coping mechanisms to manage strong emotions. Children will also acquire or learn social skills to create healthy relationships and communicate socially with peers and adults to convey thoughts, feelings and needs. Liberty Lane will help these youth develop resiliency to cope with, and adapt to, stress brought on by difficult life events.

Amount Received: $7,500 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

Meals on Wheels of Fredericton Inc.

Meals on Wheels of Fredericton has the infrastructure, including a well-equipped commercial kitchen and a Registered Dietitian, to support rural community organizations to host satellite Meals on Wheels programs. A food security satellite program will provide rural community organizations with frozen meals to deliver to the rural community members. This will help these individuals and communities by providing more nutritious meals and social support to seniors, individuals with disabilities, and those recovering from illness, surgery or injury, to assist in the enhancement of a healthy and independent lifestyle. Currently, Meals on Wheels services approximately 300 clients in the Fredericton area.

Amount Received: $7,500 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD Canada)

This grant is to support MADD Canada in school education programs. Recognizing that impaired driving takes a disproportionate toll among young Canadians, in 1994 MADD Canada developed the School Program for students in grades 7 through 12. The 45-minute program includes a video with both a fictional story and stories from real-life victims and survivors that demonstrate the devastating consequences that impaired driving can have on individuals, their families and friends.

Amount Received: $3,000 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

Musical Ventures Inc.

New Brunswick Summer Music Festival presents 'HomeMade', a feature of Fredericton region classical musicians live and online. This project will provide both a focus and an outlet for established and up-and-coming young musicians in the Fredericton region. As part of their NB Summer Music Festival this coming summer, Musical Ventures will provide both live in-person opportunities for musicians as well as recorded online performances. Musicians will benefit specifically from enhanced exposure through printed products, premium spots on the roster, and individualized videos for each participant.

Amount received: $3,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

Neil Squire Society

This grant will support the “Makers Making Change” program. Makers Making Change is a new initiative that connects makers to people with disabilities who need assistive technologies. "Makers" (engineers / STEM students/community volunteers) engage with disability professionals and create access solutions. The “Makers” create adaptive equipment through 3D printing and other design models which are tailored specifically to each client. This equipment is made and provided at a fraction of the cost and helps each recipient to reach their full potential in an unadapted world.

Amount received: $5,000 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

New Brunswick Choral Federation

This grant will support Choral Fest 2021. Registered singers will meet to workshop under Joel Tranquilla, one of Canada's most engaging young conductors and choral leaders, and a Fredericton native. NBCF will coordinate with local music professionals and venues so that registrants may gather in their community and/or from their home virtually to participate, as pandemic restrictions and public health recommendations suggest.

Amount received: $1,500 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

New Brunswick Deaf and Hard of Hearing

This grant will support New Brunswick Deaf and Hard of Hearing in creating an online video “Story Corner” series for children that focuses on translating English and French children's stories into American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des Signes du Québec (LSQ).

Amount received: $5,000 | Literacy & Education

New Brunswick Youth Orchestra

Sistema NB is proving that immersing children in playing orchestral music together is a powerful strategy for change. Children build values like focus, discipline, mutual respect, and teamwork. The program fosters important social skills like joy, confidence, hope, empathy, and enthusiasm. The orchestra itself is key, where children belong to something bigger, where mutual support and the success of the group is the highest priority. Children who participate demonstrate better attendance at school, improved behaviour, improved academic performance, and higher levels of self-esteem and confidence.

Amount received: $7,500 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

OPAL III - Fredericton Respite Services, Inc.

This grant will support Opal Kids Club, an inclusive group program that gives children with disabilities opportunities to develop friendships and social skills in an accessible, inclusive, and fun environment. Families receive quality respite after school hours while their children are in a safe and positive environment surrounded by their peers.

Amount received: $7,500 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

Partners for Youth Inc.

This grant will support the Partners For Youth annual summer camp. Camp Tippy Canoe is an adventure-based residential summer experience designed to engage children and youth at risk in overcoming obstacles and increasing self-esteem. The goal is to provide youth with risk factors in their lives with opportunities to challenge themselves with decision-making, self-care and group development skills. The purpose of these experiences is to allow the youth to achieve success, often for the first time. During their time at camp, participants help prepare for a week-long canoe trip and practice canoeing, swimming, and teamwork skills. Challenging activities and outings such as rappelling, caving, canoeing, climbing, low ropes course, hiking and problem-solving activities are used as a PFY strategy.

Amount received: $4,000 | Health, Wellness & Recreation

Priestman Street School

This grant will support the school breakfast club program. Giving students the opportunity to start their day with nutritious breakfast foods will ensure that they are ready for learning. Being able to provide food with no questions asked helps provide food security without diminishing self-esteem or creating barriers for students.

Amount received: $2,000 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

Relay Education (Legall TREC Charitable Foundation)

This grant will support the Kids' World of Energy Virtual Classroom program in Fredericton. The Kids’ World of Energy Virtual classroom program consists of renewable energy workshops that can be delivered entirely online, or with a Relay facilitator joining in person, or virtually, having dropped off hands-on materials in advance. This program exposes students to new technology that help reduce our environmental impact and get them thinking about climate change and small changes we can all make to reduce our burden on the planet.

Amount received: $4,870 | Environment & Animal Welfare | Literacy & Education

Roots of Empathy

This grant is to train a new Roots of Empathy Instructor to deliver additional programming at Garden Creek Elementary School. The program builds on the power of parenting, with a local parent and baby who are a model of empathy in their attunement. Roots of Empathy uses experiential questioning and intrinsic motivation to help children find their voice and learn to relate to one another. They connect with themselves and each other and that connection ripples out to all of the relationships in their lives. Students are more competent in understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others. They are less likely to physically, psychologically and emotionally hurt each other but also more likely to challenge cruelties and injustices perpetrated by others.

Amount received: $3,000 | Literacy & Education

The Corporation of the Anglican Parish of St. Mary, York

This grant will support the St. Mary’s Community Food Forest Project. The Food Forest will grow perennial fruits and nuts for the public, especially low-income families, while building community, reconnecting people with their food, and sequestering carbon dioxide. This project will help community members primarily by providing fresh, nutritious, and locally grown food for free and in-season. This food will consist of apples, pears, plums, various berries, and nuts. Once mature, this food forest will provide an estimated 3000 kg of large fruit, 200 kg of berries, and 100 kg of nuts, year after year. This is enough production to satisfy 230 people's annual consumption of these fruit, berries, and nuts.

Amount received: $3,300 | Food Security, Housing & Economy

The Estey Art Initiative

The Estey Art Initiative will be offering day camps for children ages 6 to 12 in the Greater Fredericton Area to improve mental health, creativity, and confidence. The curriculum is designed to harness the instructors and lessons to be a creative, positive and affirmative environment for learners. Children become more confident, hold a deeper sense of belonging, and provide a positive creative outlet for stress and mental health.

Amount received: $2,000 | Arts, Culture & Heritage

Youth Fusion Jeunesse

This grant will support the Youth Fusion Jeunesse Environmental Design programs. Through the program, Youth Fusion works closely with districts, schools, and teachers to identify opportunities for youth to get involved in expanding outdoor learning opportunities at school and to develop appropriate responses to address environmental concerns or issues within the communities students live. Not only does this program extend essential supports and resources for schools and teachers to promote experiential education in their school spaces, it also offers hands-on learning opportunities for youth to develop essential trade skills with the support of professional industry mentors and project leads who are experts in their disciplinary fields. They partner with architecture firms, building companies, and universities and colleges to further support their desire for community outreach and to promote the skilled trades within schools and communities.

Amount received: $5,000 | Environment & Animal Welfare | Literacy & Education