The Cape Breton Regional Municipality added three Walking School Bus programs this year, thanks to support from the Ecology Action Centre’s “School Travel Planning Program.” This Walking School Bus from Harbourside Elementary has 30 students and counting!

IWK Community Grants 2012/2013

Thanks to the support of donors from our Maritime community, the IWK Foundation and Health Centre have been able to help improve the lives of hundreds of families through the IWK Community Grants Program. Since the year 2000, this program has helped fund community projects in cities and towns all over the Maritimes that are dedicated to promoting health and wellness for women, children and youth.

This year, the IWK Community Grants Program is thrilled to lend its support to more community-based organizations than ever before: 34 projects in 6 categories in over two dozen di� erent communities! Please keep reading to learn more about the amazing projects the IWK is supporting in communities across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island!

PROMOTING Maritime Healthfrom the Grassroots Up

Many of the projects we help fund are aimed at improving

the physical and mental health of Maritime children!

Learn about our 2012/2013 grant projects! ➨

Over the years, our grant program has

supported the start-up of several sledge

hockey programs in various Maritime

communities.

PREVENTING child/youth obesity

• The Main Street Family Resource Centre in Souris, PEI, will run a joint parent and child exercise program consisting of both indoor exercise classes and outdoor family � eld trips, with the goal of showing participants how much fun “family exercise” can be.

• Active and Safe Routes to School, of Halifax’s Ecology Action Centre, will implement the innovative “School Travel Planning Program” in 15 schools throughout NS to encourage children and youth to use active transportation to get to school (i.e. walking, cycling).

• Active Pictou County will purchase equipment and provide education and leadership to start a sledge hockey program in the Pictou, NS, area for local residents with disabilities.

• The community of Eastern Passage/Cow Bay, NS, will o� er a sports fair as part of their already well-established annual summer carnival, to provide local children, youth and parents with exposure to and information on the many di� erent sports available for children in this area.

• The Bear River First Nation Health Centre in PEI will run a summer sport and outdoor recreation program for the community’s children and youth to emphasize the importance of physical activity and healthy eating.

• The SCRI (Social, Cultural and Recreational Inclusion) Society of Halifax, NS, will o� er a series of “Get Healthy” workshops that will educate the society’s members (who have physical disabilities and/or mental di� culties) about the importance of physical activity, healthy eating and outdoor activities.

SUPPORTING the healthy growth and development of children 0-6 years, including thepre-natal period

• The Kids Action Program of Kentville, NS, will develop and implement “Emotional Discovery”, a program which will help children aged 3-5 and their parents learn how to navigate emotions and feelings through music, stories, and � ne arts.

• The Lake and Shore Community Recreation Society will o� er a Preschool Summer Sports Camp for local children ages 3-5 in Porter’s Lake, NS, to help them gain social and physical literacy skills.

• The Rotary Club of Florenceville, NB, will deliver the “Reaching Out to Read” program, by providing young children attending Public Health immunization clinics exposure to reading and free books.

Horseback riding is just one of the many activities enjoyed by the children and youth in the Bear River First Nation Health Centre’s summer sport and rec program.

•

“The IWK Community Grants

Program helped us acquire the

equipment we needed to run

summer programming for 3-5 year

olds in our rural community. The

popularity of the program exceeded

our expectations and we were able

to introduce dozens of kids to new

forms of physical activity! Based

on this success, we plan to offer the

same program next year.”

Adam Dedrick, Lake and Shore Community Rec Centre,

Porters Lake, NS

SUPPORTING parents of children 0-16 years in their parenting role

• The Dartmouth Family Centre will support sta� from other Family Resource Centres to be trained as facilitators for the “Incredible Years” parenting program, so that the program can be o� ered to parents across the Halifax area of NS.

• The Eastern Shore Family Resource Centre in Musquodoboit Harbour, NS, will o� er two “Incredible Years” parenting programs for local families.

• The Halifax, NS chapter of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind will start a peer support program to connect local parents (face-to-face, on the phone, and online) on issues relating to parenting a child with vision loss.

• Phoenix Youth Programs of Halifax will o� er an education program called “1, 2, 3, 4 Parents!”, designed for parents of 1- to 4 year olds.

• Alex’s Safe Harbour Society will hold bereavement peer support groups for children, youth and families in the Halifax area of NS who are coping with the loss of a loved one.

• The Centre de Bénévolat de la Péninsule Acadienne in Caraquet, NB will develop and run an educational workshop series for local outreach workers and parents of children with special needs such as autism, anxiety and hyperactivity.

• The East Hants Adult Learning Association will o� er three new parenting programs and continue working toward

the creation of a sustainable Family Resource Centre in the East Hants Corridor area of NS.

• The Deaf Youth Association of NS will o� er the “Mother Goose Program” to help parents communicate with their hearing-impaired baby/toddler/child through sign language and other forms of expression.

• The Atlantic Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation will o� er a three day camping adventure to Nova Scotian children with type 1 diabetes and their families, to foster peer support networks, education and fun.

• The Braveheart Support Society of Tantallon, NS, will begin monthly parent support groups, as well as children’s playgroups, at various locations in the Maritimes, speci� cally for children living with congenital heart disease.

• The Helping Hands to Enrich Learning and Lifestyles Programming Society of Hubbards, NS, will o� er the “Sister Supports” program at the Fox Point Community Centre—an accessible program for young mothers in the area to tend to their own � tness, health and peer support needs.

• The Atlantic Division of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada will establish an online and telephone peer support group for parents living with MS, so that they can share experiences and practical advice on how to best cope with the pressures of raising young children while managing a chronic disease.

• The Progress Centre for Intervention in Halifax, NS, will develop and implement a series of educational sessions for parents of children (aged 0-6) with special needs, as well as a series of educational workshops for community Early Childhood Educators.

parenting roleparenting role

The Phoenix House Parenting Program offers many outdoor

opportunities for children to have fun with their parents!

“The program not only helped me bond with my child

through song and play, it also introduced me to a lot

of other great moms who helped and shared advice

on tricks and techniques when it came to parenting,

breastfeeding, sleeping etc. This program is an

excellent resource and I am so happy it was available.”

Baby Time program, East Hants Family Resource Centre participant

Baby Time program,

ADDRESSING the needs of “at risk” youth

• The Learning Disabilities Association of NS will establish the LINKS literacy remediation program for African Nova Scotian children in the Preston communities of the Halifax Regional Municipality.

• The Atlantic Branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada will o� er a week long summer camp in NS’s Annapolis Valley for children and youth living with kidney disease.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax will recruit, train and support volunteers to build on the success of the “Go Girls!” and “Game On!” programs that teach youth about the importance of physical and mental health.

• The Halifax Sexual Health Centre will develop a new, highly-interactive program called “Let’s Talk About Sex and Healthy Relationships” and then pilot the program with at-risk youth who are coping with addiction, mental health issues and poverty.

• The Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health will o� er the “MVP Strategies” program to educate at-risk youth in the Pictou, NS area about gender violence and bullying prevention tactics.

• The Boys and Girls Club of Spry� eld will begin o� ering an afterschool program for children and youth in the Fairview community of Halifax, NS.

• The Lennox Island Health Centre in PEI will run a youth program entitled “The Seven Sacred Teachings,” which aims to teach youth about the traditional concepts of respect and sharing that form the foundation of the

Aboriginal way of life, as well as to promote physical and mental health through proper nutrition and exercise.

• The Eating Disorder Council of NB will develop a series of educational videos on youth and eating disorders, with the goal of providing awareness, knowledge and support to individuals and families in the province who are a� ected by eating disorders.

• Maggie’s Place Family Resource Centre in Truro, NS, will o� er a prevention program for families of children aged 7 to 11 who are at risk for substance abuse problems, depression, violence, delinquency and school failure.

IMPROVING women’s wellness across the adult and senior years

• The Chebucto Communities Development Association will establish a “Time Banking” program in the Spry� eld community of Halifax NS, to develop a neighbourhood support structure for senior women and parents of local children.

• The Sophia Recovery Centre in Saint John, NB, will develop and run a new program called “Living in Balance,” which will assist women to recover from addiction through spirituality and 12-step principles.

REDUCING the incidence/severity of child and youth injuries

• The South Shore Family Resource Association will research how they can expand their current, successful “Eye Spy the Safety Fly” injury prevention program to more communities along the South Shore of NS.

For more information about the IWK Community Grants Program, please contact:

Julie Harrington, IWK Community Grants Coordinator

Telephone: (902) 470-7165

Email: julie.harrington@iwk.nshealth.ca

Or visit our website:

• www.iwk.nshealth.ca, click on Healthy Families, and

choose Community Grants

• www.iwkfoundation.org, click on Giving, and choose

IWK Community Grants.

The “Game On!” program offered by the Boys and Girls Club

of Greater Halifax has a great track record in inspiring

young boys to be masters of their own health through

nutrition and exercise.