Vital Sudbury community resources given more than $100K from the feds
It was all about celebrating those community service organizations were on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic during a funding announcement from the federal government in Greater Sudbury on Friday.
Community service organizations, who were at the frontlines during the pandemic, were celebrated in Sudbury Friday at a funding announcement by the federal government. (Ian Campbell/CTV News Northern Ontario)Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe announced more than $107,000 is being given and distributed among three groups in the city.
The Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury/Manitoulin will receive $66,920, the Blue Door Soup Kitchen will get $26,800 and Bizzy Bea's has been awarded $13,776.
It was all from the Community Services Recovery Fund which enables community service organizations to adapt, modernize and be better equipped moving forward.
"So we know that the pandemic hit us all really hard, now think about the service organizations that provide really important services for some of our most vulnerable populations. So this fund today is to help them recover from that and to help them recover to be able to expand and make their services more resilient for the community," said Lapointe.
"I think what COVID did was it really shone a light on where there is a gap in some systems but it really shone a light on the importance of these organizations and some of them are really small, they're volunteer-led completely so it's important that we continue to support them because they were particularly hit hard by the pandemic."
Among those in the audience was Sudbury Mayor and former MP Paul Lefebvre.
"The federal government is stepping up to continue funding these important organizations with volunteers and supporting them to ensure their services continue,” said Lefebvre.
“We're struggling coming out of COVID, we're still struggling with these organizations, we're struggling as a municipality, the fact that this funding assists us that we have more people, more boots on the ground, people offering these important services to our community and to our most vulnerable population."
Lefebvre told CTV News he was in attendance to say thank you.
- Download the CTV News app now and get local alerts on your device
- Get local breaking news and updates sent to your email inbox
- Want more local news? Check out the Sudbury page
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, one in four people experienced a mental health issue during the pandemic which are staggering statistics.
The organization’s local CEO said they are focusing on depression, anxiety and a general sense of not feeling well.
"It's amazing because we have so many different staff, they have great skills, but this enhances for the trauma-informed care, the solution focused therapy and dialectical therapy. What it does is it takes a very person-centred approach and impacts on a great many people in furthering their own goals, their own wellness and their own mindfulness," said CEO Patty MacDonald.
MacDonald added the pandemic has had some lasting impacts on the community and they are looking to focus on those individuals who have a higher acuity of needs.
"It's huge, to be acknowledged by the Red Cross, by Viviane and our mayor – it shows we've finally grown,” said Chantelle Dupuis of Bizzy Bea's.
“We're being acknowledged for the work that we do and the work our volunteers put in so it's fantastic to be recognized and we see ourselves growing in the near future.”
Officials with the Blue Door Soup Kitchen said they were also grateful to the recipients of this aid.
"As you know COVID was hard on all segments of the population, so first and foremost we're pleased that we're going to be able to build a more sustainable service for the community," said board member Susan Boyko.
"It's the little people as well as the big funders that make us viable and so this funding that we receive today will help us to create a robust fundraising strategy, a communications plan and an improved social media presence which is really important today. We are a small organization and we have to think big."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
Universities grapple with the complicated politics of campus encampments
Montreal police are facing pressure to move in and dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment on McGill University campus on Thursday, as a growing number of universities across this country grapple with the tough decision of how to handle the protests.
Police order B.C. woman who praised Hamas not to protest for 5 months, says her group
A pro-Palestinian activist group says its international co-ordinator, who was arrested in a Vancouver hate-crime investigation, was released with an order not to attend any protests for the next five months.
Conservative MP says Chinese hacking attack targeted his personal email
A Conservative MP is challenging claims by House of Commons administration that a China-backed hacking attempt did not impact any members of Parliament, because the attack was on his personal email.
Loblaw leaders call criticism 'misguided,' say they aren't to blame for high food prices
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston and the company's new CEO are pushing back against critics who blame the grocery giant for soaring food prices, as a month-long boycott of the retailer gets underway.