SUDBURY -- The Sudbury Community Foundation has received $290,098 in funding from Ottawa’s $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund. The foundation is now distributing that money to groups that need it most during these difficult times.

The Samaritan Centre in Sudbury’s downtown received two grants from the foundation. One of the grants, worth $28,000, will help pay for an ongoing shower program.

“We had to hire extra staff," said Lisa Long, executive director of the Samaritan Centre. "There’s extra cleaning methods that need to take place, screening before anyone can come in, and (we'll) incorporate the grant to continue to offer laundry as well as shower services to some of Sudbury's most vulnerable citizens.

“In a global pandemic, it’s essential to be clean.”

Ensure safety

The second grant, worth $12,000, will be used to ensure safety at both the Blue Door Soup Kitchen and the Elgin Street Mission.

“Just like any restaurant you see, the dining rooms needed to be retrofitted with Plexiglas to be cut off from between the dining area and the kitchen prep area," said Long. "So, a big part of that grant went to retrofitting those two feeding programs.”

The Sudbury Women’s Centre was another local organization to receive funding, just more than $23,000. Staff say the money will be going to frontline support and protective equipment.

“We were able to get a shield put up at our front desk, and we were able to hire a person to stay at the front full time until the end of March,” said Giulia Carpenter, executive director at the Sudbury Women’s Centre. “Everything is by appointment only, so those are additional phone calls that we will be receiving at the front for My Sisters Closet, for peer support, to drop off donations, so it’s nice to have one person at the front to help out.”

Officials with the Sudbury Community Foundation said it received 40 applications, but could only help 18. They hope other donors can come through and help other organizations that are still in need.