31 Mar Announcement of Inaugural Grant Recipients
Charlottetown, PEI – The PEI Alliance for Mental Well-Being was created by the PEI Government in 2021 in response to community-informed recommendations to strengthen the mental well-being for all Islanders throughout their lifespan, and has since become a not-for-profit organization. Drawing on the science of resilience, the Alliance champions three action areas that can improve mental well-being: supporting responsive relationships, strengthening core life skills and reducing sources of toxic stress. It is recognized that investing in strengthening well-being can reduce acute issues for all, including mental health and addiction issues. The Alliance brings people together in a collaborative way, to achieve positive social change for all Islanders. It provides leadership, coordination and communications related to mental well-being by collaborating, convening, disseminating knowledge and assisting with policies and programs with stakeholders and Island community members.
The Alliance has a funding mechanism that supports projects and initiatives that focus on building and strengthening the resilience of individuals, families and communities. The multi-million dollar “Improving Mental Well-Being for All: Focusing Action for Positive Change” Grant Program is a catalyst for enhancing existing initiatives and creating innovative solutions. The Program offers 4 types of grants: Enhanced Support Grants, Innovation Grants, Creating Connections Grants, and Targeted Investment Grants.
“The PEI Government understands that improving mental well-being is paramount and is committed to supporting upstream initiatives to benefit Islanders, The Alliance welcomes the government’s continued support and applauds their investment to benefit the lives of PEI community members.” says John Horrelt, Chair of the Alliance’s Board of Directors, “Given the significant interest in and number of highly meritorious applications, as identified by the Alliance’s Peer Review Committee, the Government of PEI has agreed with the request of the Alliance to invest additional dollars in this inaugural grant competition in order to fund a greater number of these projects. These grants focus on children, families and seniors and are a particularly important investment when it comes to preventing and buffering mental health and addiction issues throughout the lifespan and across generations.”
Review, assessment and identification of highly exemplary grant applications was guided by the work of a community-representative Peer Review Committee which recommended projects for approval to the Board of Directors and Executive Director Karen Cumberland. “The funding is to support initiatives that build resilience and foster mental well-being,” says Cumberland, “From many praiseworthy project applications submitted, 30 were approved for funding. We are happy that so many project initiatives from the community have been generated and we look forward to seeing and supporting them grow. We are also especially grateful to the Government of PEI for agreeing to invest additional dollars in this competition given the number of applications.” There were 30 grants awarded, totalling $3.3M.
Applications originated from a wide variety of community organizations, varied across sectors and in terms of their focus, types of programs offered, and by organizational size. These organizations and their proposed projects included some with arts-focus, some with a food security and healthy-living focus, and many that support a particular age group (youth or seniors) or marginalized/equity-seeking communities. The varied projects will create new opportunities for Islanders to have access to the key action areas informed by the science of resilience. The Alliance will be following these groups to help tell their stories in the months to come.
The Alliance is delighted to announce its inaugural grant recipients:
Black Cultural Society of Prince Edward Island Inc. (BCSPEI)
BPOC Peer Support Program & Mental Well-Being Anti-Stigma Campaign
PEERS Alliance
Brave Spaces: Fostering compassionate community for 2SLGBTQ+ Islanders
Immigrant & Refugee Services Association PEI and the City of Charlottetown
Building Resilience with Community Gardens
Sport PEI
Building Resilient Coaches in PEI Communities (Preventing “Burnout” in Coaches and navigating Athletes in Distress)
Association for Community Living
Care4Caregivers: Mental Health Support to Build Resilience for Caregivers
Hospice Palliative Association of PEI (Hospice PEI)
Caregiver Hospice Peer Support Program
Under the Spire Music Festival
Community Ceilidh Concert Series (CCCS)
Blooming House Women’s Shelter Inc
Creating Resilience
Young at Heart Musical Theatre Company for Seniors Inc (Young at Heart Theatre)
Enhancing Seniors’ Mental Wellbeing Through Safe and Sustainable Programming and Partnerships
Confederation Centre of the Arts
Expanded dance education in three parts: Inclusive Dance, Post-Natal Yoga, My Parent & Me
Lung Association of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
Exploring Youth Vaping/Smoking Cessation and Prevention on PEI
Early Childhood Development Association of PEI
Handle with Care–Strengthening Program Evaluation
Atlantic Summer Institute on Healthy and Safe Communities
Investing Upstream: Placing infants, children and youth at the forefront of lifelong mental well-being – a shift in policy direction for Prince Edward Island
Under the Spire Music Festival; Town of Kensington
Kensington Music and Wellness Week (KMWW)
PEI Farm Centre
Legacy Garden Therapeutic Horticulture Pilot Program
BIPOC USHR
Liberation School for BIPOC Resilience and Mental Well-Being
STEAM PEI
Making Something from Nothing: Family Maker Time
Island Pregnancy Centre
Mother’s Home Programming
Building GRAND-Families Inc.
Optimizing Mental Health and Well-Being in Grand-Families on PEI
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
Outdoors is for Everyone!
PEI Writers’ Guild; PEERS Alliance
Queer Youth Group Writing Club
PEI Literacy Alliance
Ready Set Learn Enhancement Project
4-H PEI
Rejuvenate 4-H Prince Edward Island
Mi’kmaq Heritage Actors
Sharing our Culture-Sing, Dance, Drum
East Prince Youth Development Centre Inc.
The 4titude Project
Creative PEI; Canadian Mental Health Association – PEI Division
The Creative Well-Being Initiative
The PEI Food Exchange Program Inc.
The Greenhouse Project
Camp Triumph Society
Triumph Through Adversity
The next cycle of the grant program will launch in the spring, with details to be announced in the coming weeks.