Revised - Sheena's Place awarded Toronto Community Foundation's Vital Ideas grant

TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Sheena's Place is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious Vital Ideas grant from the Toronto Community Foundation. Vital Ideas grants are provided by the Community Foundation from its Vital Toronto Fund grant program which focuses on identifying and investing in Toronto's best high-impact organizations and initiatives. The grant program provides recipients with up to $30,000 over one year to increase their capacity in order to expand their reach, share their experience, and better sustain their impact.

Vital Ideas is one of three Community Foundation grant programs made possible through its Vital Toronto Fund, a strategic community endowment. The grant program identifies high-impact organizations that build on successful methods of service delivery and continually adapt and innovate. Beyond 'band-aid' solutions, the organizations work for social change by addressing the root causes of the trends identified in the Toronto's Vital Signs^® Report.

Sheena's Place is using the Vital Ideas grant both to train university and college counsellors to facilitate support groups for students with eating disorders or disordered eating as well as to market the groups through a poster campaign. The University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University and Seneca College are participants in this pilot project. Any student at one of these schools who is interested in enrolling in one of these confidential, 8 week support groups should contact their on-campus counselling centre. The groups will be starting very soon but will continue to accept new registrants.

Lee Giles, the executive director of Sheena's Place, said, "We are extremely proud to be recognized by the Toronto Community Foundation and awarded this prestigious grant. From our experience facilitating support groups at Sheena's Place, we know that eating disorders and disordered eating are particularly prevalent among the college-university age demographic and this grant allows us to reach out to those students who might not otherwise receive support." 

"Our foundation is focused on ensuring the vitality of Toronto," said Toronto Community Foundation's President & CEO Rahul K. Bhardwaj. "To this end, we invest in high-impact organizations so they can continue to meet the needs of the communities they serve by addressing complex issues, such as the growing income gap between the rich and poor, the ripple effects of the experiences of newcomers, and harnessing the potential of youth in high-needs neighbourhoods."

A Vital Idea is a program or project that has been piloted or is currently in operation that helps make Toronto a better place to live, work, learn and grow. The Vital Ideas grant stream is unique in that it provides grants for strategic activities beyond direct programming. The investment in these strategic activities is meant to be a one-time investment in building the capacity of not-for-profits.

Sheena's Place
Sheena's Place offers hope and support to individuals, families and friends affected by eating disorders by providing a wide range of professionally facilitated support groups and services. Our community-based registered charity is committed to inspiring hope, reducing stigma, raising awareness and offering meaningful help and information at all stages of recovery. To learn more about our work please visit www.sheenasplace.org

Toronto Community Foundation
Community vitality has been our purpose, promise, and passion since 1981, when we started connecting donors to community needs and opportunities. Home to over 300 funds, we help people invest in Toronto, making it the best place to live, work, learn and grow. We monitor the quality of life in our city, identifying its strengths and weaknesses through our Toronto's Vital Signs^® report. We provide the leadership and guidance to bring people together from all parts of our community. We exist for Toronto - for now and for always. For more information, visit www.tcf.ca.

Lee Giles,
Executive Director
Sheena's Place
[email protected]
416-927-8900, ex. 23

Simone Dalton
Media Relations & Communications Officer
Toronto Community Foundation
[email protected]
416-921-2035, ext. 218