The Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul challenge the Foundation with transformational gift 

It was with both gratitude and excitement, shared by everyone present, that Foundation board members Rob Wood (Chair) and Gayle Barr (Past Chair) met with several Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul to receive their change-making $5M gift.

These funds will be used to help the Kingston and area communities respond to some of the greatest needs among our youngest and oldest citizens.

The occasion was marked with the Sisters reading the lyrics of Jan Novotka’s song All I do Today (2002), words chosen to highlight their wishes for this gift and the community:

May all I do today Be for the healing of the whole
May all I do today Mend our broken world
May all I do today Bring blessing on the Earth
May all I do today Be for the good of all

The Sisters’ challenge to the Foundation was to use these funds to stimulate transformative, sustainable, systems-level change in two identified areas of need: to prevent and mitigate the lifelong impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and to reduce the social isolation and loneliness felt by seniors – both significantly amplified by the experience of COVID-19.

Wanting to achieve immediate and maximum impact from their gift, the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul Community Impact Fund is intended to be fully expended on high-impact community initiatives and programs over the next five to ten years.

“We are honoured, humbled, and thrilled that the Sisters have entrusted us with this gift to drive meaningful change in our community,” said Tina Bailey, the Foundation’s Executive Director.

Work is well underway to address ACEs. Early results from the funding include the delivery of trauma informed training to hundreds of people in the Kingston area. The training has been so well received, that they are working on delivering the training widely across the community. To make this possible, over 40 individuals from a wide range of organizations – from schools to service agencies to city staff – have now been trained as facilitators to deliver this training to staff within their organizations and the community at large.

Our work to address seniors’ isolation and loneliness is just getting underway. We welcome your ideas, which can be sent to tina@cfka.org.

We will continue to share updates about this transformational gift over the coming months and years.