During the month of March, United Way Simcoe Muskoka is running the “Month of Hope” campaign to reflect the lives impacted through United Way-funded initiatives and to bring awareness to the needs of the most vulnerable in Simcoe Muskoka.
Funds raised through the “Month of Hope” campaign will support seven new community collaborative projects that will address pressing social issues, such as food security, mental health, housing, and income stability. Earlier this year, United Way Simcoe Muskoka committed $2.1 million to the following initiatives over the next three years:
- “Arts Immersion for Mental Health” will connect individuals receiving mental health supports to the arts as a way to open doors and create opportunities to reconnect to their community
- “Creating Supportive Housing and Income Stability in Rural Simcoe County” will provide pre-employment construction training to vulnerable individuals who will work with construction professionals to build affordable housing units
- “Finding Home” will create opportunities for women and children who have been victims of domestic violence to live a life free from violence in their own home
- “Getting Ahead Across Muskoka” is a life-stabilization program for women, youth, and Indigenous people living on low-income rural communities across Muskoka
- “Groundwork” will provide vulnerable youth and adults with training, barrier-free mental health supports, mentorship, and safe employment opportunities
- “The Art Engagement Project” will instill a sense of pride, belonging, and possibility among racialized youth across Simcoe Muskoka through exposure to the arts
- “Mobile Youth Wellness Hub” will provide outreach to youth in Muskoka through inclusive recreational activities and social supports
This year, once again, Glueckler Metal Inc. has offered to match individual gifts made to the United Way during the “Month of Hope”, effectively doubling the impact of each donation.
“The ‘Month of Hope’ is a call for optimism and, hopefully, inspires a collective effort to create positive change for some of the most vulnerable folks in our community,” said Brian Shelley, Chief Executive and Philanthropy Officer at United Way Simcoe Muskoka. “Locally owned businesses like Glueckler Metal are ‘agents of hope’ through their generous support of your United Way.”
To contribute to United Way Simco Muskoka’s “Month of Hope” campaign, go to https://uwsimcoemuskoka.ca/give/