Community Foundation for Kingston & Area

10/29/2026

This month’s theme is “Equity in Action”.

From employment support for those with vision loss to making hockey accessible to more kids, read about the amazing and inspiring things that your neighbours in Kingston & Area are doing to make our community a more equitable and resilient place.

https://conta.cc/4e7QRkW

10/29/2026

What does community funding look like through a microscope, a robot, and a paintbrush?

It looks like Creative Futures: STEAM for Youth at BGC South East. Thanks to their team, hands-on STEAM programming is giving children and youth across our region the chance to explore, discover, and learn, sparking the curiosity that turns kids into scientists, builders, artists, and innovators.

This is why we invest in local organizations: they know what their kids need, and they deliver it every day.

Thank you, BGC South East, for the work you do and for the tag. We're proud to be part of this.

Thank you to Community Foundation for Kingston & Area for supporting our STEAM programs through Creative Futures: STEAM for Youth 💙

Your generosity helps us provide hands-on learning opportunities that spark curiosity, encourage creativity, and inspire the next generation of innovators. Thank you for helping us create more opportunities for children and youth to explore, discover, and learn! 🔬🤖🎨

10/28/2026

What if you could show up at any door and be connected to the right support?

That's the idea behind No Wrong Door, a training shared across CNIB, Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada, and Deaf-Blind Community Services. Whether you call or walk up to the doorstep of any of the three organizations, they'll connect you with who you need. And in Kingston, safety concerns are prioritized: high-priority clients are contacted within 72 hours.

Our latest impact story features Denise Springett, a Philanthropy Officer with CNIB's Ontario team and a blind person with more than twenty years of lived experience. She explains what life with sight loss actually takes: "Using my remaining vision is kind of like trying to do a 200-pound deadlift with your pinky. I suppose in theory, it's possible. But you're probably going to hurt yourself."

We're proud that a grant from the Community Foundation supported CNIB's Come to Work program, bringing a staff member from London to Kingston for an employer networking event on accessible hiring practices. And the event revealed something unexpected: the demand here isn't primarily younger workers. It's people who have been in their careers for years and are now adjusting to sight loss.

Read the full story: https://cfka.org/impact-stories/no-wrong-door

10/28/2026

How do you turn a family's love of hockey into lasting community impact?

Our latest impact story looks at the Larry Clayton Endowment Fund. After Larry Clayton died in 2010, his wife Diane and sons Chris and Tom wanted to honour his decades of coaching Kingston minor hockey and his commitment to young people.

The path they chose is instructive for any family thinking about structured giving. They first tried directing their giving through another charity, but found the demands of fundraising and administration didn't fit their busy lives. "We thought it would be better to put the money toward a structured organization that had people in place to run it and look after its day to day," Diane explains.

The Community Foundation offered that structure, and a way to connect their fund with programs matching their goals. Grants from the fund have since supported the Grassroots Hockey Project, helping local kids afford the sport their dad loved — a meaningful equity intervention in a game where registration and equipment costs keep many children out.

"Dad did very well in his career and put us in a position to give back," Tom says. "We wanted to honour his name, and this fund lets us keep helping kids, just like he always did."

Read the full story: https://cfka.org/impact-stories/skates-community-and-legacy

10/27/2026

What happens when young people decide where the funding goes?

The Youth Investment Fund, part of the Unnamed Youth Project, is answering that question. Guided by the Regional Youth Advisory Circle, the fund puts $25,000 in 2026 behind community-based programs and initiatives that reflect the priorities identified by youth across Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington.

That means the needs, interests, and ideas of local young people aren't just heard, they're funded.

We're proud to support this work alongside Kingston Pathways to Education and Kingston Community Health Centres.

Have an idea or initiative that supports local youth? Explore the Youth Investment Fund and learn how to apply:

Application Guide: https://acrobat.adobe.com/.../urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:dd90b8e3...

Learn more: https://kchc.ca/programs/unnamed-youth-project

🌟💙 INVESTING IN YOUTH, INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY! 💙🌟

Young people have ideas, perspectives, and solutions that can make a real difference in our community. The Youth Investment Fund (YIF) is helping turn those ideas into action! 🙌

As part of the Unnamed Youth Project (UYP), the Youth Investment Fund is guided by the Regional Youth Advisory Circle (YAC) and focuses on supporting community-based programs and initiatives that reflect the priorities identified by local youth.

💰 A total of $25,000 in funding is available in 2026 to support initiatives that respond to the needs, interests, and priorities shared by young people across Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington.

At Pathways to Education Kingston, we believe in the power of youth voices and the importance of creating opportunities for young people to help shape the communities they call home.

📣 Have an idea or initiative that supports local youth? Explore the Youth Investment Fund and learn how to apply!

📖 Application Guide:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:va6c2:dd90b8e3-4de9-45d5-911b-2e7c8ebfa34c

🔗 Learn more about the Youth Investment Fund:\
https://kchc.ca/programs/unnamed-youth-project

Together, we can help turn youth priorities into meaningful community action! 💙

🏷: Community Foundation for Kingston & Area | Kingston Community Health Centres

10/23/2026

"A lot of people would say, oh, it's a community hub, you rent out space to organizations. But the Village is so much more than that."

On 30 acres in the heart of Kingston, the former Motherhouse of the Sisters of Providence is becoming Providence Village: a community of care where 14 organizations, with three more arriving this fall, work side by side.

What makes it different is intentionality. A Subtenant Partnership Table brings the organizations together regularly, and collaborations are emerging naturally: partners teaming up on workshops and events, sharing volunteers and resources, the Alzheimer Society of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington training Village staff, the Council on Aging offering seniors' programs in its first-ever physical space, and H'art Centre transforming a former social area used by the Sisters into music, art, and dance studios.

As President & CEO Laurie French puts it, there hasn't been a single Partnership Table meeting where new connections weren't made.

The Village's reach keeps growing: Providence Care is building the new Providence Manor long-term care home, which will include a YMCA daycare, and affordable housing, part of the Sisters' original vision is now being explored with a potential partner.

Read the full story: https://cfka.org/impact-stories/More%20Than%20a%20Hub

10/22/2026

"A resource being available does not automatically make it accessible."

Our grantee partner Bloom Skills Centre shared a powerful post this week recognizing invisible disabilities, and it's worth your time. They name the realities many adults face: supports that end at 18, ODSP applications that can take months, a maximum shelter allowance that must stretch across every necessity, and the fact that roughly one in three households in Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington experienced food insecurity in 2023.

We're proud that funding from the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area supports Bloom's Dig In! workshops, which bring presenters together with Bloom participants and community members to explore gardening and food preparation. The photos show what that looks like: opportunities to try, practice, connect, and build confidence.

But as Bloom rightly points out, food programs and cooking workshops cannot make an inadequate income sufficient. Adults with invisible disabilities deserve adequate incomes, accessible services, continued learning, and meaningful choices about their own lives.

Thank you, Bloom, for this work and for this important conversation.

10/20/2026

One week to go until youth take over the library.

On Friday, October 30, the Unnamed Youth Project hosts its 2nd Annual Youth Symposium at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Central Branch, and young people across KFL&A will spend the day sharing ideas, building connections, and shaping what our communities look like for youth.

The day includes breakout activities, volunteer hours, free lunch and snacks, door prizes, swag, and free transportation. It's open to all youth ages 12+ across KFL&A.

We're proud to support this work alongside Kingston Pathways to Education, Kingston Community Health Centres, Southeast Public Health, the Rotary Club of Kingston, the Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston, Youth Diversion, and Kingston Frontenac Public Library.

At the Community Foundation, we believe young people deserve to be heard, valued, and included in the conversations about their communities.

This symposium is exactly that.

Friday, October 30
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Central Branch, 130 Johnson Street

Register by October 26 using the QR code on the poster, or at: https://ow.ly/Vnp350ZSbby

📣 YOUR VOICE MATTERS! 💙

Calling all youth across Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington! The Unnamed Youth Project (UYP) is hosting its 2nd Annual Youth Symposium, and this year, they're taking over the library! 🎉

This exciting event is all about giving young people a voice in shaping their communities, sharing ideas, building connections, and having some fun along the way!

✨ Here's what's waiting for you:
🤝 Connect with other youth and community leaders
🙌 Earn volunteer hours
🍕 Enjoy FREE lunch and snacks
🎁 Win door prizes and grab some swag
🚌 FREE transportation available
💡 Participate in fun and engaging breakout activities

📅 Friday, October 30, 2026
⏰ 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM
📍 Kingston Frontenac Public Library, Central Branch (130 Johnson Street)
👥 Open to all youth ages 12+ across KFL&A!

At Pathways, we believe young people deserve to be heard, valued, and included in conversations about their communities. Events like this create opportunities for youth to share their perspectives and help shape a better future for everyone! 💙

📲 Register by October 26 using the QR code on the poster!

🏷️ : Kingston Community Health Centres | Southeast Public Health | Community Foundation for Kingston & Area | Rotary Club of Kingston | Rotary Club of Cataraqui-Kingston | Youth Diversion | Kingston Frontenac Public Library

10/14/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for How Social Prescribing is Redefining What "Health" Means!

We had an attentive crowd at the Delta Hotel Kingston Waterfront, and a conversation worth
having. Our sincere thanks to our two speakers:

Tarek Hussein, Clinical Pharmacist at Providence Care Hospital and Adjunct Professor at the uOttawa, who walked us through the evidence behind social prescribing, including the striking fact that 80% of health outcomes come from social needs.

And Wendy Vuyk, Director of Community Health at Kingston Community Health Centres, who reminded us that "social connection is a muscle we stopped exercising, and we need to exercise it again."

Thank you for sharing your expertise, your passion, and your practical wisdom with our community.

Missed this one, or hungry for more conversations like it? Join us for our next Speaker Series event, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience: Where Are We Now?
Details and registration: https://cfka.org/events/aces-and-resilience-where-are-we-now

10/13/2026

AI isn't just for big organizations with big budgets.

On Thursday, October 27, we're co-hosting a free virtual session showing how small nonprofits, including two- and three-person teams, can use AI tools they already have to find new prospects, discover and draft grants, and land sponsorships. You'll leave with practical ways to build smarter workflows, no tech expertise required.

If fundraising capacity is stretched thin at your organization, this hour is for you.

Thursday, October 27
12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Virtual

Register: https://ow.ly/pnyG50ZPaMN

Learn practical ways small nonprofits can use AI to find prospects, discover grants, secure sponsorships, and build smarter workflows.

This hands-on session demonstrates how organizations with two- and three-person teams are using AI tools they already have to find new prospects, discover and draft grants, and land sponsorships.

▪️ Date: Thursday October 27
▪️ Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
▪️ Location: Virtual

To register, visit: https://ow.ly/pnyG50ZPaMN

Community Foundation for Kingston & Area