The IWK Foundation provided grants to 34 community organizations across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island to fund projects promoting health and wellness for children, youth, and families. The funded projects addressed issues like preventing childhood obesity through physical activity programs, supporting healthy development of young children, helping parents, and assisting at-risk youth. Examples of funded programs included exercise classes for families, a reading program to promote early literacy, and a peer support group for parents of children with vision loss.

1. The Cape Breton
Regional Municipality
added three Walking
School Bus programs
this year, thanks
to support from the
Ecology Action Centre’s
“School Travel Planning
Program.” This Walking
School Bus from
Harbourside Elementary
has 30 students and
counting!
IWK Community Grants
2012/2013
Thanks to the support of donors from our Maritime community,
the IWK Foundation and Health Centre have been able to help
improve the lives of hundreds of families through the IWK
Community Grants Program. Since the year 2000, this program has
helped fund community projects in cities and towns all over the
Maritimes that are dedicated to promoting health and wellness for
women, children and youth.
This year, the IWK Community Grants Program is thrilled to lend
its support to more community-based organizations than ever
before: 34 projects in 6 categories in over two dozen different
communities! Please keep reading to learn more about the
amazing projects the IWK is supporting in communities across
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island!
PROMOTING
Maritime Health
from the Grassroots Up
Many of the projects we help fund are aimed at improving
the physical and mental health of Maritime children!
Learn about our 2012/2013 grant projects! ➨

2. Over the years, our grant program has
supported the start-up of several sledge
hockey programs in various Maritime
communities.
PREVENTING child/youth obesity
• The Main Street Family Resource Centre in Souris, PEI, will run a joint parent and
child exercise program consisting of both indoor exercise classes and outdoor
family field trips, with the goal of showing participants how much fun“family
exercise”can be.
• Active and Safe Routes to School, of Halifax’s Ecology Action Centre, will
implement the innovative“School Travel Planning Program”in 15 schools
throughout NS to encourage children and youth to use active transportation to
get to school (i.e. walking, cycling).
• Active Pictou County will purchase equipment and provide education and
leadership to start a sledge hockey program in the Pictou, NS, area for local
residents with disabilities.
• The community of Eastern Passage/Cow Bay, NS, will offer a sports fair as part of
their already well-established annual summer carnival, to provide local children,
youth and parents with exposure to and information on the many different
sports available for children in this area.
• The Bear River
First Nation
Health Centre
in PEI will run a
summer sport and
outdoor recreation
program for the
community’s
children and youth
to emphasize the
importance of
physical activity
and healthy
eating.
• The SCRI (Social,
Cultural and
Recreational
Inclusion) Society
of Halifax, NS, will
offer a series of“Get
Healthy”workshops
that will educate the
society’s members
(who have physical
disabilities and/or
mental difficulties)
about the importance
of physical activity,
healthy eating and
outdoor activities.
SUPPORTING
the healthy growth
and development of
children 0-6 years,
including the
pre-natal period
• The Kids Action Program of
Kentville, NS, will develop and
implement“Emotional Discovery”,
a program which will help children
aged 3-5 and their parents learn
how to navigate emotions and
feelings through music, stories,
and fine arts.
• The Lake and Shore Community
Recreation Society will offer a
Preschool Summer Sports Camp
for local children ages 3-5 in
Porter’s Lake, NS, to help them gain
social and physical literacy skills.
• The Rotary Club of Florenceville,
NB, will deliver the“Reaching Out
to Read”program, by providing
young children attending Public
Health immunization clinics
exposure to reading and free
books.
Horseback riding is just one of the many activities enjoyedby the children and youth in the Bear River First NationHealth Centre’s summer sport and rec program.
•
“The IWK Community Grants
Program helped us acquire the
equipment we needed to run
summer programming for 3-5 year
olds in our rural community. The
popularity of the program exceeded
our expectations and we were able
to introduce dozens of kids to new
forms of physical activity! Based
on this success, we plan to offer the
same program next year.”
Adam Dedrick,
Lake and Shore Community Rec Centre,
Porters Lake, NS

3. SUPPORTING parents of
children 0-16 years in their
parenting role
• The Dartmouth Family Centre will support staff from
other Family Resource Centres to be trained as facilitators
for the“Incredible Years”parenting program, so that the
program can be offered to parents across the Halifax area
of NS.
• The Eastern Shore Family Resource Centre in
Musquodoboit Harbour, NS, will offer two“Incredible
Years”parenting programs for local families.
• The Halifax, NS chapter of the Canadian National Institute
for the Blind will start a peer support program to connect
local parents (face-to-face, on the phone, and online) on
issues relating to parenting a child with vision loss.
• Phoenix Youth Programs of Halifax will offer an education
program called“1, 2, 3, 4 Parents!”, designed for parents
of 1- to 4 year olds.
• Alex’s Safe Harbour Society will hold bereavement peer
support groups for children, youth and families in the
Halifax area of NS who are coping with the loss of a loved
one.
• The Centre de Bénévolat de la Péninsule Acadienne
in Caraquet, NB will develop and run an educational
workshop series for local outreach workers and parents
of children with special needs such as autism, anxiety
and hyperactivity.
• The East Hants Adult Learning Association will offer three
new parenting programs and continue working toward
the creation of a sustainable Family Resource Centre in the
East Hants Corridor area of NS.
• The Deaf Youth Association of NS will offer the“Mother Goose
Program”to help parents communicate with their hearing-
impaired baby/toddler/child through sign language and
other forms of expression.
• The Atlantic Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation will
offer a three day camping adventure to Nova Scotian children
with type 1 diabetes and their families, to foster peer support
networks, education and fun.
• The Braveheart Support Society of Tantallon, NS, will
begin monthly parent support groups, as well as children’s
playgroups, at various locations in the Maritimes, specifically
for children living with congenital heart disease.
• The Helping Hands to Enrich Learning and Lifestyles
Programming Society of Hubbards, NS, will offer the“Sister
Supports”program at the Fox Point Community Centre—an
accessible program for young mothers in the area to tend to
their own fitness, health and peer support needs.
• The Atlantic Division of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of
Canada will establish an online and telephone peer support
group for parents living with MS, so that they can share
experiences and practical advice on how to best cope with
the pressures of raising young children while managing a
chronic disease.
• The Progress Centre for Intervention in Halifax, NS, will
develop and implement a series of educational sessions for
parents of children (aged 0-6) with special needs, as well
as a series of educational workshops for community Early
Childhood Educators.
parenting roleparenting role
The Phoenix House Parenting Program offers many outdoor
opportunities for children to have fun with their parents!
“The program not only helped me bond with my child
through song and play, it also introduced me to a lot
of other great moms who helped and shared advice
on tricks and techniques when it came to parenting,
breastfeeding, sleeping etc. This program is an
excellent resource and I am so happy it was available.”
Baby Time program,
East Hants Family
Resource Centre
participant
Baby Time program,

4. ADDRESSING
the needs of “at risk” youth
• The Learning Disabilities Association of NS will establish
the LINKS literacy remediation program for African Nova
Scotian children in the Preston communities of the
Halifax Regional Municipality.
• The Atlantic Branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada
will offer a week long summer camp in NS’s Annapolis
Valley for children and youth living with kidney disease.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Halifax will recruit,
train and support volunteers to build on the success of
the“Go Girls!”and“Game On!”programs that teach youth
about the importance of physical and mental health.
• The Halifax Sexual Health Centre will develop a new,
highly-interactive program called“Let’s Talk About Sex
and Healthy Relationships”and then pilot the program
with at-risk youth who are coping with addiction, mental
health issues and poverty.
• The Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health will offer the
“MVP Strategies”program to educate at-risk youth in
the Pictou, NS area about gender violence and bullying
prevention tactics.
• The Boys and Girls Club of Spryfield will begin offering
an afterschool program for children and youth in the
Fairview community of Halifax, NS.
• The Lennox Island Health Centre in PEI will run a youth
program entitled“The Seven Sacred Teachings,”which
aims to teach youth about the traditional concepts of
respect and sharing that form the foundation of the
Aboriginal way of life, as well as to promote physical and
mental health through proper nutrition and exercise.
• The Eating Disorder Council of NB will develop a series of
educational videos on youth and eating disorders, with
the goal of providing awareness, knowledge and support
to individuals and families in the province who are
affected by eating disorders.
• Maggie’s Place Family Resource Centre in Truro, NS, will
offer a prevention program for families of children aged
7 to 11 who are at risk for substance abuse problems,
depression, violence, delinquency and school failure.
IMPROVING
women’s wellness across the
adult and senior years
• The Chebucto Communities Development Association
will establish a“Time Banking”program in the Spryfield
community of Halifax NS, to develop a neighbourhood
support structure for senior women and parents of local
children.
• The Sophia Recovery Centre in Saint John, NB, will develop
and run a new program called“Living in Balance,”which
will assist women to recover from addiction through
spirituality and 12-step principles.
REDUCING
the incidence/severity of child
and youth injuries
• The South Shore Family Resource Association will research
how they can expand their current, successful“Eye
Spy the Safety Fly”injury prevention program to more
communities along the South Shore of NS.
For more information about the IWK Community
Grants Program, please contact:
Julie Harrington, IWK Community Grants Coordinator
Telephone: (902) 470-7165
Email: julie.harrington@iwk.nshealth.ca
Or visit our website:
• www.iwk.nshealth.ca, click on Healthy Families, and
choose Community Grants
• www.iwkfoundation.org, click on Giving, and choose
IWK Community Grants.
The “Game On!” program offered by the Boys and Girls Club
of Greater Halifax has a great track record in inspiring
young boys to be masters of their own health through
nutrition and exercise.