Announcing Our Community Services Recovery Fund Project

Announcing Our Community Services Recovery Fund Project

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Breakaway is pleased to announce that we have received funding from the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund to support our Grief, Loss, and Wellness (GLoW) Initiative. The Community Services Recovery Fund is a one-time $400 million investment from the Government of Canada to support community service organizations, including charities, non-profits and Indigenous governing bodies, as they adapt and modernize their organizations.

As the long-term recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we welcome the Government of Canada’s push for a more inclusive model of economic growth that creates opportunities for everyone in Canada. Now more than ever, community service organizations, including charities, non-profits and Indigenous governing bodies, play a key role in addressing complex social problems faced by many communities across Canada. To support the vital work done by these organizations, the Government of Canada provided a one-time investment of $400 million to three National Funders – Canadian Red Cross, Community Foundations of Canada, and United Way Centraide Canada, to support community service organizations as they recover from the pandemic.  As community service organizations, including charities, non-profits and Indigenous governing bodies, across Canada work to support recovery in their communities, the Community Services Recovery Fund will help them adapt and modernize their operations to grow their support in communities.

The Government of Canada delivered the Community Services Recovery Fund through three National Funders – Canadian Red Cross, Community Foundations of Canada, and United Way Centraide Canada. The National Funders distributed funding to eligible community service organizations, including charities, non-profits, and Indigenous governing bodies, providing services in communities across Canada.

We are deeply grateful for the Community Services Recovery Fund’s support of our GLoW Initiative. Founded in January 2021, the GLoW Initiative offers supports to frontline workers, community facing management and coordinators, and community supporters who have been impacted by the trauma and overwhelming loss of the drug poisoning crisis. GLoW provides direct grief, loss, and wellness supports for frontline workers, and capacity building supports to assist teams and communities responding to grief and loss. By supporting frontline workers in their own wellness, GLoW seeks to make frontline work in the harm reduction sector more sustainable.

Breakaway’s funding from the Community Services Recovery Fund will be used to provide direct counselling and wellness supports for frontline workers. In 2020, Breakaway staff conducted several needs assessments within the harm reduction sector to determine what worker wellness gaps remained unaddressed. The assessment found that there was a gap in direct support for frontline workers. GLoW’s one to one support service was designed to fill this gap. Recipients of this service are able to receive eight total sessions with the consultants of their choice, free of charge. One on one support continues to be the most requested service that the program provides. Our funding from the Community Services Recovery Fund will pay for the counsellors and consultants working with the GLoW program, allowing us to continue providing these vital supports.

“I am continually impressed by the passion, dedication, and creativity of community service organizations, like Breakaway Community Services. And I am equally proud the Government of Canada has supported their important work through the Community Services Recovery Fund. By investing in these organizations, and projects like GLoW, we can help to create a more just and equitable society, where everyone has opportunities to succeed. I look forward to seeing the positive impact of this investment in Toronto over the years to come.”

– Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

 

 

 

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund