Alternative Reading Week

Organization: Family Services of Peel _Peel Institute of Research and Training

FSP was established in 1971 as a non-profit charitable organization to provide family and community support services for the people of Peel Region. As a multi-service agency sensitive to cultural and social diversity, FSP provides professional counselling, educational programs, employment support services, support for people with developmental disabilities and their families, and support for victims of trauma, violence, and abuse. To ensure thehighest standards of care for our clients and community, we have experienced, qualified, and skilled professionalswho work from a person centred anti-oppression, anti-racism framework. Through leadership, research, collaboration and innovation, we support families and individuals in Peel to transform their lives.

Project

Support Family Services of Peel to develop a Knowledge Transfer Strategy for the Building Equitable Economies for Immigrants and Refugees in Peel report. Transfer the knowledge acquire in our academic project to an audience of services providers.

Organization: Varman's Smile Foundation

Varman's Smile Foundation aspires not only to raise awareness about mental health issues but also to create an open and inclusive space for individuals to speak openly and without judgment. The foundation aims to promote mental health in homes, schools, and workplaces, prevent mental illness and suicide whenever possible, and address Canadian mental health policy issues. Additionally, Varman's Smile Foundation hosts various workshops and events catering to diverse interests.  This foundation was established in honour of Abivarman Arulpirarangah, who silently suffered alone and passed away on March 2nd, 2019. Varman's Smile Foundation works diligently to promote mental health initiatives and awareness in our community, ensuring that others do not suffer in silence.

Project

The challenge at hand is addressing the prevalent issue of burnout within university students. The team of volunteers will focus on understanding and alleviating the factors contributing to burnout in order to enhance the overall well-being and academic success of students.

The project aims to develop and implement strategies to combat burnout among university students. Volunteers will work on creating resources, campaigns, or support systems that address the specific stressors and challenges faced by students, fostering a healthier and more resilient academic community. The goal is to provide practical solutions and support mechanisms to mitigate burnout and promote mental well-being within the university environment.

Organization: A Greener Future

A Greener Future is an environmental non profit that brings together community we facilitate programs that eliminate waste from the environment. As education is at the centre of what we do, we inspire change through a variety of learning opportunities. Our programs raise awareness about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes Region, and detailed data collection sheds a light on the most common items that are found during litter cleanups. Our cleanups serves people of all ages.

Project

Every year throughout the month of April we run our Butt Blitz program where we remove cigarette butts from the environment and collect data. We work with community leaders and organizations to coordinate local cleanups and educate people about the impacts smoking litter has on the environment. We would like to grow this program within post-secondary institutions as it is a great leadership experience for students.

We are hoping to engage and connect with environmental groups at post-secondary institutions, to gauge interest in coordinating Butt Blitz events in their school communities.

Organization: Caledon Dufferin Victim Services

Provides in person or telephone support to victims of crime and tragic circumstances 24/7-365

Project

The work of the organization is carried out by very small staff team and volunteers. Volunteerism is down 30-50% across the country and this is creating a challenge. Staff teams are burning out and existing volunteers are leaving. We wish to enhance our volunteer recruitment strategy by learning WHY various populations volunteer and what they hope to gain from the experience. What is the driving factor that causes newcomers; older adults; 40-55 age group; younger males etc to volunteer? How can we use this info to enhance our volunteer recruitment strategies?

We are hoping to learn about the driving factors that cause certain populations to volunteer and create targeted ads for those groups.

Organization: Community Living Mississauga

Community on Campus is a program offered by Community Living Mississauga in collaboration with University of Toronto Mississauga that provides a university experience for people from the community who have an intellectual disability. Community on Campus participants and UTM student volunteers participate in various social, recreational and educational opportunities on campus. Community on Campus is a program offered through Community Living Mississauga, a non-profit organization that has been providing supports and services to people who have an intellectual disability for over 65 years.

Project

Reviewing our current orientation process to ensure it is relevant, applicable, interactive and engaging. Providing an effective comprehensive orientation process for students who volunteer with Community on Campus.

Review and revise our orientation process and materials for Community on Campus.

Organization: Start2Finish

Start2Finish is a national nonprofit that works with elementary school students in over 70 communities experiencing poverty across Canada. We offer free after school running & reading clubs that focus on physical activity, literacy development and social emotional-learning.   Our mission is to break the cycle of child poverty by providing ongoing educational support to Canada’s at-risk children throughout their school years, nurturing mind, body and social health so they are empowered to succeed and become role models for change. Our vision is to eradicate the effects of child poverty in Canada.

Project

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the non-profit sector in a number of ways. We are working towards gradually re-launching all of our programming back to what it was pre-pandemic. Our goal is to be able to reach more children in communities across the country. The largest challenge post-pandemic has been recruiting volunteers and fundraising. We recently launched an ambassador program to help us with our outreach initiatives.

We are hoping to find some creative ways to engage our ambassadors in outreach. What are some of the ways they can engage with their communities and spread the message about Start2Finish volunteer & fundraising opportunities? We are open to a variety of ideas, both in-person and social media campaigns.

Organization: The Riverwood Conservancy

Riverwood is an oasis of woodlands, meadows, ravines, and gardens that spans 150 acres alongside the Credit River in Mississauga. The Riverwood Conservancy is a volunteer- and member-based charity that protects and restores Riverwood, and connects people of all ages, abilities, and cultures to the wonders of nature through conservation, education, gardening, and volunteering.

Project

As a public community space, we want to ensure the members of our community can easily navigate our area for the various ways in which individuals would engage with us. Part of engaging with us is through our on-site signage. Multiple sources, such as the City of Mississauga, The Riverwood Conservancy and the Province of Ontario, create on-site signage. The challenge is understanding our signage and how it impacts the participant experience. Is it effectively working together to ensure our community members can join us on-site and have a positive and informative experience?

We hope to complete a comprehensive audit and documentation of The Riverwood Conservancy’s onsite signage. That identifies the location of the signage, the signage owner, and what the signage is communicating. Is it effectively communicating that to the end user? If yes, why? If not, what recommendations could be made to communicate better?