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New Children’s Aid Society (HCAS) House partly funded by Oakville Community Foundation

HCAS | Annie Spratt
HCAS | Annie Spratt

A new home is being added to the Halton Children’s Aid Society’s (HCAS) roster thanks to a trilateral impact investment by the community foundations of Oakville, Hamilton and Burlington.

The residential home, in Burlington, Ont., will be one of three youth shelters that are part of HCAS’ “Bridging the Gap” program. The program helps homeless and at-risk youth, ages 16 to 24, to readily access support. The Burlington home is just one of several properties CAS has within Halton.

“This is a unique investment, the first syndicated mortgage by three community foundations and the first time the Oakville and Burlington Community Foundations have made a local impact loan. We are proud to have found a wonderful first project to invest our assets.” Wendy Rinella, Oakville Community Foundation, Terry Cooke, Hamilton Community Foundation and Colleen Mulholland, Burlington Foundation.

Affordable housing is an area of considerable need in the Halton region and all three community foundation’s work to fund new solutions to these systemic issues. Research from the various foundations’ Vital Signs reports has identified the lack of affordable housing as a critical need in these communities.

This investment will help Halton Children’s Aid Society (HCAS), to provide a home that will serve as transitional housing for six youth as well as a mentor.

Residents will also be supported by on site support staff. The youth-directed program is committed to helping homeless or at-risk youth meet their goals.

The HCAS received 100 percent financing from the three community foundations for the home. Ongoing operational costs are funded in whole by The Region of Halton.

Title insurance and the appraisal were provided for free by Oakville-based FCT, the largest provider of title insurance and related services in Canada.

“Playing a role in supporting this new home allowed us to impact local youth affected by homelessness in a meaningful way. At FCT, we give back to the communities where we live and work by focusing our efforts on youth homelessness prevention. This home will help take youth off the streets – and to say that we got to be a part of that is amazing,” Michael LeBlanc, CEO, FCT.

The house and resident programming is fully operational now, with all residents receiving the support and guidance they otherwise would have gone without. The experience has been a very positive one for all community foundations involved, and serves as a great model for future investment opportunities.

About the Oakville Community Foundation

The Foundation is in its 25th year of “Building Community Through Philanthropy”. The Foundation is a registered charity that has granted $37 million to charities since 1994, and supports the prudent investment of over $100 million in charitable assets.

The Foundation welcomes families, businesses and residents into our philanthropic community and offers a means of making a one time donation that can continue to benefit the community year after year, or have an immediate and significant impact. We offer everyone in Oakville the opportunity to be a philanthropist.

The Foundation is one of the largest members of a national network of over 190 Canadian community foundations.