2021 WELLNESS INNOVATION GRANT AWARDED TO HOSPICE GEORGIAN TRIANGLE 

(Published Spring 2021 - CGMHF Newsletter) 

The Wellness Innovation Fund is a partnership between CGMHF, the Collingwood hospital, healthcare service providers and community wellness stakeholders throughout South Georgian Bay.

Recently, Jory Pritchard-Kerr, CEO of CGMHF, joined Barbara & Larry Hall, grant founders, as they presented Janet Fairbridge, Director of the Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation with a $10,000 cheque as recipients of the 2021 Wellness Innovation Grant.

On behalf of himself and wife Barbara, Larry Hall shared the following comments on this impactful donation:

“Barb and I, along with our more than a dozen donors, are delighted that Hospice Georgian Triangle has received the Fund’s 2021 Wellness Innovation Grant. Since its creation in 2018, the Innovation Fund has provided seed monies to now six projects, helping to mobilize the considerable health and wellness talent in South Georgian Bay. Hospice Georgian Triangle’s new Palliative Pain and Symptom Management Clinic and Community Support Programs will be situated in Downtown Collingwood. These initiatives will be particularly important to the growing need for support of patients and their families, including a particular focus on grief and bereavement support of children and youth. We are pleased to join other community and institutional donors to help finance the Hospice’s new downtown facility and the engagement of its dedicated professional and volunteer staff.”

Janet Fairbridge, Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation Director, also provided her thoughts on the fund, the process and programming plans:

“Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation is very grateful to Larry and Barbara Hall and the CGMH Foundation for their generous support through the 2021 Wellness Innovation Grant. Hospice Georgian Triangle has experienced a 10% increase in demand for our Community Support Programs since the beginning of the pandemic. Through continued community partnerships like this one, Hospice Georgian Triangle will be able to expand our Community Support Programs, including new grief and bereavement supports specifically for Children and Youth, and our new Palliative Pain and Symptom Management Clinic at our storefront offices now open on Hurontario Street. I would encourage other local organizations who provide wellness programming for our local citizens to consider applying for this grant in the future. The CGMH Foundation team is very supportive and helpful in the process. Thank you to Larry and Barbara for their vision and leadership, and to the donors to the Wellness Innovation Fund, for making it possible for our organizations to work together in order to enhance the wellness of CGMH patients and community members of the South Georgian Bay region!”

We look forward to sharing updates on this and other Wellness Innovation Fund projects in the future. If you or your organization have an innovative wellness project and want to apply for funding from the CGMH Wellness Innovation Fund, please visit our website for more information.