United Way of York Region’s (UWYR) $150,000 Strength Investments funding is a real game-changer, according to community groups and leaders like Garland Yates, a renowned North American expert on civic involvement.

“Strength Investments is simple and transformational,” said Yates, a former Senior Fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Richmond Hill at the March 30 United Way’s Meeting House. “Its power lies in funding everyday people and groups, already at work in their communities, to identify and solve their own priorities. Civic participation is the single most sustainable way to solve our pressing social issues.”

Launched in October, United Way’s Strength Investments funds projects that bring residents, community, business, faith groups and agencies together; work on simple and collaborative responses to complex social issues; clearly demonstrate the impact of the project on community priorities.

Recipients of funding include The York Region Chapter for Children’s Mental Health, which will be receiving $11,775 for its Together for Families Mental Health program, which will help expand this existing network of parents with children who have mental illness as they provide peer support, education and advocacy to access much needed services; $53,202 to Canadian Mental Health Association, York Region Branch, for its Community Development in Action project, to support the volunteer Board of Directors and residents in the Charles Darrow Co-op in Aurora as they identify and work on solutions to their priorities — helping youth and accessing jobs, to name a few; and John Howard Society, which is to get $18,000 for Enabling Economic Independence, a collaborative to bring together police, service providers and York residents who are facing barriers to accessing jobs and housing due to involvement in the criminal justice system.

Helen Murray, Vice Chair of UWYR’s Board of Directors and Chair, Community Investment Committee, observed, “Little did we know that this innovative, seed fund of $150,000 would yield 31 applications totaling over $1.3 million in requests — a full 10 times the funding supply.”

“There are no other funding supports available for informal groups like ours,” stated Donna Massel, a parent from Together for Families Mental Health. “This funding from United Way invests in the strength and resilience of families across the region who are coping every single day with their child’s mental illness. It will allow our informal support network to care for each other, reach out to 100 more families, share information and advocate for much needed services close to home.”

“Strength Investments is United Way at its best,” remarked Daniele Zanotti, CEO of United Way of York Region. “Uniting people and resources to improve our communities — and then getting the heck out of the way and watching it succeed and change lives. I am looking forward to the outcomes of these inaugural projects and ecstatic about our 2011/2012 funding announcements — expected in the upcoming months.”