The 2024 recipients for the community stream of the Cultivating Opportunity Grant have been awarded.
Perth County council voted at its Thursday meeting to allocate $2,500 to the Huron Perth Agricultural Science Centre, United Way Perth-Huron, and Stratford Summer Music.
All three organizations and their respective projects were recommended by Perth County staff.
“As we went through we looked at eligibility with respect to organization as well as (the) project and we made the assessment based off of the policy itself," said Tyler Sager, manager of legislative services and clerk for the county
The Cultivating Opportunity Grant is meant to help community organizations, either not-for-profits or registered charities, improve the quality of life for residents, while also supporting the goals of the county’s strategic plan.
The Huron Perth Agriculture Science Centre’s project is to host community engagement sessions with local stakeholders and the public, Sager noted.
The United Way’s project is to support the LGBTQ2S+ community and to use the grant to support an ongoing study in the area.
Lastly, Stratford Summer Music will use the grant to go towards the barge music the organization puts on every year, a free musical event that takes place on the Avon River.
Applications to this year’s grant began in September, closing just a few months later.
Along with the awarded organizations, Here for Now Theatre, Camp Bimini, North Perth Seniors Centre, and the Bedford Park School Community Group also put in applications for the grant.
Sager noted in his presentation that the other projects were marked as ineligible for the grant due to the policy framework.
A total of $10,000 was available for the grant. With only $7,500 awarded, that leaves some left over in the pot. That money may be put in a reserve to fund future grant budgets, the report noted.
After presenting the applications, Sager said that staff intends to bring another annual report on the viability of the Cultivating Opportunity Grant to a future council meeting.
In 2023, four organizations were awarded the grant: Perth County Transition Home for Women, Perth County 4-H Association, The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth, and North Perth Seniors Centre.
No completion report was submitted by the North Perth Seniors Centre regarding the usage of the grant, but the other three organizations confirmed in their own reports that the money was used and the projects were completed.
