Hope for Kids Program Canada

We provide financial support to low-income families and single parents of school-age children in Calgary, Alberta. We work with schools in low-income areas to select the individuals in most need of help. We also work with local churches to identify those in need.

Our support currently consists of grocery gift card donations to families living below the poverty line, as based on the most recent notice of assessment. We also provide support for families to identify other resources available to them in the city of Calgary: free or low cost food programs, low income housing, shelters, and work support.

We work with schools in low-income areas to select the individuals in most need of help. We also work with local churches to identify those in need. We are planning to expand this program to more provide more frequent help, so that it makes more of an impact for each family in need (eg. provide 4 $250 grocery gift cards per year instead of 2), as well as provide more in-kind support (eg. monthly food hampers for pickup at schools, winter clothing, school supplies, Christmas toys), as we obtain more funding. Our goal is to help 30 families per year, plus deliver in-kind supplies to be distributed to children in school once each quarter. Our current revenue allows for approximately 5-10 families, and one school donation event per year.

We also support local organizations who have similar goals and values.  Over the 2016 Easter weekend, we purchased and donated $5000 of in-kind supplies to the YWCA Calgary. We purchased and delivered over 200lbs of rice, 100lbs of pasta, and many other essentials: cereal, canned food, pasta sauce, baby food, diapers, sanitary napkins, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

This was our a first project in our lineup of donations to help Canadian families and communities, and carries through with our mission of helping with basic needs of life, right here at home.  YWCA's work is focused on women’s support services related to family violence prevention, homelessness, poverty reduction, exclusion, and community-based supports for children and families.