The Government of Ontario Invests $12,900 into CAYR Community Connections

On Monday, MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy met with the team at CAYR Community Connections to hear more about the $12,900 Resilient Communities Fund grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) that is being used to help the agency recover and build its resiliency from impacts of COVID-19 by creating a strategic plan. The project will be completed in a year’s time and will help CAYR to better serve its clients and York Region over the years to come.

“For years, CAYR Community Connections has created safe and inclusive spaces for members of our York Region community to access the specialized services and care they need,” said Dawn Gallagher Murphy, MPP for Newmarket—Aurora. “This funding provided through the Ontario Trillium Foundation has helped CAYR to create a strategic plan to meet the emerging and evolving needs of our vulnerable community members.” 

Thanks to the $12,900 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, members from stakeholder groups will inform the strategic planning process. As part of the strategic planning process, stakeholders will work together guided by a consultant to set strategic directions, goals, and develop objectives for CAYR’s work.

“The impact of this Ontario Trillium Foundation grant cannot be overstated,” noted Marie Morton, Executive Director of CAYR. “This grant will allow us to chart our course for the next five years, so that we can know where to focus our efforts and be able to measure our success.” Michelle Sudeyko, Board Chair of CAYR shared, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank OTF for their continued support. Through COVID and beyond we have many initiatives that require a slightly different lens; a slight shift in our perspective to create new goals to further our growth.”

CAYR’s mission and vision is to create safe, confidential, and inclusive spaces and services in York Region where people can access dignified support and meaningfully engage in self-determined pathways to well-being. We envision an informed, healthy, stigma-free and compassionate community. We work with people living with, affected by, or at risk of HIV/AIDS and Hep C; people who use drugs; people who identify as 2SLGBTQ+; and other vulnerable and marginalized community members. To learn more, please visit the website at: www.cayrcc.org

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations celebrates 40 years of grant-making in Ontario and making a lasting impact in communities. Last year, OTF invested over $110M into 1,022 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Visit otf.ca to learn more.