United Way Drives Community Innovation

United Way of Peterborough & District announced the recipients of the organization’s Innovation Fund launched in February 2018. A total of $75,000 will be shared between two ground-breaking projects addressing issues of housing and homelessness in our community. United Way Peterborough’s funding model is based on extensive engagement and consultation with the community. The Innovation funding stream was developed based on advice from close to 2000 donors, partner agency representatives, volunteers and community leaders.

United Way will be providing $37,000 in funding to Homeward Bound. Homeward Bound as a whole Community partnership, provides the most vulnerable women and their children an opportunity to grow, to achieve a sense of wellness and belonging, have improved self-esteem and sustainable employment that will allow them the capacity to manage their own personal finances, build assets and be contributing members of the community rather than users of a service and a drain on the economy.  Jim Hendry, Chair of United Way’s Community Impact Committee stated “United Way was very interested in funding the work of the Homeward Bound program due to its innovative wrap-around approach which has not been seen before in our community.”

The second project funded by United Way Peterborough is the Host Homes project lead by A Way Home Peterborough. United Way will be providing $38,112 in innovation funding to kick-start the development of a Host Homes Project in Peterborough. Host Homes are a community-based, early intervention and prevention program for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Host Homes provide an alternative to emergency shelter, couch surfing and sleeping outdoors by matching youth at risk of homelessness with community volunteers willing to provide a safe place to stay in their home. This can be a short-term, respite stay or for longer than a year to support transition to permanent housing depending on the youth’s situation.

Jim Russell, CEO, stated “these projects speak to United Way’s strategic investment of donor dollars in our community. United Way is currently funding multiple projects working to address homelessness and the effects of poverty in our community.  These two projects allow us to support new ideas and approaches that also work further upstream to begin to prevent the issue from happening in the first place.”

United Way will be announcing the recipients of its neighbourhood funding at a press conference on Thursday May 10th.

Maegan (YES Shelter for Youth & Families) and Maddie (Host Homes)

Jim Russell, CEO United Way Peterborough & District

Bonnie (Ptbo Housing Corp) and Sheila (COMPASS)

Social Posts

Happy Family Day!

Today, we celebrate the love, support, and strength that families bring to our communities.

This year, we’ve investing in parenting supports for new and expecting parents, building strong and healthy communities where children, families and you can thrive.

Every act of care helps build stronger, more connected neighbourhoods 🏠.
For 1 in 4 Canadians who menstruate, period products aren't always in the budget. You can help address period poverty in our community by contributing to our Period Promise campaign.

This year, we're sharing our running total by item type on our website [link in bio], so you can see what we have, and what we still need, as we aim to offer a greater diversity of product to residents experiencing period poverty. - We're also accepting monetary donations, which will allow us to purchase items in bulk.

Product donations will be accepted at the United Way office (277 Stewart Street), Monday-Friday, 9AM-5PM until Friday March 13. [Please note: We are closed February 16 for Family Day, and February 26 for Peterborough Performs and will not be present to accept drop offs.] 

If you’d like to get more involved with our 2026 Period Promise campaign, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team! We’d be happy to help you setup a collection at your workplace, share educational resources, or chat about any other ideas you may have.
From Campaign Launch to now - this community keeps showing up. We’re in the final stretch of our Community Campaign, and every act of generosity still matters ❤️!
When words aren’t enough to express how you feel, show your love with tickets to United Way Peterborough & District’s 50/50 raffle! 💖

For the month of love, we’re offering a guaranteed grand prize of ✨$1,000✨ A prize so irresistible, we wouldn’t blame you if you grabbed a few tickets for yourself too. 

👉 Still wondering if you should enter? Just know, that even if you don’t win, your community will. Fifty percent of the proceeds from every ticket sold go directly back to our community so we get the chance to spread the love throughout Peterborough.

🔗 Follow the link in our bio to enter our February 27th draw
🎉 Sponsor Spotlight: Friends of the Stage 🎉

💛 A huge thank you to our Friend of the Stage – Supporting Sponsors for stepping up in support of housing and homelessness initiatives in our community. Your contribution helps make this event possible, and we’re proud to celebrate you at the event and through our virtual auction presented by @llf_lawyers_llp (which launches in less than a week)!

Want to support this work and enjoy an incredible night of local live music and impact?

🎟️ Tickets are on sale now — grab yours and join us at the show on Thursday, February 27th from 7-11pm @ptboshowplace 

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