Menu

Your Impact

Helping Kids Be All They Can Be 28,852 People served 7 Agencies 18 Programs
Building Strong & Healthy Communities ​ 31,078 People served ​ 31 Agencies ​ 54 Programs
Moving People from Poverty to Possibility 11,767 People served 16 Agencies 46 Programs

All funding is disbursed to programs and services that fit within United Way’s three Community Impact Areas.

Helping Kids Be All That They Can Be

Helping children and youth reach their fullest potential

Our goal is to ensure children and youth are valued and supported members of the community with opportunities and resources to help them reach their fullest potential.

Our programs and initiatives for children and youth help them reach their full potential.  We focus on:

We Focus On

Learning

  • Readiness to learn
  • Graduating high school

Connectedness

  • Empathy and positive relationships

Wellbeing

  • Resilience, coping skills, self-worth and confidence
  • Healthy decision making

Impact

24,534 nutritious snacks and meals were provided to students in JK-12 at schools throughout KFL&A

616 children and youth were connected with a positive adult mentor

706 children received support to enable them to participate in after-school programming

What We Know

  • Children are better able to learn when they are not hungry
  • High school graduation often breaks the cycle of poverty
  • Early intervention programs help the development of resilience and healthy coping skills and can prevent crisis
  • The #1 reason youth are homeless is due to family conflict, followed by addictions and mental health issues
  • Mentored children are twice as likely to believe that school is fun and that doing well academically is important
  • 355 high school students had tutoring and mentoring to help them graduate
  • 1,500 children and youth were engaged with social and recreational after-school activities
  • 695 young girls attended programs to increase their self-esteem and learn healthy behaviors

Your Impact

“My mentor is very easy to talk to. I feel safe and comfortable around her. We have a good friendship. The best part about having a Big Sister is that they’re always there for you and they help you with stuff. She has helped me through some really hard days, and it feels good knowing she will be there no matter what.”

 -Little Sister, 13 years old,  Big Brothers Big Sisters of KFL&A  

Building Strong and Healthy Communities

Supporting personal wellbeing and strengthening neighbourhoods

Our goal is to improve opportunities for people to access programs and supports that empower them to overcome barriers, build resilience, reduce isolation and be part of a caring, inclusive community.

Our programs and initiatives help individuals and families, supporting personal well-being and strengthening neighbourhoods in the following areas:

We Focus On

Connection

  • Access to community services and supports

Physical & Mental Wellbeing

  • Independent living for seniors & people with physical disabilities
  • Support for people with mental health issues

Safety

  • Safety from violence, abuse, neglect

Impact

566 people accessed affordable and culturally appropriate counselling geared towards sexual assault survivors

2,937 individuals living with physical, sensory or pain related disabilities received support

254 people received support for isolation through outreach or virtual programming

4,521 people accessed community services and navigation supports

What We Know

  • Having programs in their neighbourhood helps to reduce social isolation for people living in poverty
  • Supportive relationships and connections help people build self-sufficiency, resiliency, and decisions to make healthy choices
  • Supporting people with hearing or visual disabilities increases their ability to live independently and lead productive, healthy lives
  • 2,063 people had access to mental health supports and resources
  • 1,515 people improved social, relationship and coping skills by accessing affordable professional counselling
  • 351 women and their children left violent and abusive relationships by accessing safe emergency shelter, transitional housing and ongoing supports

Your Impact

“As a Hearing Care Counsellor providing services throughout the Kingston area, I see firsthand the satisfaction, comfort, and relief a client experiences when we are able to provide an assistive device through our donation program. As we provide services for many vulnerable and marginalized clients who are not able to afford a device to support their hearing loss, it is rewarding to have the opportunity to donate a device that impacts the client in so many ways. United Way makes this possible.”

– Canadian Hearing Services

Moving People from Poverty to Possibility

Meeting basic human needs and moving people out of poverty

Our goal is to help people engage in their community by strengthening neighbourhood revitalization efforts, reducing poverty, and improving access to affordable housing.

Our programs and initiatives meet basic human needs, move people out of poverty and focus on:

We Focus On

Housing Stability

  • Access to emergency shelter
  • Access to safe, affordable housing
  • Resources and supports to maintain safe and stable housing

Food Security

  • Access to affordable and nutritious food

Financial Security

  • Financial security
  • Meaningful, stable employment

Impact

455,521 meals were served through food programs, including takeout, food boxes and in-person meals

8,466 seniors had access to food through food boxes, meal programs and emergency food banks

1,047 children and youth from low-income households received winter boots

395 individuals had access to dental care through emergency funding

What We Know

  • Finding and maintaining safe, affordable housing are basic needs and require supports to avoid situations and conditions that lead to housing instability
  • People need access to nutritious food to meet their basic needs and decrease life disruptions from hunger
  • Helping people to become financially stable and offering supports to avoid financial crisis can prevent chronic poverty, precarious housing and food insecurity
  • 1,164 people at risk of eviction received support, advocacy, and legal aid to remain housed
  • 1,115 children and youth started the school year with school supplies and backpacks
  • 398 job seekers with low incomes were outfitted in professional clothes and received training and supports to help them find employment

Your Impact

“People ask me why I help deliver Seniors’ Food boxes every month, and my answer is simple – I get to make a profound difference in the lives of the seniors I visit. I have become friends with many on my delivery route and they look forward to seeing a friendly face. Many say this is the only fresh produce they get in a month.”  
                                 
–Seniors’ Food Box volunteer delivery driver

"My wife and I have always donated to the United Way KFL&A because we know the donated funds are used in our community. In my retirement, I have become more aware of the people in need in our community. I encourage you to support these vital programs by volunteering and by making a donation. Through the United Way you make a difference in the lives of so many."
Jim Parker
"With our United Way funding, we go right to the grocery store or a local supplier and purchase the food that helps a student take advantage of everything school has to offer. You can be confident that your donation to the United Way stays here, in KFL&A and supports students in our community"
Brenda MooreFood Sharing Project
“United Way came in and adopted us and things changed dramatically, we didn’t have people waiting on the step for a bed in the winter. They stay as long as they need to and we help them get into transitional housing. We provide them with structure and help them. Because of United Way we get to help raise these children and I feel honoured and so proud to know them.”
Denise LambKingston Youth Shelter
Donate

United Way of KFL&A would like to acknowledge this traditional territory’s longer existence and its significance for the Indigenous people who lived and continue to live on Turtle Island.

We are situated on traditional Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat land. There are Métis and other non-status First People from many Indigenous Nations present in our community today. This acknowledgement symbolizes the United Way KFL&A’s first step, of many, along this path toward Indigenous reconciliation, in a respectful manner.

TOP
×