MONTREAL — Bell announced today the Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund is now accepting applications for grants.
The fund is an annual program that supports organizations working to improve access to mental health and well-being support for members of Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities across Canada.
“The Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund supports local and grassroots organizations that provide access to culturally informed mental health and wellness supports and services in many diverse communities across the country. As demand for mental health care continues to increase, we are committed to supporting more organizations doing vitally important work in these communities,” said Mary Deacon, chair of Bell Let’s Talk, in a press release.
Grants of up to $200,000 payable over two to five years are awarded through the fund. The application period for this year runs from today until Aug. 16 with grant recipients being announced in January 2023.
Since its launch in 2020, the Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund has supported 28 organizations and awarded $3.35 million in grants, according to the press release.
One 2020 grant recipient, MOSAIC (pictured above), used its Diversity Fund grant to provide more than 213 counselling sessions, the release says. “Clients learned how to do self-care, manage stress and anxiety, how to come out of a toxic relationship, manage depression, how to say no, how to behave with their spouses and children, how to accept their gender, how to deal with isolation, and how to deal with homesickness,” the release explains.
One of the fund’s first recipients, the National Association of Friendship Centres, was able to increase access to more than 100 Elders, youth and community members during the Covid-19 pandemic. “This was instrumental to ensure that social connections remained and removed barriers in accessing online/in person programs and services being offered at the Friendship Centres across the country.”
For more information about the Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Fund, please click here.
Photo courtesy of Bell Let’s Talk.
