By Chebucto West Community Health Board
Chebucto West Community Health Board Awards Fourteen Not-for-profit Organizations Wellness Funds. Each year, Nova Scotia Health designates funds for each Community Health Board (CHB) in the province to distribute as Wellness Funds (WF).
Community Health Boards work with partners to build healthier communities. The boards are comprised of volunteers from neighbourhoods who work with Nova Scotia Health to support community-based projects and address issues such as housing, poverty, food insecurity, early childhood education and social isolation just to name a few.
Wellness Funds are for groups working to improve health in their communities and must address the health priorities identified by the CHB in their current community health plan. Wellness Funds support a health promotion or population health-based approach to wellness. This model seeks to maintain and improve the health of people and the communities in which they live through partnerships, and by addressing those aspects of a person’s life that determine their health.
The Central Region Zone consists of seven Community Health Boards. Chebucto West Community Health Board covers an area that includes the Sambro and Prospect loops, Armdale, part of Fairview-Clayton Park-Larry Uteck and the area south of the 103 to Hubbards. Between all central health boards there were 170 applications. Fourteen of those applications were approved under the Chebucto West board. The recipient organizations were provided a cheque by Dustin Boudreau (Co-Chair for the Chebucto West Community Health Board) at an awarding event in Spryfield on February 16, 2023.
Yvonne Noel with the Square Roots Fairview/Clayton Park said “For us it is not just about the food, it is about the community. These funds will allow us to expand the food support we offer to more people and provide more opportunities.”
The Wellness Funds Grant will reopen for applications on March 6th of this year. Organizations who wish to apply for funding can access information on the Nova Scotia Health website. Those who wish to be on one of the seven boards in their community can contact a board coordinator through contact information also provided on the Nova Scotia Health Website.
