“The Effective and Accountable Charities Act” has enabled us to create more equitable access to funding for grassroots organizations.

The UWEM Community Fund – is open to all registered charities, qualified donees and non-qualified donees meeting stated criteria.

Organizations must be providing service in Elgin Middlesex and preference will be given to organizations located in Elgin Middlesex.

Note: Organizations currently funded through UWEM Community Fund are not guaranteed funding after March 31, 2026.

Funding criteria

Funding applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Program reduces or prevents poverty in our community
• Program prioritizes service to one or more equity-deserving populations
• Program operates using the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’
• Program is led by an organization that is sustainable, stable and strong
• Program addresses an urgent need facing our community

The UWEM Community Fund serves City of London, Middlesex County, City of St Thomas and Elgin County.

UWEM focuses on five impact areas that create opportunities for everyone in our communities to live a better life:

• Essential Needs
• Housing Stability
• Mental Health Supports
• Inclusion & Belonging
• Gender-Based Violence

More information about our impact areas can be found in our Community Impact Agenda

In addition to meeting poverty reduction and/or prevention requirements, the program must align with one impact area in the UWEM Community Impact Strategy. A program may have several objectives and may fit under more than one of the impact areas.

Agencies must select one impact area by considering the following:

• Choose the area that most clearly aligns with the primary focus of the program
• Choose the area for which the agency has the best ability to measure and report on. Successful applicants will be required to report outputs and outcomes for the impact area selected.

For all funding, UWEM emphasizes poverty as a way to focus our work and impact in the community.

UWEM defines the state of poverty as one in which income is too low to provide for an adequate standard of living. Poverty is about more than income and is also about exclusion from resources, opportunities, and connections. For UWEM, poverty is not always about an income-test or an income cut-off line.

For the purpose of this application process, poverty reduction and/or prevention programs must:

• Serve people who are living in poverty and/or;
• Serve people at risk of living in poverty and/or;
• Lessen the effects of poverty and/or;
• Prevent poverty and/or;
• Reduce the incidence of poverty in our community and/or;
• Address the root causes of poverty.

Poverty and other social challenges impact everyone, but some groups and communities are disproportionately impacted because of deeply embedded social and structural inequities. The ongoing legacy of systemic discrimination and racism continue to influence our current system of laws, our institutions, and our culture. As a result, many people in the community are denied opportunities to reach their full potential. These populations are considered to be equity-deserving.

For the purpose of this application process, UWEM has prioritized the following equity-deserving populations (in no specific order and not limited to):

• Collaboration with Indigenous people – this includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
• Minority Language populations
• New Canadians, Immigrants and Refugees
• People living in Poverty
• People with Disabilities
• Racialized Groups
• Rural Communities
• Vulnerable Seniors and Caregivers
• Women and Girls

This principle recognizes that individuals with lived experience (and/or current program participants) know what is best for themselves and their community, and that their participation is integral to the success of the program. Therefore, when the principle is used, the agency allows the needs and aspirations of the people being served to guide their work by providing meaningful opportunities for participation in program planning, leadership, evaluation, promotion, etc.