Community Foundation Awards $50,000 Total for Spring 2026 Microgrants

Spring is here, and so is a new round of our Community Microgrants! This cycle, the Community Foundation of Central Alberta is proud to support ten organizations across Central Alberta, each receiving $5,000 to fund projects that reflect the creativity and resilience of Central Alberta.

From maternal health and support for both youth and seniors, to Indigenous land-based learning and clean energy internships, this round of funding speaks to the breadth of need and innovation happening right here in our region. Here’s a look at who received support and what they’re working on:

Blackfalds FCSS – Anam Rural Youth Programming Support Initiative
Anam’s relational model meets youth and young adults where they are, providing early, preventative mental health intervention without cost, transportation barriers, or system navigation requirements. The grant will help Anam respond to increasing needs among youth experiencing exploitation risk and mental health crises who are not well-served by traditional systems. Funding will also support Anam’s mobile mental health outreach program, including staff time, transportation, and basic client supports such as food during sessions.

Care for Newcomers – Youth & Elders Film Project
This grant will enable newcomer youth in Central Alberta to participate in a professional documentary filmmaking project in partnership with Reel Youth, a nationally recognized non-profit media arts organization. Working alongside professional filmmakers over several consecutive days, youth will interview and film local elders, documenting stories of hope, survival, and resilience. The project introduces a high-quality creative arts pathway that responds directly to emerging needs around identity, belonging, and youth voice.

Ellis Bird Farm – Indigenous Land Based Learning
Funding will support the “Rooted and Rising” Indigenous Youth Summer Camp, a four-day-per-week immersive outdoor experience at Ellis Nature Centre connecting young people with the land, Cree language, and cultural teachings. Each day, a different Elder or Knowledge Keeper will partner with Ellis Nature Centre’s education team to lead sessions on native bird species, medicinal plants, Tipi Teachings, and traditional arts using materials such as wolfwillow beads and porcupine quills. The camp will be offered at no cost to Indigenous youth, with capacity for up to 50 children per day.

Family Services Central Alberta – Bridging Mothers Postpartum Peer Support
This grant will fund the development and delivery of a six-module training curriculum for the Bridging Mothers Postpartum Peer Support initiative, which pairs isolated new mothers with trained peer mentors who offer understanding, guidance, and early mental health support grounded in shared lived experience. The curriculum is informed by best practices in maternal mental health and will cover active listening, safety and crisis protocols, intercultural awareness, perinatal grief, and ongoing support resources. Strengthening this training capacity will expand the program’s reach, reduce social isolation, and improve emotional well-being for parents and infants in Red Deer and area.

Home Support Stettler & District – Insulated Meal Carriers
Funding will purchase insulated hard-cover meal carriers for the organization’s Meals on Wheels service, which consistently delivered over 4,400 meals to clients in the Town and County of Stettler in 2025. The new carriers keep meals warmer, are easier to sanitize, and are simpler for volunteers to handle, which will improve both service quality and environmental sustainability. Home Support Stettler & District serves approximately 110 clients per month across a range of in-home services, helping seniors and people with disabilities live safely and independently in their own homes.

Ponoka Youth Centre – BGC Wolf Creek Youth Life Skills Programs
This grant will support three targeted programs at BGC Wolf Creek Clubs in Ponoka, Lacombe, Blackfalds, and Rimbey, offered at no cost to participants throughout the school year. Thrive is a drop-in mental health and positive relationships program incorporating peer engagement and an evidence-based curriculum. Lead Up is a leadership development program building skills in resilience, decision-making, conflict resolution, and community service. Learn On provides academic tutoring, homework support, career exploration, and goal setting. Together, these programs address the social, emotional, and educational challenges facing youth in communities where resources are limited.

Red Deer Food Bank – Agrivoltaics Internship Development
Funding will serve as a wage subsidy to secure a paid Indigenous youth internship connected to an agrivoltaics applied research initiative with Red Deer Polytechnic and ReThink Red Deer. The $5,000 grant will be applied directly to the intern’s wages, leveraging additional support from Indigenous Clean Energy’s Generation Power Program to ensure the placement is fully delivered. This investment moves from planning to implementation, building a repeatable, paid career pathway at the intersection of clean energy and local food systems — and reducing reliance on short-term, piecemeal staffing and volunteers.

Red Deer Native Friendship Society – Sustainable Medicines
This grant will support the construction of a greenhouse to grow traditional medicines,  including sweetgrass, sage, and tobacco, that are used daily in ceremony, programming, client supports, and community events at the friendship centre. After growing medicines indoors, the organization is ready to expand to a dedicated greenhouse that will allow them to supply all programs and services sustainably and without the need to purchase externally. Growing their own medicines ensures the spiritual integrity of cultural practices, as the medicines will be tended by those who understand the protocols involved in growing them for ceremonial use.

Turning Point Society – Transition Funding
Following the sudden loss of core provincial funding in October 2025, this grant will help Turning Point Society bridge critical harm reduction services to rural clients and satellite sites who have been left without access to supplies and support since that time. Funds will be used to secure and deliver safer supply orders to satellite sites that have not received shipments in months, and to cover personnel costs for outreach trips to these communities. This bridging support is life-saving and time-sensitive, helping prevent the spread of blood-borne infections while the organization pursues longer-term funding solutions.

Wolf Creek Public Schools – Indigenous Training in Trades
This grant will enable Wolf Creek Public School to develop and enhance programming that supports student mental health, social-emotional learning, and equitable access to opportunities across Ponoka and surrounding communities. Specifically, funding will support targeted Indigenous wellness workshops, expanded mentorship and peer-support programs, and access to essential learning materials for under-resourced students. The initiative also aims to strengthen Wolf Creek’s role as a community hub by developing collaborative programs with local organizations, families, and stakeholders that foster leadership, civic responsibility, and cultural responsiveness.

We are grateful to each of these organizations for the meaningful work they do every day. Their projects remind us that when communities invest health, culture, belonging, and opportunity, the impact goes far beyond any single grant.