Maltby Centre Receives $20,000 from United Way and City of Kingston Community Investment Fund to Support Close to Home Project

Kingston, ON – Maltby Centre is thrilled to announce we have been awarded a $20,000 grant from the United Way and the City of Kingston’s Community Investment Fund to help launch Close to Home, a pilot program designed to address the urgent needs of children and youth with complex mental health and developmental challenges.

The Close to Home project will focus on creating a coordinated, community-based response for young people who are at risk of hospitalization, placement breakdown, or being sent out of the region for care. This important work flows from collaboration with Community Living Kingston, Family and Children’s Services of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, KidsInclusive, and Kingston Health Sciences Centre on the “Whatever It Takes” protocol, as well as a planning table additionally involving Community Living North Frontenac, Developmental Disabilities Consulting Program- Queen’s University, MCCSS and Ongwanada.

“This support from United Way and the City of Kingston is an important step toward building solutions that families in our region urgently need,” said Normandie Wragg, CEO of Maltby Centre. “Too often, children with complex needs are sent away from their homes because there are no local options. Close to Home is about changing that — and this investment allows us to begin designing a model of care that will make a lasting difference.”

“The pulse that the United Way and the City of Kingston maintains with respect to the needs of the community is so valuable,” shared Amanda Colacicco, Executive Director of Family and Children’s Services of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. “Their investment to support the Close to Home project paves the way for children and young people to get the help they need WHERE they need it, surrounded by and supported within their community. Maltby Centre’s leadership to bring this vision to reality underscores their responsiveness to this critical community need.”

The United Way and City of Kingston’s Community Investment Fund provides strategic funding to local organizations to address pressing community needs. By investing in the Close to Home project, the Maltby Centre is helping ensure children and families in Kingston have access to the right care and support when and where they need it most.