Our faith guides us to help our neighbors in need.

“….whatever you do for the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you do for me…” Matthew 25:40

As a Catholic Community, we are called by Jesus to care for others. At HCCF, we strive to do this by providing financial assistance to students and their families in need – creating Hope, Dignity and Equity so that students can access learning and education without financial barriers to success.

We raise funds to help HCDSB students in need with:

• Basic necessities, such as food and clothing, school supplies, shoes, eyeglasses, personal hygiene items, and learning technology
• School activities with a fee, such as school trips, team fees, and other learning materials

We provide funding to purchase these needs to help students overcome financial barriers to learning….so they can succeed in school.

Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed:

But an Achievement Gap can form between students from low-income households and their peers. The ability for a student to fully engage in their learning journey – including technology, trips, teams, and other projects that sometimes require funds to participate – can make an enormous difference in their learning success.

In addition, social exclusion, shame, anger, stigma, low self-esteem, low confidence, and loss of hope are all issues related to student poverty. The ability to fully participate in their education alongside their peers alleviates the Mental Health Challenges that accompany many of our HCDSB students in need.

HCDSB staff apply for student financial assistance

Privacy and dignity of students and their families are protected by our financial application process, which requires the teacher / staff person of an identified student to apply for assistance on their behalf. This process also helps to build stronger ties between students, their schools, their families, and creates a positive commitment to the ongoing process of education.

Thanks to our donors we have helped:

• A homeless mother & son on the path back to stability.
• A family, whose mother has cancer, ease their worry during her treatments.
• A young girl to increase her self-esteem and improve her social skills by experiencing a school trip of her lifetime.
• A high school student with family, social and mental health issues to experience success through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program.
• Siblings with their sense of worth and feelings of acceptance by providing back to school clothes and supplies.
• A boy to maintain his dignity by keeping his feet dry and warm with new boots during cold winter days.

“The child is the clear beneficiary of this collaboration”

“This child was supported by the Foundation last year and the impact on her life (and that of her mother) has been literally life changing for them.   The funding was a concrete demonstration for the mother that we genuinely cared about the family’s wellbeing and has cemented a very trusting relationship between the mother and HCDSB.  The child is the clear beneficiary of this collaboration!”

HCDSB Social Worker