JULY 18, 2024

COMMUNITY VITALITY 2024

LIFE*SPIN

Empowering London’s Low Income Families: A Fresh Approach to Food Security

GRANT: $350,000 FOR 3 YEARS

A Community Vitality grant of $350,000 over three years will support LIFE*SPIN’s “Food Foundations for Self-Reliance” project which aims to increase food security among low-income families by expanding the organization’s successful food-focused programs: Community Food Box and the Pocket-Sized Farm. LIFE*SPIN (Low-Income Family Empowerment Sole-Support Parents Information Network) has been at the forefront of providing programs and resources to enhance the lives of low-income families through education, advocacy, and community building since 1989.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, LIFE*SPIN started a partnership with On The Move Organics to provide families with free food boxes of fruits and vegetables. The Community Food Box Project, as it's known, has delivered 5,536 free food boxes of fresh produce, enough to prepare 100,664 meals, since 2020. With over 71% locally grown and 70% certified organic food, the Community Food Box also supports farmers and sustainable agriculture in the London and Middlesex region.

But it doesn't stop there. LIFE*SPIN’s Pocket-Sized Farm program equips families with the skills and resources needed to grow food in their backyards and neighbourhoods, helping to create long-term food security.

“This project is about so much more than food. It's about building a healthier, more resilient community. It's about giving a voice to those often unheard and empowering them to shape their own futures,” says Meagen Ciufo, Program Coordinator, LIFE*SPIN  “Like all of our work, Food Foundations for Self-Reliance will involve individuals with lived experience in every step to ensure it remains grounded in the real needs of the people it serves.”

With the Community Vitality grant funding, LIFE*SPIN plans to reach out to five new communities with their food security work and grow to partner with 100 families directly.  Leveraging partnerships and additional funding, they're poised to make a lasting impact in feeding families, nourishing hope, and fostering change.

Find out more about the other Community Vitality recipients:

• Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services: Francophone Ethnocultural Friendship Bench ($140,181 for 3 years)

• Changing Ways: Collaborating for a Safer London ($150,000 for 2 years)

• Forest City Gallery: Collaboratory Community Outreach Program ($120,775 for 3 years)

• London InterCommunity Health Centre: Women of the World (WOW) – Childcare provision ($63,000 for 3 years)

• London Public Library: Transitional Case Worker Program ($280,000 for 3 years)

• Low-Income Family Empowerment Sole-Support Parents Information Network (LIFE*SPIN): Empowering London's Low-Income Families: A Fresh Approach to Food Security ($350,000 for 3 years)

• Regional HIV/AIDS Connection: MAGICAL (Multicultural Accessible Gatherings Improving 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Affirmation in London) ($67,000 for 1 year)

• Urban Roots London in partnership with Siloam United Church: Cultivating Food Security Through Urban Agriculture ($282,354 for 3 years)