Benevolent Funding
Definition
The Benevolent Fund is a resource that helps individuals with an array of issues that may require emergency assistance.
Why This Matters
Prairie Mountain Health and Brandon Ministerial Association partnered in 2008 to provide an effective approach to respond to the multiple requests from individuals needing emergency assistance. This collaboration resulted in the creation of the Brandon Benevolent Fund. This fund remains a successful operation today.
Access to the Benevolent Fund is through the 7th Street Health Access Centre Service Navigator. The Service Navigator assesses the individual’s needs and concerns. Therefore, the intent is to assist individuals with problem-solving, skill-building, identifying short- and long-term options, and connecting individuals to appropriate resources. Above all, the goal is to reduce the frequency and severity of the crisis/emergencies. Upon assessment, if the need/concern is appropriate for Benevolent Fund use, and no other option is available to the individual(s), the Service Navigator may then utilize dollars from the fund.
7th Street Health Access Centre staff monitor for repeat users of the fund with a view to discouraging repeat usage. The hope is that with appropriate screening, supports and interventions, individuals will experience less need to tap into emergency funds on a regular basis.
Types of situations* that may be assisted through this fund, but this list is not exhaustive:
- Gas money/bus ticket
- Short-term medication assistance for the working poor/individuals with no benefit coverage
- Baby formula/diapers, etc.
- Emergency short-term accommodations (if ineligible for other resources)
Data Source
Prairie Mountain Health (2021). 7th street health access centre. Retrieved from https://www.pmh-mb.ca/index.php/7th-street-health-access-centre
Reference
Prairie Mountain Health (2021). 7th street health access centre. Retrieved from https://www.pmh-mb.ca/index.php/7th-street-health-access-centre
Benevolent Funding in the Sustainable Development Goals
Click on the SDG to reveal more information
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.90 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.
Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food.
If done right, agriculture, forestry and fisheries can provide nutritious food for all and generate decent incomes, while supporting people-centred rural development and protecting the environment.
Right now, our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded. Climate change is putting even more pressure on the resources we depend on, increasing risks associated with disasters such as droughts and floods. Many rural women and men can no longer make ends meet on their land, forcing them to migrate to cities in search of opportunities.
A profound change of the global food and agriculture system is needed if we are to nourish today’s 815 million hungry and the additional 2 billion people expected by 2050.
The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development, and is central for hunger and poverty eradication.
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues.