Inspiration 100 donates $125,000 to 10 local charities

The Inspiration 100 Association is donating $125,000 to 10 local charities. Sept. 25, 2025. (Source: WindsorEssex Community Foundation)

The Inspiration 100 Association is donating $125,000 to 10 local charities.

Each year, Inspiration 100 members nominate, review, and vote to determine which charities will receive funding through the Inspiration 100 Endowment Fund, held at the WindsorEssex Community Foundation.

Seven of the 10 local charities will each receive $10,000, two local charities will receive $15,000, and one charity will receive $25,000.

Some of the organizations receiving funds include the Windsor Residence for Young Men, Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor-Essex, Transition to Betterness, ALS Society of Windsor-Essex, and others.

Sharon Colman, co-president of ALS Society of Windsor-Essex, says they’ll receive $15,000, which will be used towards different equipment such as a power wheelchair.

“So the government will pay 75 per cent of the cost of a wheelchair, but the wheelchair for an ALS patient will come in anywhere between $25,000 and $30,000, and not everybody has the luxury of having benefits to cover the difference, so we pay the difference for that,” she explained.

Colman said this funding is critical for them, “We do not receive funding outside of our fundraising activities, and we are not part of ALS Canada, so we’re a standalone charity that’s been in existence for more than 25 years, and we cover Windsor-Essex as well as Chatham-Kent counties.”

Jason Weinberg, executive director of the Windsor Residence for Young Men, said they are receiving $25,000.

“This will be exclusively towards our transitional housing program, we offer a 10 bed facility in the downtown area, and support about 30 to 50 youth a year. The last three years we’ve had over 89 per cent success rate, so it’s going to be directed completely towards that,” he said.

Weinberg said they do not receive government funding, “There’s certainly a higher level of need, there’s no House of Sophrosyne or Hiatus House for young men. So, what we have to do is try to meet that need, and do so with the limited funding available, and grants like this from the Inspiration 100 make all the difference for us to be able to meet that need.”

Joanne Fear, regional director for Safe Families Windsor-Essex, said the $10,000 they are receiving will have a big impact, “We work with vulnerable families in the community, especially families that are at risk for losing their children. So, about 85 per cent of our clients have either grown up in care, or spent a fair amount of time with CAS (Children’s Aid Society).”

Fear said this funding will go a long way to help local families, “We’re going to use this money to help provide more food for most of our families. I know I struggle, and I’ve got a decent job, and they were struggling before the inflation and now it’s really hard.”

With this latest round of giving, Inspiration 100 has now invested $606,000 in grants to 50 charities over the past nine years.

This year’s community grants were awarded to the following organizations:

• Windsor Life Centre Ministries - $10,000
• Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Foundation - $10,000
• Transition to Betterness Dr. Michelle Prince Comfort Care Tote Program - $10,000
• The Bridge Youth Resource Centre - $10,000
• Safe Families Windsor-Essex Chapter - $10,000
• Riverside Minor Baseball Club - Miracle Park - $10,000
• Italian Canadian Handicapable Association - $10,000
• Big Brothers Big Sisters Windsor-Essex - $15,000
• ALS Society of Windsor-Essex - $15,000
• Windsor Residence for Young Men - $25,000

— Meagan Delaurier, AM800 News