Guelph, Ontario –  The Foundation for Rural Living (FRL) has partnered with 28 non-profit organisations across South-western Ontario, as part of its Rural  Development Officer Program (RDO), in partnership with RBC. The Community Partners for 2009-2010 are:

Autism Ontario – Niagara

Brant Cultural Centre Project – Paris

Children’s Treatment Centre Foundation of Chatham-Kent – Chatham

CHOICES Youth Shelter – Orangeville

Cultural Coalition of Chatham-Kent – Chatham

Elgin County Library – St. Thomas

Epilepsy Huron-Perth-Bruce – Seaforth

Everdale Environmental Learning Centre – Hillsburgh

Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario – Guelph

Gateway Rural Health Research Institute/HealthKick – Seaforth

Huron Business Development Corporation – Green Jobs Strategy – Brussels-Huron

Kimbercote Farm – Heathcote

Municipality of West Elgin – Rodney

North America Railway Hall of Fame – St. Thomas

Niagara Chapter – Native Women Inc. – Fort Erie

Niagara West Employment & Learning Resource Centres – Beamsville

Norfolk County – Simcoe

Ontario 4-H Foundation – Guelph

County of Perth – Stratford

Savour Elora – Elora

Sensational Elora – Elora

Serenity House Hospice Inc. – St. Thomas

Southampton Arts Society – Southampton

Stratford & Perth County Community Foundation – Stratford

Welland Historical Museum – Welland

Women’s Addiction Recovery Mediation – Fort Erie

Women’s Resource Centre – Beamsville

Women’s Rural Resource Centre – Strathroy

Last fall, FRL unveiled its $1.7 million Rural Development Officer Program, which places unemployed individuals as Rural Development Officers (RDOs) with rural organizations for up to one year. The program leverages resources from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (TCU), The RBC Foundation, the Co-operators, and at the community level.

“At RBC, we know the importance of investing in rural community development” says Shari Austin, Vice President and head of Corporate Citizenship at RBC. “Businesses want to locate in communities that offer a high quality of life. The RBC Foundation is proud to partner with the Foundation for Rural Living on an innovative program that invests in people, community-based organizations and rural communities.”

Dennis Deters, Senior Vice-President, Member Relations and Corporate Services of  The Co-operators Group Ltd., agrees. “Ensuring our communities are healthy and sustainable is grounded in our co-operative values. Our longstanding partnership with the Foundation for Rural Living reflects our shared commitment to support integrative solutions that create a high quality of life in rural communities.”

Clearly, the ultimate goal is quality of life, and this is reflected in the diversity of FRL’s partnering sectors. The concept of partnership extends beyond FRL and the organisation, though. Another key component of the RDO program is the relationship between
community and individual.

“The RDO Program-JCP Model invests in building the human resource, in-kind resource and fund development capacity of rural, community-based organizations to better respond to the priorities of their communities,” says Anita Hayes, Executive Director of the Foundation for Rural Living. “At the same time, it invests in people who are seeking re-entry into the workforce.”

The Foundation for Rural Living advances the rural non-profit and voluntary sector and builds sustainable rural capacity to enhance the quality of life of rural citizens. FRL’s mission is supported by The Co-operators.