The QHO Grant

QHO’s Youth-Led Health Initiative Grant aims to support youth-led initiatives related to health, leadership, and empowerment within our partner communities. The grant will provide funding and mentorship for youths who are interested in planning and implementing an initiative in their community. 

The goal for this grant is to foster the creation of original, inventive, and fun health-related initiatives that can be implemented in your community. The initiative must follow QHO’s charitable criteria of promoting health through peer-education programs in the communities in which the organization operates. Through each application, QHO is interested in learning about you and your community’s definition of health in any capacity.

Criteria and Eligibility

General Criteria

  • Health-related

  • Youth-led

  • Cultivates engagement from individuals within the community

    • Initiative must involve other youths or the community at large

  • Can be implemented within the academic year (September to April)

  • Affiliated with a QHO partner community

Eligible groups and initiatives include:

  • Youths (up to age 25)

  • Youths under the age of 18 will require a legal guardian to sign on their behalf

  • Youths may apply individually or as a group.

  • Unincorporated/grassroots youth groups/collectives/councils/students

  • Small, incorporated youth groups (note: Canada Revenue Agency defines a small organization as groups that have 1-8 full time employees and an operating budget of less than $500,000)

  • Initiatives must be directly related to health and youth education

Ineligible groups and initiatives include:

  • Initiatives that are not youth-led

  • Initiatives taking place outside of QHO’s partner communities

  • For-profit organizations

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by the QHO Executive Team. All members of QHO’s review committee have experience running programs and initiatives, overseeing projects, and offering community support.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following factors, in addition to their alignment with the aforementioned criteria:

  • Alignment with QHO’s charitable purposes and activities. 

  • Opportunity for development of sustainable relationships within the community.

  • Extent to which youth are involved in the planning & implementation of the initiative.

  • Distribution of total QHO funds throughout all partnered communities.

HOW TO APPLY

 Accountability and Logistics

Reporting and Evaluation

Grantees will be asked to submit these forms upon initiative approval:

  1. Financial Agreement Form

    • Recipients must submit a financial agreement form (with the help of a QHO member if they wish) further detailing their proposed budget.

    • Parental/Guardian Consent Form must be filled out if you are under 18

  2. Reflection Forms

    • Every month, the assigned QHO mentor and grantee will complete the ‘Monthly Reflection Form’ sharing their progress in the initiative thus far. This reflection can be written or submitted as an audio recording or video file. 

    • Upon completion of the initiative, at a date agreed upon by QHO and the grantee, recipients will submit a final reflection detailing how the initiative went. It may be written or submitted as an audio recording or video file, and at least 2 photos should be shared with QHO and the organization’s donors.

  • Applicants of any age will receive financial oversight from QHO, regardless of age or ability. 

    A recipient will require a financial trustee if the recipient is under the age of 18 or if either party determines the recipient to be incapable of solely entering into this agreement. Upon successful application, the financial trustee will receive the grant funds directly. To act as a financial trustee, the individual must be over age 18 willing to enter into a trustee agreement with QHO and who either a) has an established relationship with the applicant(S); or b) has an established relationship with QHO.

  • Applications will be accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis for the 2025-2026 calendar year.

    Once an application is accepted and an initiative is approved, QHO’s team will work alongside recipients to establish a timeline for the initiative and a date for the required reflection to be submitted by.

    Scheduled, mandatory check-ins will occur following the project authorization. Applicants will work with the QHO mentor to create a meeting schedule, which should be approved and respected by both parties.

  • Grant recipients will work with a QHO member who will act as a mentor and conduct regular check-ins and provide guidance and support in any aspect of the initiative planning and implementation process (e.g., planning an initiative, program facilitation, evaluation, reflection process). QHO will first direct the implementation and authorize the final version of the project to ensure it aligns with QHO’s purpose and activities.

Questions?

QHO encourages applicants to reach out if they have any questions or inquiries related to this grant. Please send an email to partnership@qho.ca to speak to a member of our team.

NOTE: Queen’s Health Outreach is an equal-opportunities organization and welcomes applications from suitably qualified persons of any race, gender, religion and/or sexual orientation. QHO is committed to upholding an equitable and accessible application process. As such, we encourage applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences.