R+T Park Community Impact Fund chooses SPECTRUM as grant recipient

Supporting the community and the nonprofits doing great charitable work is critical to the David Johnston Research + Technology Park’s mission. In 2012, the R+T Park established the David Johnston R+T Park Community Impact Fund with the Waterloo Region Community Foundation to support our tenants’ passion for making the community and the world a better place.

Each year, the R+T Park team brings together leaders from across the park’s tenants to be part of the Community Impact Committee that chooses a local nonprofit to profit to receive a grant from the fund.

This year’s $16,000 funding grant recipient is SPECTRUM—Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space. SPECTRUM provides programming, networking and other activities for 2SLGBTQIA+ people and their families across Waterloo Region. The grant includes funding from the Community Impact Fund and donations through our summer biergartens hosted with Block Three Brewing Company.

SPECTRUM was founded in 2012 to fill the need for a physical space for 2SLGBTQIA+ people to gather. Since its founding, the organization has grown to support its community with programs and services, including offering diversity training for local businesses and other organizations. Scott Williams, the organization’s executive director, said the why of SPECTRUM is belonging.

“It’s about creating spaces where people feel they can belong, helping to increase their social networks, which helps decrease social isolation and leads hopefully to improved wellbeing,” Williams said.

SPECTRUM was volunteer-led until 2021 when they received a grant from the federal government’s LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund. That grant provided funding for the organization to hire Williams as its first paid executive director.

“We don’t receive any kind of annualized funding from the government, so all of our funds come from donations from individuals, families, businesses, grants and our Rainbow Diversity Training programs. We’re super grateful for any support from the community, especially a donation as sizable as this. It will have a big impact on us,” Williams said.

The funding comes at a critical time for SPECTRUM. Williams said there has been a 64% increase in hate crimes and incidents against 2SLGBTQIA+ people since 2020. The rise in homophobic and transphobic incidents across Canada is driving an increased demand for SPECTRUM’s programs and services. The funding from the Community Impact Fund will help them deliver on that demand.

“The more funding we can get, the more people we can employ to do the work that needs to be done. We now have three full-time employees and 17 part-time folks. We also have over 50 active volunteers at the moment, so we have a lot of people doing a lot of important work,” Williams said.

SPECTRUM partners with other organizations and local governments to bring its programs to as many people as possible. It runs a multi-sport drop-in program for adults in collaboration with the City of Kitchener at the Stanley Park and Downtown Kitchener Community Centres and with the Kinbridge Community Association in Cambridge.

“It’s about creating spaces where people feel they can belong, helping to increase their social networks, which helps decrease social isolation and leads hopefully to improved wellbeing.”

Scott Williams, Executive Director, SPECTRUM

One of SPECTRUM’s core offerings is its Rainbow Diversity Training. The workshops include an introduction to the basic terminology and key concepts, including intersectionality and allyship and an advanced workshop on the history of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Canada. SPECTRUM also offers workshops for HR professionals and other people leaders.

“That workshop talks about how to make organizational change and create positive spaces for your 2SLGBTQIA+ employees. It also covers topics like benefits that you might want to consider for transgender employees,” Williams said.

Each workshop is facilitated by two co-facilitators who are paid for their work. SPECTRUM partners facilitators with different lived experiences to provide attendees with varied views on 2SLGBTQIA+ issues.

“A younger person and an older person or a trans person and a cisgender person might deliver a workshop. The feedback we get is that participants appreciate the personal stories and the context that our facilitators can provide. It’s not just the facts and the terminology. It’s what that means to us in everyday life,” Williams said.

Mike Pereira, R+T Park’s director, said SPECTRUM’s mission aligns with the park’s goal of bringing people together and creating a sense of belonging.

“It’s not just putting up a rainbow flag during Pride month. There’s something behind it. You’re putting dollars that have been hard to raise behind supporting the community—and that is very important”

Scott Williams, Executive Director, SPECTRUM

“It’s why we do events throughout the year and partner with community organizations. We’re more than just office buildings here. We’re a community of people who want to support groups like SPECTRUM that are doing great work ,” Pereira said.

Williams said the David Johnston R+T Park Community Impact Fund grant is an excellent example of active allyship.

“It’s not just putting up a rainbow flag during Pride month. There’s something behind it. You’re putting dollars that have been hard to raise behind supporting the community—and that is very important,” Williams said.

About the R+T Park Community Impact Fund

The David Johnston R+T Park Community Impact Fund began in 2006 and is housed at the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation. Over the past 16 years the tenants and friends of R+T Park have raised more than $300,000, creating a sustainable, ongoing investment in local charities. Raising money for the fund and disbursing the annual grants is overseen by a dedicated group of volunteers from R+T Park who make up the R+T Park Community Impact Committee:

• Ali Chalhoub, SAP
• Rose Greensides, Social Venture Partners
• Greg Hanmer, Hanmer Law
• Mike Pereira, R+T Park
• Olivia Rogalla, Accelerator Centre
• Kelly Sage, OpenText
• Adam Steeves, Waterloo Warriors