Will Bouma, MPP for Brantford-Brant, announced that Willowbridge Community Services will be receiving an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant on Monday, April 27, 2026.
The $597,000 Grow grant will be distributed over three years and will help the not-for-profit organization expand its counselling services to better support individuals, couples and families with low incomes.
“Counselling has become unaffordable for many in our community, particularly those who do not meet strict eligibility criteria for limited subsidized programs,” said Leslie Josling, Executive Director of Willowbridge Community Services. “This investment comes at a critical time, as demand for mental health services continues to grow. It allows us to respond earlier, reduce distress and support people in building stronger relationships and well being. Counselling is not a luxury. It is essential to healthy communities.”
The funding will allow Willowbridge to enhance its quick-access model, combining walk-in and appointment-based single-session therapy with expanded ongoing counselling options.
Josling said that they were particularly committed to offering a walk-in program because it’s beneficial to those who may not afford traditional counselling.
“We know that walk-in counselling saves money,” she stated. “About 20 per cent who come to walk-in counselling say they would otherwise go to the emergency department if it wasn’t available.”
She went on to say that even a single therapy session can quickly improve someone’s wellbeing, noting that clients often experience faster reductions in anxiety and depression, particularly those navigating complex challenges such as trauma.
Josling said that the grant will also allow the organization to hire new psychotherapists to increase capacity. And in addition to better access, the finding will enhance clinical quality through training in single-session therapy, trauma-informed care and the social determinants of health, alongside the use of measurement-based tools to ensure continuous improvement and track outcomes.
“We know that counselling works and if we were able to offer it sooner, it would make a huge difference to all sorts of outcomes. …When I was doing this work 20 years ago, there was a huge stigma attached to getting help and to counselling, and now that’s no longer the case,” she said. “But we also know that individual, couple and family counseling is not affordable, that if you try to get counseling in this community, you can be paying $200 an hour, and that simply is prohibitive for the folks that we want to serve. This grant is huge and will reduce the barriers to something that can make such a big, big difference.”
Speaking on the funding, Bouma later said that while it’s easy to put on a happy face for social media, “the reality is that we are all walking wounded.”
“None of us are 100 per cent,” he said. “Some of us are at 50 per cent, and we are tired and we are broken.”
Bouma went on to say that one of the best parts of his role as MPP is getting to see all the people in the community who work behind the scenes to improve the quality of life for everyone, including Josling and the staff at Willowbridge.
“I am pleased to be part of a government that supports organizations like Willowbridge that help empower individuals to improve their lives for a more positive future by helping build stronger connections and a deeper sense of belonging,” he said. “Thank you for what you do, and thank you to anyone here who receives services from Willowbridge and for being willing to do that. It’s very easy not to ask for help, but that just makes things worse. All of your hard work, your commitment to the people that you serve and to our community, is absolutely stunning.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
