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C.A.N.D.Y. Café 

Hamilton Project Launch

Are you a McMaster University student passionate about making a meaningful impact in your community? Home Hospice Association is seeking dedicated volunteers to support youth, caregivers, and local agencies in navigating conversations around dying, death, grief, and loss.

 

Join us as we expand our C.A.N.D.Y. Café through collaborations with the Hamilton Public Library, community organizations, and educators. Together, we’ll foster compassionate care, deliver innovative workshops, and contribute to groundbreaking research - all while making a lasting difference in the lives of young people across Hamilton.

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Deliverable #1

Facilitate the education of other supporters of youth (faith, community and social, public schools and libraries) who also need to meet the care needs of their population under the age of 18.

Key Task #1

Grow the relationship that has been started with Hamilton Public Library to have Real Talk added to the programming that HHA is already delivering through How Talk with Kids about Dying Death and Grief Workshop. 

Measurement for Key Task #1 

  • A six-month marketing plan that assists Hamilton Public Library in their outreach for program participants. 

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  • Increase the number of branches offering How to Talk with Kids about Dying Death and Grief workshops from 6 to 12. 

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  • Establish Real Talk as a Pilot Program in 2 of the branches engaged in the workshop. 

Key Task #2

Conduct a Participatory Action Research Project to start to answer the question: How to include in our education system and subsequently support our educators to be able to play an active role in the normalization of dying, death, grief and loss within their student population.  

Measurement for Key Task #2 

  • Consultative relationship with a minimum of 5 parent counsels in both the public and catholic school boards as well as similar counsels in private systems such as Montessori (ensuring broad consultation across all socio-economic and cultural communities). 

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  • Online Survey developed and conducted with a full report that will be shared across all communities and partners. 

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  • A minimum of one focus group within each of the areas of consultative relationship to further explore what was uncovered in the survey to complete the research project. 

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  • Seek to present research project and results at conferences, meetings or lunch and learns including as part of the Living in the Gap research. 

Deliverable #2

Build confidence within our caregiving community in educating the young people in their care about dying, death, grief and loss. 

Key Task #1

Grow community engagement and outreach through securing host partners and organizing Death Cafes thus fostering conversations that address the way in which how death was approached as a young person influences an adult’s ability to approach the subject with the young people in their lives.

Measurement for Key Task #1 

  • A minimum of 6 Death Cafes.  

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  • A minimum of 20 people per Death Cafe. 

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  • 6 New Host Partner Relationships Established. 

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  • An outreach plan to double number of death cafes facilitated before the end of the project period. 

Key Task #2

Nov 15, 2024, to Sept 30, 2025

Develop and implement one on one “coaching” for parents and guardians to address the questioning and curiosity a young person in their life may have about topics such as suicide. 

Measurement for Key Task #2 

  • 100 Parents in year of the project. 

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  • 10 CANDY Cafe Coaches secured. 

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  • Research completed to understand which Hamilton Catchment Agencies will be the best partners to continue this important education and will have staff or volunteers interested in training to become C.A.N.D.Y Cafe Coaches. ​​​

Deliverable #3

Collaboration among Hamilton Area Agencies to educate and support their work with youth clients. 

Key Task #1

Education and support for those who are experiencing “Parentification” (when a child takes on the parental caregiving role). 

Measurement for Key Task #1 

  • Identified Agencies within the Hamilton Catchment who are addressing the needs of young caregivers. 

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  • Establish a relationship a minimum of two agencies to participate in a Participatory Action Research Project to identify how the Compassionate Companioning Training can be customized to assist young people in a parental role when a chronic or terminal illness is the reason for their parentification.  

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  • Create a report and plan of action to customize and roll out. 

Key Task #2

Customize and distribute HHA’s Compassionate Companioning Online Training Program to grow the number of volunteers within each agency to be equipped to engage with a child/children in “the home” of a person facing a chronic / terminal illness. 

Measurement for Key Task #2 

  • 50 Hamilton Catchment Volunteers completing the training program and mobilized in their agency.  

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  • Feedback received and subsequently used to create a CANDY Cafe specialized version of the training. 

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  • Full roll out of new training to be used by a minimum of 200 Hamilton Catchment Volunteers. 

Application
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