Latest News

OTTAWA Upstream Ottawa held its annual Classic Golf Tournament at a beautiful
new venue on Friday, Stonebridge Golf Club in Nepean. The tournament raised
$34,000 for essential mental health and substance-use health services.

The tournament saw 136 golfers came out to raise funds for Upstream’s mission of
providing community supports to youth and adults living with mental health and
substance-use health challenges, to lead self-guided and fulfilling lives.

Merkley Supply was the gold sponsor of the tournament, which offered many
complimentary food and drink samples as well as challenging and fun events at the
various golf holes. The Ferguson Family Foundation, which has generously supported
the tournament over many years, was once again our silver sponsor.

Bronze sponsorships were provided by Monolith Finishing, KU Power Group, Richcraft
Homes, Barre Construction, Arnon Corporation, Claridge Homes, Ron Eastern
Construction, Desjardins, and Ridge Rock Brewing Company.

During the evening program attendees heard from Upstream Ottawa staff member
Bailey Newell about the daily challenges faced by clients living with mental and
substance-use health challenges. These include social isolation and lack of affordable
housing and food insecurity, things that Upstream Ottawa endeavours to address with
raised funds. Eighteen volunteers supported this year's successful tournament.

“We had some really low scores, but most importantly, our golfers had a total blast on
the course and that’s what we strive for each year,” said Tournament Chair Jenni
Condon. “We are already on the lookout for sponsors, prizes and auction items for next
year’s tournament.”

Upstream’s annual Classic golf tournaments have raised a total of $99,000 for frontline
services in the last three years.

Upstream provides a range of critical community supports and affordable housing
options to people living with mental health and/or substance-use health concerns.
Services include: intensive mental health case management, housing, youth support
services with a focus on Black youth and their families, crisis prevention, medication
management and life-skills coaching.

For more information go to upstreamottawa.ca, call the Upstream Ottawa office at 248-
3330 ext. 401, or send an email to info@upstreamottawa.ca

OTTAWA – The Upstream Classic Charity Golf Tournament is back for another year,
with hopes to raise record-breaking funds in support of community-based mental health
and substance-use health support services.

This year’s tournament, presented by Merkley Supply Ltd., will take place on Friday,
September 6 th at the beautiful Stonebridge Golf Club in Nepean. Upstream Ottawa
Board Member and Event Chair, Jenni of the New HOT 89.9, will co-emcee the event
alongside her on-air co-host Brady. Golfers will arrive at 10:30 a.m. and get underway at
11:30 a.m. Following 18-holes of golf, games, food and beverage samples, and prizes,
participants will enjoy a meal, music, speeches, and both a live and silent auction at the
Stonebridge clubhouse. While registration for golfers is currently sold-out, we are
inviting interested parties to join our waitlist for alternates by contacting Upstream
Ottawa’s Development Officer, Catherine, at carmour@upstreamottawa.ca.

Upstream Ottawa is thrilled to partner with Merkley Supply Ltd for this year’s
tournament. “Merkley Supply is Eastern Ontario’s oldest and most comprehensive
masonry supplier to architects, designers, developers, masons and homebuilders. [We]
always strive to support, in various ways, the communities in which we operate,” said
the Gold Sponsor’s General Menager, Mr. Jeremy Racicot. “Upstream plays an
important role in supporting individuals in our community with mental health and
substance-use challenges.”. Combined with support from our additional generous
sponsors (listed below), Merkley Supply and Upstream Ottawa will ensure that
participants enjoy a wonderful day for the ultimate benefit of Upstream Ottawa clients
and the surrounding community.

In addition to Upstream Ottawa’s clinical services, which are funded by Ontario Health
East, the organization supports its clients and community members via wellness
services including client transportation, monthly luncheons, support groups, back-to-
school/work support, social/recreational outings, and financial support in securing
essentials like groceries, bedding, and clothing. These wrap-around services, designed
to combat social isolation and encourage independence, are internally funded and cost
the organization approximately $80,000 annually. Without fundraising efforts like the
Upstream Classic Charity Golf Tournament, these critical services would not be
possible.

To help achieve the event’s ambitious fundraising goal, the planning committee is
seeking support from the community in the form of sponsorship and donations. A variety
of sponsorship opportunities are still available, and details can be found here. Auction
item donations of all kinds are welcome. We are also inviting food and beverage vendors to promote and provide free samples on the course. Please contact Catherine
at carmour@upstreamottawa.ca if interested in sponsoring or donating.

Thank you to the following confirmed sponsors:

Merkley Supply Ltd. (Gold), Ferguson Family Foundation (Silver), Monolith Finishing
(Bronze), KU Power Group (Bronze), Richcraft Homes (Bronze), Barre Construction
(Bronze), Arnon Corporation & Ron Eastern Construction Ltd. (Bronze), Oegema,
Nicholson Financial Inc. (Lunch), Summa Strategies (Cart), Good Lookin’ Cleaning
Services (Registration), Newgate 180 (Friends of Upstream), Greenshield Health (Hole
sponsor), Royal LePage Ottawa – the Lindsay Team (Hole sponsor), Sunlife Financial
(Hole sponsor), Edward Jones (Hole sponsor), Vehiclean (Hole sponsor), Optimize
Physiotherapy (Hole sponsor), Glenview Homes (Hole sponsor), MaxMobility Auto
Services (Hole sponsor), Kirby and Masson Insurance Ltd. (Hole sponsor).

We look forward to welcoming you to another fantastic Upstream Classic Charity Golf
Tournament!

OTTAWA Upstream Ottawa has a new Chair of its Board of Directors and a new
three-year strategic plan, highlighted this week at the organization’s Annual General
Meeting (AGM) at the KPMG Ottawa offices.

Board Director Katie Taylor was elected Chair of Upstream Ottawa Mental Health
Community Support at the meeting, held at the offices of KPMG in downtown Ottawa.
Ms. Taylor has worked in technology for nearly a decade, supporting organizations,
including Crown corporations, start-ups and consulting firms. She works as a manager
of platform operations in the federal government and is passionate about bringing
positive change regarding mental health in our community.

“I am honoured and excited to step into the role of Chair for Upstream Ottawa. As a
volunteer since 2021, I have seen firsthand the impact that Upstream has on its clients
and am thrilled to be part of the leadership team that will continue to drive our mission
forward,” said Ms. Taylor. “Tackling systemic boundaries around mental health in our
community is more critical than ever and I look forward to working with all of you in our
shared commitment to this cause.”

Director Sheldon Mellis was elected Vice-Chair of the Board. Mr. Mellis has worked with
non-profit organizations over the past five years to design, develop and deliver mental
health-based programs to respond to the needs of diverse groups. He is an advocate
for equitable health care for all marginalized and racialized communities and ensuring
that individuals who are impacted by policies and practice are involved in decision-
making.

Ms. Taylor thanked the outgoing Chair, Véronique Joncas, for her extraordinary hard
work and commitment to Upstream in the last several years, when she served two years
as Vice-Chair of the Board, followed by the last two years as Chair.

At the meeting, KPMG Ottawa was presented with a plaque honouring the business for
its “unwavering support, generous donations, and dedicated volunteer efforts.” In
addition to frequently making its Ottawa offices available for Upstream events, KPMG
has continuously provided its expertise to manage the organization’s finances and
support Upstream’s governance over many years.

The AGM was told that Upstream has a new three-year strategic plan, approved
recently by the Board of Directors. The plan has five elements: data collection and
impact assessment, modernizing our intensive case management program, leveraging
the success of our new program for Black young people, and how to enhance
organizational capacity and fundraising efforts.

Upstream Executive Director Bo Turpin provided his annual report at the meeting. He
highlighted the thousands of interactions the staff team had with clients over the past
year, the growth and evolution of programs offered by Upstream and new fundraising
work being done to support wellness services that aren’t funded by government.

Upstream provides a range of critical community supports and affordable housing
options to adults and youth living with mental health and substance-use health issues.

Services include: intensive mental health case management, housing, youth support
services with a focus on Black youth and their families, crisis prevention, medication
management and life-skills coaching.

For more information go to upstreamottawa.ca, or contact us at
info@upstreamottawa.ca.