Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Lisa Brown Charitable Foundation

The Lisa Brown Charitable Foundation is a family-run charitable organization established in memory of Lisa Brown to address the stigma and silence surrounding children’s mental and emotional health. Based in Canada, the foundation focuses its giving on early intervention and education so that children feel safe seeking help and are better equipped to manage emotional challenges as they grow.

The foundation provides financial support to a range of initiatives that align with its mission. These include subsidizing the cost for adolescents with emotional and behavioural difficulties to attend therapeutic summer camps, sponsoring community events such as an annual butterfly release to raise awareness for suicide prevention, and backing hospital-based projects that build children’s emotional literacy.

A central part of the foundation’s portfolio is its collaboration with major pediatric institutions. At The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the foundation has made a generous gift to initiate the web-based interactive story “Monarch’s Mission”. This project combines clinical expertise with engaging digital storytelling to help young children recognize and express emotions like sadness, fear and anger in a safe and playful environment.

At McMaster Children’s Hospital, the foundation supports work on “The Canadian Family Check-Up”, an initiative that addresses children’s behavioural problems to strengthen resilience and self-esteem. By backing such projects, the foundation contributes to evidence-based approaches that link early childhood mental health promotion with long-term suicide prevention.

In addition to institutional partnerships, the foundation helps reduce financial barriers for families by offsetting participation costs for therapeutic programs and by promoting public awareness efforts in schools and communities. Its activities are grounded in the belief that healthy minds form in childhood and that talking openly about mental health can prevent isolation and despair.

The primary beneficiaries of the Lisa Brown Charitable Foundation’s funding are children and adolescents facing emotional or behavioural challenges, as well as their families, educators and care providers. By supporting hospitals, research-informed interventions, and community-based education, the foundation seeks to ensure that no child suffers alone and that seeking help is viewed as a sign of strength rather than stigma.

The foundation emphasizes that no expenses or directors’ fees are deducted from its resources, underscoring a commitment to channel donations directly into programs, research projects and awareness activities that advance children’s mental health and suicide prevention.