The Toronto Writers Collective is pleased to announce that the Azrieli Foundation has generously committed new multi-year funding, totaling $115,000 for the next two years, to continue to scale the impact of the TWC, Canada’s largest and fastest growing community-based creative writing program. The support from the Azrieli Foundation follows their initial multi-year funding that has propelled the TWC’s growth more than threefold since 2018.

In March 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the TWC started hosting online workshops, forging new connections and bridging isolation for writers across the GTA, the country and beyond. With an additional $5,000 of emergency Covid-19 funding from the Azrieli Foundation in May, the Toronto Writers Collective successfully pivoted to meet the challenges by using technology to bridge the gap between writers and workshops. 

The TWC and its online presence continues to grow in an uncertain time, when the personal connection our programs provide has become an essential service. Thanks in large part to the Azrieli Foundation, we’ve been able to meet demand and expand our workshops to those on the front lines of the pandemic. Since the TWC went virtual on March 30, we have facilitated more than 400 online workshops reaching over 800 writers, building resilience in the communities we serve. 

For over 30 years, the Azrieli Foundation has funded institutions as well as operated programs in Canada and in Israel. It invests in multiple priority areas, with the common thread of education running throughout its funding. The Foundation supports Holocaust education, scientific and medical research, higher education, youth empowerment and school perseverance, music and the arts, architecture and quality of life initiatives for people with developmental disabilities. Visit www.azrielifoundation.org for more information.

The Toronto Writers Collective gives voice to those who are unheard by building community and connection through deep listening and storytelling. Writing together, we create an inclusive society that honours the lives of all its citizens. ​Our workshops are targeted toward the communities we serve, including (but not limited to) Indigenous people, the homeless and under-housed, immigrants and refugees, seniors and the 2SLGBTQ+ communities. We believe everyone is a writer. Visit www.torontowriterscollective.ca for more information.

Contact:
Courtney Greenberg
Outreach and Communications Coordinator
Toronto Writers Collective
courtney@torontowriterscollective.ca