The vision of the Healthy Communities Fund is “healthy communities working together and Ontarians leading healthy and active lives.” The specific goals of the framework are to:

• Create a culture of health and well-being
  
  
• Build healthy communities through coordinated action
  
  
• Create policies and programs that make it easier for Ontarians to be healthy
  
  
• Enhance the capacity of community leaders to work together on healthy living.

In order to achieve these goals, the framework consists of three components: a Grants Project Stream, Partnership Stream and Resource Centre. The Grants Project Stream provides funding to local and provincial organizations for projects in 6 priority areas, while the Partnership Stream promotes coordinated planning and action among community partners to create policies that make it easier for Ontarians to be healthy.  The Resource Centre helps to build the capacity of Partnerships and communities by providing training and support to build healthy communities.

On October 21, 2010, Healthy Communities Partnership Day, over 85 community partners gathered at Merrywood Camp to:

• collaborate
  
  
• join the local network map
  
  
• create a vision for a Healthy Lanark, Leeds and Grenville
  
  
• receive, discuss and give input on the Community Profile
  
  
• join the Healthy Communities Partnership: Lanark, Leeds and Grenville.

Our vision statement is currently under construction. We are very pleased to announce that the Rideau Valley Boots and Baskets rug hooking group has agreed to create an interpretative representation of our vision. We are expecting this to be complete Spring 2011.