Founded in 1993, CityKidz is a Christian charity that works to develop supportive relationships with children and youth from low-income communities in Hamilton. It has smaller branches in Regina and Ottawa which do similar activities, but they are separate charities. CityKidz reports that 26,000 children in Hamilton live in poverty, representing 20% of the city’s youth. The charity aims to provide the necessary love, guidance, and support so that children can escape poverty.

CityKidz typically operates Saturday programs for kids aged 3-11 during eight months of the year. Hosted in the charity’s Studio Theatre, kids are taught that they are loved by God, how to choose what is right, and that they can dream big. Meals are distributed to children attending Saturday programming. The charity’s iconic red busses pick kids up and bring them to the theatre because many would otherwise have no transportation. In covid-19 this program could not run as usual, so the charity replaced it with gatherings in city parks and a website of faith-based activities. 

During the week, CityKidz visits children at home with teams of employees, volunteers, and CityKidz graduates. These visits have always been an important part of City Kidz’ programming because they strengthen individual relationships between the kids and volunteers. During covid-19, these visits partially replaced the big Saturday activities. In F2020, the charity’s volunteers ran weekly “pop-up programming” for 1,845 kids during home visits. 

In addition to helping with home visits, CityKidz graduates may participate in the CityYouth program to develop leadership skills. In F2020, 82 members of the youth program gathered for games and pizza parties in parks as a replacement for normal CityYouth events. 

Some graduates of CityYouth become Weston Family Scholars. In F2020, nine new post-secondary students and six new grade 11 and 12 students were selected for the scholarship. In total, 24 students got scholarships in F2020.  

CityKidz also runs a mentorship program where high school students learn about budgeting, resume writing, and other important life skills. In F2020, this program had 55 participants. 

CityKidz received donations of $2.0m in F2020. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues and fundraising costs are 7% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 13%. For every dollar donated, 87 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.  

CityKidz has $1.4m in funding reserves which could cover program costs for ten months. 

This charity report is an update that has been sent to CityKidz for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on July 12, 2021 by Asha McMullin.