The Monk Family Foundation

THE MONK FAMILY FOUNDATION… OUR MISSION STATEMENT:

The core principle of the Foundation is to find ways to make for a better world.

 We focus on five key areas:

1. Art: Artists help us see and experience the world around us at a particular period in time.  Peter Monk, the founder of the Monk Family Foundation believes in encouraging all forms of self-expression.  Great art has always touched the souls of mankind.  Huddled together in caves…humans painted their experiences on the walls, they enjoyed music, and dancing.  They made pottery, and sculpted creatures real and imagined in materials they found at hand.  These spirits generated legends with a full scope of emotions from joy and ecstasy and even a desire to worship.  Living in a world with art has enriched our all our cultures.  Living in a world without art would be a sterile, cruel and non-stimulating world.
2. Mental health:  People suffering from mental illnesses are often marginalized. We need to lift the stigma which plagues up to 20% of Canadian suffering from depression or more severe forms of mental illness.  It is important that these sufferers are helped into coping with their surroundings and where possible, they can return to have a fulfilling and rewarding life.  Today there simply are not enough services to help those in crisis.  There are not even enough support groups to keep the homeless off the streets, nor enough affordable and appropriate places for them to live.
3. General Health and Emergency Care: Most of the hospitals are coping with an ever increasing burden of receiving the sick and wounded into their overcrowded emergency rooms.  The stress on the staff and the health care system is enormous as it tries to cope fairly and justly with this huge burden.
4. Women’s issues:  Canada is ranked only 23rd in an over-all assessment of how women can participate in the life of our society.  This evaluation tried to consider everything ….e.g. positions for women in government and business to their education and ability to receive equal medical care.  The MFF wants to help be a driver in seeing Canada rank among the top ten countries within ten years.
5. Education and social entrepreneurship:
   We believe all Canadians from all socio-economic streams and from all ethnic and national groups need to receive a comprehensive educational start so they can be active participants in today’s wired world of the 21st Century.  We shall encourage leading edge activities in this area where entrepreneurs can affect change and make contributions to a new world.

These five foci are the channels that the Foundation believes will contribute to advances in a new  standard of living that will lead to a brave and compassionate world.  The Monk Family Foundation will strive to donate time, energy, and resources to these goals.

Founder, Peter H. Monk