for students in middle-school years. David Johnston, Governor General of Canada addresses a group of 400 guests at Cathy Wever School in celebration of ABACUS initiative. HCF received Standards Program accreditation from Imagine Canada. HCF led review of City of Hamilton’s Neighborhood Action Strategy (NAS) HCF joined Hamilton Anchor Institution Leadership (HAIL) group to tackle city’s pressing issues HCF achieved record granting of $7.9 million. 2017 With support from Community Foundations of Canada the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, HCF marked Canada 150 milestone with A Place to Belong event that invites all members of the community to enjoy 50 cultural, recreational and nature areas across the city with free admission and parking HCF partnered with Community Foundations of Canada to provide $200,000 of granting to local projects to mark Canada 150 HCF achieved $7.2 million in granting and community leadership spending, surpassing $100 million in granting since its founding in 1954. Community leadership HCF has disbursed over $96 million in grants since its formation in 1954. The grants are distributed across all charitable sectors in the community: arts, education, environment, health and human services and recreation. The foundation has long been known for its community leadership in addressing priority issues that affect Hamiltonians. Addressing the city's high poverty rate, it launched a multi-year commitment to poverty reduction in 2002, with a focus on strengthening low-income neighbourhoods, engaging and supporting residents to take a leadership and have a voice in the changes needed. This strategy was later adopted by the City of Hamilton in creating the Neighbourhood Development Strategy office in 2010. HCF was a co-founder of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction with the City of Hamilton and other community stakeholders. "HRPR" has earned national attention for its innovative approach to poverty reduction. Community leadership projects include: ABACUS: Advancing post-secondary access. ABACUS is a ten-year partnership initiative of HCF and The Fairmount Foundation. Recognizing the impact that increased high school graduation and post-secondary access would have on Hamilton, ABACUS focuses on improving the academic, community and environmental factors that most directly affect the likelihood of students continuing their education. By starting intervention in the middle-school years, the goal is to help young Hamiltonians facing multiple barriers increasingly access post-secondary education. The ABACUS initiative has three components: Grants to community organizations for programming that increases students’ exposure to, and readiness for, post-secondary education Grad Track pilot program for youth facing