Community Health and Wellbeing Month 2025 | Alliance for Healthier Communities

# #CHWM - #StandingTogether

Please submit your planned events to celebrate CHWM 2025 to khalid.elmouloudi@allianceon.org.

We will share them here and on social media.

Click here to access the Dropbox folder containing all the necessary resources.

^{Download the Event in a Box}^|^{Get All the Resources Here}^|^{CHWM at a Glance}^|^{Key Messages}^|^{Goals of CHWM}^|^{Suggested Activities and Materials}

# Scheduled events:

Event	Date	Location
Multiple events by Black Creek CHC: Welcome/Kick off Event, Community Farm Day, Zumba, and many more. Check the event calendar here (registration is required, please contact Hamda 416-246-5089 or Katrina 416-246-1930)	From October 1st to October 31st	2202 Jane St Unit 5, North York, ON M3M 1A4
Nuit Blanche with Mabelle Arts by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 4	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Dancing with Diabetes by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	Every Tuesday: Oct 7, 14, 21, 28	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Annual Harvest Dinner by Mary Berglund Community Health Centre Hub	October 7, 2025, 5:00 PM	REC CENTRE, UPPER HALL
Socacize (fitness) by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 8 and 22	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Lunch & Learn: Mental Health by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 9	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Diabetes Prevention Workshop by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 14	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Francophone Health Promotion Navigation Day by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 15	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Apple Picking by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 18	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Open House by Gateway Community Health Centre (Strategic Plan Launch, Food, Games, Prizes)	October 21st, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM	Gateway Community Health Centre, 41 McClellan St., Tweed, Ontario
Workplace Health Screening by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 21 and 23	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Heart Health Workshops by Rexdale Community Health Centre [Full program here]	October 20 and 27	Rexdale Community Health Centre
Stronger Together: Mental Health Workshop for Newcomers & Refugees by Niagara Falls Community Health Centre [Poster]	October 22nd, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Niagara Falls Community Health Centre - 4790 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 4C2
Anti-Hate Training Standing Together with our community and vulnerable population, by Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre (see full October program here)	October 23	1365 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2B 6X6
Black Health Fair Event by Niagara Falls Community Health Centre [Poster]	October 25th, 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM	Niagara Falls Community Health Centre - 4790 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 4C2
ITP Mentorship Session with CRA on Fraud awareness: Standing Together with Internationally Trained Professionals on their Canadian Journey/employment, by Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre (see full October program here)	October 28	1365 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2B 6X6
Women's Health & Aging: Hot Flashes & Health Facts by Niagara Falls Community Health Centre [Poster]	October 29th, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM	Niagara Falls Community Health Centre - 4790 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 4C2
Harvesting Community Connections (Fall Inspired Open-House) by Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre	October 29th, 2025, 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM	69 Catherine Street, Trenton, ON
Staff Wellness Session - Partnering with Chef Ric’s for a lunch-to-go event - Showcasing what has been done during the month of October for the community we serve, Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre (see full October program here)	October 30	1365 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2B 6X6

# Download the Event in a Box Document Here:

The Event in a Box document offers a comprehensive set of tools and materials for collective communications and advocacy throughout the month of October. The document contains key messages and messaging templates for social media (that can be paired with the social media graphics provided in the Dropbox folder), as well as suggested activities like hosting events, inviting leaders, and preparing for media outreach.

English | Français

# Get All the Resources Here:

All the resources you'll need can be viewed and downloaded from this Dropbox folder, including social media assets, graphic assets, as well as template documents like the media advisory and the invitation letters.

# Community Health and Wellbeing Month 2025 At a Glance

A MONTH OF OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE YOUR WORK

Last year, we expanded Community Health and Wellbeing Week to the entire month of October. This was done to provide a bigger footprint, and more flexibility and opportunities for members to share our vital collective messages across the province in unison. It’s also a season to celebrate your local successes, and the collective work at your organization towards improved health and wellbeing in every community across Ontario. This year, with primary health care expansion in full swing across Ontario, our messages centred on health equity and addressing barriers for marginalized people are more important than ever before.

WHAT IS IT?

Community Health and Wellbeing Month (CHWM) is an annual autumn initiative for community health sector collective communications and advocacy, propelled by the events, tours, actions, celebrations, gatherings, storytelling, and social media updates of Alliance member organizations, their boards, staff, volunteers, and community champions. CHWM is coordinated by the Communications and Stakeholder Relations team at the Alliance for Healthier Communities, who will provide support and materials for members’ activities, storytelling, communications and events. Before and during CHWM, Alliance members plan and execute a diverse array of touch points and activities, to draw focus to health equity work and its impacts, barriers being addressed, collaboration for better health and wellbeing, and Alliance members’ successes, big and small. CHWM is also a chance to amplify the efforts of Alliance members and your community health collaborators in the pursuit of equitable health and wellbeing for everyone living in Ontario. This is your month to shine together, talk about what you do, and why it matters in your communities (and beyond)!

WHEN IS IT?

ALL of October 2025

WHAT’S OUR THEME?

The central theme for Community Health and Wellbeing Month (CHWM) 2025 is "Standing Together". This theme is designed to be a unifying message that highlights the collective efforts of Alliance member organizations and their partners. It's a versatile concept that allows each member to connect their unique work and local priorities to the broader campaign, reinforcing the importance of community-based, health equity-focused primary health care.

The theme can be used to emphasize various aspects of the work being done in two ways:

Standing Together FOR... This structure can be used to focus on specific goals, values, and outcomes.
Standing Together WITH... This structure can be used to highlight the people and groups being served, as well as partners and collaborators.

The goal is to align messaging and actions to create a more powerful collective impact across Ontario. The campaign is not only about strong programming in October but also about preparing the public, media, and decision-makers for the stories, values, and evidence that will be shared.

Here are some suggested examples to help you integrate the theme into your event communications and advocacy (you’ll find ready-to-use social media graphics with these variations in the resources Dropbox folder):

Standing Together for Health Equity: Health equity is central to everything we do and stand for. You can be more specific by mentioning the equity deserving groups you are targeting, for example, “Standing Together for Health Equity and Francophone Health”. Most of these variations are already included in the Dropbox folder.
Standing Together for Community Health: This theme focuses on the collaborative nature of community health and highlights the various groups and individuals who are essential to our work. You can also use this theme as “Standing Together With our Partners”, or Volunteers, Caregivers, Community Voices, etc.
Standing Together with the Full Team (you can name your teams): CHWM celebrates the interprofessional nature of your teams and showcases our comprehensive approach to primary health care. You can personalize this theme to celebrate your health workers and what they accomplish every day for community health and wellbeing.
Standing Together for Primary Health Care Expansion: This messaging can be used to advocate for a more sustainable and accessible health system in Ontario. You can Stand Together for Access and Attachment for All, to promote the goal of ensuring everyone has access to a primary care team, and you can also Stand Together for Team-Based Care to reinforce the importance of team-based primary care and the need for support for this model.

Feel free to mix and match and make the theme your own!

# The Key Messages :

For more information about the key messages and how to use them, please consult the Event in a Box document.

1. Primary health care is the foundation of the health system

2. With more support, we could do more

3. Data and improving health care in the region

4. Putting health equity at the center of system transformation

5. Interprofessional Primary Care Team expansion

6. Social prescribing successes and recognition

7. Increase in racism and anti-2SLGBTQ+ incidents and hateful rhetoric

8. Increased needs in communities

# The Graphic Elements:

We have prepared all the graphic elements you’ll need to support your communications during the CHWM, ready to be used as is or customized. You can find them in the Dropbox folder containing the CHWM resources, under the folders:

Logos: This folder contains the logo of CHWM as well as the graphic accompanying the theme Standing Together.
Social media: These are the social media graphics that you can use along with the key messages and templates.

Each folder contains graphics in English and French. The filenames also contain keywords, so you can search for specific graphics that mention certain words like “Indigenous” or “Harm Reduction”.

# Goals of CHWM 2025

Advance and promote your work to decision-makers and community members.
Showcase members role as foundation of comprehensive primary health care.
Highlight the better outcomes rooted in members work with community.
Widely share made-in-the-sector innovations and solutions for health equity.
Reinforce the importance of taking an upstream, health equity-based approach to preventative, population-tailored primary health care
Using Alliance templates, Celebrate members roles/work at increasing access to primary health care and making the Ontario government vision of 100% attachment a success – shine a light on what’s needed to get to the next level, in terms of funding to transform Ontario into a team-based primary health care jurisdiction, where everyone has access to a team.
Demonstrate that a comprehensive approach to primary health care is one that takes into account both the social determinants of health and health inequities, and that includes a full continuum of care, including mental health, harm reduction and culturally safe-tailored care.
Highlight both the Health Equity Charter and the Model of Health and Wellbeing and the Model of Wholistic Health and Wellbeing as foundational tools available to help guide primary health care transformation towards a more accessible and sustainable system with better outcomes for all.

# SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES AND MATERIALS TO DO RIGHT NOW/SEPTEMBER

Organize a “bring Your MPP/MP/Mayor to Work” Day in advance of the month. Invite them back for a celebration during October!
Send the invitation letter to MPP/other elected officials, using the provided template.
Send an official request for a Municipal Proclamation naming October officially as “Community Health and Wellbeing Month” in your community, using the provided template.
Develop and start using CHWM social media template banners.
Post CHWM posters around your centre to let people know what’s ahead.
Use the CHWM template email signature and share it across your organization.
Talk to partner organizations, providers, volunteers, boards and others about sharing our message together. Give them electronic materials if they are looking to participate formally
Save the date for the CHWM pre-launch webinar, Monday September 15.
Include save the date messages and pre-event teasers using the logo, event and date of CHWM in your newsletters and on social media.