Eight organizations in Windsor-Essex have received thousands of dollars in grants to help fund programs focused on oral and mental health.
Green Shield Canada in partnership with the WindsorEssex Community Foundation presented more than $580,000 in funding on Thursday.
The Windsor-Essex branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association and Family Services Windsor-Essex each received $61,000.
The Windsor Residence for Young Men received $26,000, money that program director John Weinberg says will go a long way.
"We're very excited and the money is intended to be used for our youth independence program," says Weinberg. "The objective of this program is really to provide youth the independence skills that they would need in advance of actual crisis occurring."
The biggest cheques for $165,000 were saved for the Multicultural Council and the Downtown Mission.
Executive Director Ron Dunn tells CTV Windsor the money will help expand their free dental service.
"What this gift will allow us to do is go mobile and we hope in the next 30 to 60 days, we'll be out on the streets of Harrow, Leamington, Essex, Lakeshore, wherever we're needed and we're sure we're going to be able to help a lot of people who couldn't previously get the help they need," says Dunn.
The Group Life After 50 gets almost $57,000.
The South Essex Community Council and the Windsor Family Health Team each receive more than $40,000.