Body Brave – Expanding Access to Eating Disorder Care

About the Client

Body Brave is a Hamilton, Ontario-based registered charity providing free, virtual, trauma-informed support for individuals and families affected by eating disorders. Founded in 2017 by a mother-daughter team combining lived experience and clinical expertise, Body Brave has grown into a nationally recognized leader in low-barrier, peer-led recovery care — reaching thousands of Canadians annually through its Recovery Support Program, drop-in peer support, and professional training services.

The Challenge

To sustain and grow programming for underserved populations — including Francophone communities, caregivers, and youth in smaller and rural communities — Body Brave needed to move beyond one-off grant applications toward a coordinated, ongoing funding pipeline. With multiple new initiatives in development, including a bilingual caregiver program and a digital care-navigation tool, the organization required a partner who could support a massive pipeline, manage competing deadlines, and produce high-quality, funder-specific proposals at pace.

The Strategy

Grant Solutions Canada worked with Body Brave to build and execute a multi-funder outreach and application strategy:

• Grant Pipeline Development: Researched and tracked a slate of private foundations and corporate funders aligned with Body Brave's mission, mapping funding priorities, eligibility, and deadlines for each.

• Proposal Development: Drafted tailored grant proposals connecting Body Brave's programs to each funder's specific priorities — from youth mental health to family caregiver support.

• Multi-Funder Submissions: Prepared and submitted applications across a range of funding streams, including provincial, corporate, and private foundation grants.

  
  

The Results

Through a disciplined, proposal-by-proposal approach, Body Brave has built an active pipeline of funding opportunities in motion:

• Proposals Submitted: Delivered fully drafted, funder-ready applications to organizations including the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation, and the McKillen Foundation. Winning multiple grants to support their mission.

• Program Expansion Support: Directly supported funding asks tied to new program pilots, including a bilingual caregiver support stream and a digital level-of-care navigation tool.

• Pipeline Continuity: Established an ongoing research and tracking process so Body Brave can continue applying to newly identified funders as opportunities arise.