The Barry and Laurie Green Family Charitable Trust supports the Family, Youth and Child Unit at the new home of Anishnawbe Health Toronto
Barry Green and his family make leadership pledge of $500,000 to Capital Project
Donor Spotlight
Family has always been at the core of Barry Green’s strong commitment to community. As a third-generation Canadian, Barry Green has always held a deep connection to family. His grandfather, Al Green, came to Canada from Europe in 1910, where he began working as a bricklayer and starting his own business. In a rapidly growing Toronto, the family business saw great success, particularly when it helped construct the city’s first planned community in Don Mills. Even in those early days, the Green family had a long history and tradition of giving back to the community. Today, as President and CEO of Greenrock, Barry has grown the business to encompass property management, property development and repositioning, sustainability and investment management. At the same time, the Green family has always had a deep commitment to giving back to community, eventually culminating in founding the Barry and Laurie Green Family Charitable Trust to support community-based initiatives.
Barry and his wife Laurie’s deep commitment to the reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples began around the same time as the Syrian Refugee crisis in 2015. Barry’s family, along with friends and associates raised money to sponsor a Syrian family to help them establish themselves in Canada. While Barry was, and still is very proud of the help provided to this family, he felt a real disconnect because of what was happening in Canada at the same time with the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) and the release of “94 Calls to Action” to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation. In that moment, Barry reflected on his own apathy and ignorance about Indigenous Peoples. This started Barry on a new path to listening and learning about Indigenous peoples in Canada. He committed to take responsibility and help to repair the damage that settler Canada had caused to Indigenous Peoples.
Barry and Laurie have sought out philanthropic initiatives that help create real equity for Indigenous Peoples. They have invested their giving in such education projects as Indspire’s “Rivers to Success” and TVO’s Hub Initiative focusing on Indigenous content. They have also focused on culture and film supporting the Misko Aki at the Muskoka Discovery Centre and the Weengushk Film Institute.
And with this $500,000 gift to Anishnawbe Health Foundation, the Greens are continuing their support of reconciliation in the area of health. “Consolidating the different points of service of Anishnawbe Health Toronto current three locations into one incredibly important new location immediately appealed to us. It was something that’s needed and we are very proud to be supporting this initiative and I’m looking forward to the door opening in 2023,” says Barry. “By supporting the Family, Child and Youth Unit, we wanted to support young people and families to connect to Indigenous culture.”
In addition to this support for the capital project, the Green family’s business has also provided vital pandemic relief support this past year. Greenrock’s IMPACT program which focuses on strong, healthy, and environmentally sustainable communities while celebrating cultural diversity and promoting human rights across Canada through a variety of annual initiatives, volunteer programs, and donations. During the pandemic, Greenrock IMPACT has provided more than $3.5 million in pandemic relief program, including Anishnawbe Health’s COVID-19 Fund to support emergency food support and mobile healing services.
Barry recently joined Andre Morriseau, Anishnawbe Health Foundation Board Chair for an interview on NationTalk. Click Here to hear Barry’s thoughts on the importance of supporting Indigenous-led causes.
Anishnawbe Health is proud to have the Green family as a leadership donor to the campaign for a new Anishnawbe Health Toronto. With their support, we have achieved nearly 95% of our $10 million campaign goal. For more information on how you can join the Green family in supporting the work of our Foundation, please visit our campaign page here.