Rideau Lakes council will review its community grants process after Secondhand Stories founder Liz Wheeler raised concerns about transparency and how minority-led organizations, including those serving the LGBTQ+ community, are considered.
Secondhand Stories is a non-profit chicken sanctuary in Lombardy.
Wheeler’s grant application was denied this year. She was hoping to use $500 of Township funding to create rack cards, a tourism-building initiative to promote their sanctuary.
In her application, the second paragraph states, “As an organization run by queer and disabled leadership, Secondhand Stories is proud to contribute to the social fabric and diversity of Rideau Lakes. We believe our unique perspective is a vital asset to the township, helping to foster a community built on values of inclusion, compassion, and understanding for all.”
Afterward, she contacted council members for feedback on how to improve her submission and took issue with an email from Mayor Arie Hoogenboom, who said he was unaware of her organization’s “personal particulars” — referring to Secondhand Stories identifying itself as queer- and disabled-led.
According to Wheeler, Hoogenboom wrote: “I do not recall your personal particulars were included [in the application], and certainly this had no bearing on my position, nor should they on any council member.”
Wheeler later asked the mayor to apologize and make a personal $500 donation, the same dollar total she requested in her application, to a local queer organization, not Secondhand Stories. He did not respond to that request.
Councillor Marcia Maxwell says the non-profit was not excluded from funding because they are proudly queer and disabled-led, it was simply down to the dollar figure.
11 organizations requested a total of $85,250 in 2026 grant applications. Only four were awarded, totalling $4,000.
After the delegation, council passed a motion to have staff review the community grant application process as a whole, including input from Wheeler, for 2027.
Story by Grant Deme
