Dec 03, 2025
Dr. Amy Peirone and St. Clair alumna Madison DeKok at the Cheers to Hope event at Ambassador Golf Course on Nov. 6, 2025.
(Dylan Anthony/WE-SPARK Health Institute)
The Windsor-Essex community recently came together for an inspiring evening of connection and celebration at "Cheers to Hope," in support of WE-SPARK Health Institute's Grants Program, which included a project based out of St. Clair College.
The event on Nov. 6 at the Ambassador Golf Club gathered researchers, healthcare professionals, students, and community members from across WE-SPARK's five partner institutions, Erie Shores HealthCare, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, St. Clair College, the University of Windsor, and Windsor Regional Hospital, to showcase the innovative health research and collaborations improving lives across the region.
"Cheers to Hope is about more than fundraising. It's about celebrating the partnerships, creativity, and compassion that drive health research in Windsor-Essex," said Dr. Dora Cavallo-Medved, Interim Director of WE-SPARK Health Institute. "The funds raised will directly support local researchers whose ideas have the power to change lives."
Dr. Amy Peirone, a professor in the Honours Bachelor of Applied Arts in Social Justice & Legal Studies program, is spearheading a project which received funding through a WE-SPARK Igniting Discovery grant, called ‘From Awareness to Action: Shaping a Unified Response to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Windsor-Essex.'
"The project creates an evidence-informed, cross-sector training resource that strengthens how our community understands, identifies, and responds to intimate partner violence and femicide," said Dr. Peirone. "By leveraging existing resources and expertise across post-secondary institutions and community organizations, it gives service providers a shared foundation built on research, trauma-informed practice, and real frontline experience."
Dr. Peirone said local grant funding is what makes meaningful and innovative partnerships possible, allowing researchers to bridge academia and community to address real, locally identified issues.
"This support creates space for genuine cross-institution collaboration and helps train the next generation of highly qualified personnel," Dr. Peirone said. "Our students were able to work with peers from other institutions, learn directly from experts in the field, and contribute to applied research and training that will have an immediate, tangible local impact."
Dr. Peirone added this project allowed her to merge her passion for teaching with meaningful, community-based research and engagement.
"It created space to foster strong partnerships, work with numerous students, and respond directly to an identified need in our region," she said.
Guests gather for a photo at the Cheers to Hope evening at Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor on Nov. 6, 2025.
(Dylan Anthony/WE-SPARK Health Institute)
The core community partners in the project, including Hiatus House, the Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, and Legal Assistance of Windsor, along with more than 18 other organizations, have since secured nearly $2.5 million in funding for the Hub Without Walls (HWoW) initiative to further address gender-based violence.
"On a personal note, it has been incredible to see several of our former St. Clair College graduates, including one who worked on this very project, now hired within the HWoW network and contributing to this work every day," said Dr. Peirone. "For me, that's the full circle: students working with and learning from the community, contributing to research, and then stepping into the field to help lead the work forward."
The WE-SPARK Grants Program provides seed funding for local researchers to launch new projects and foster collaboration among clinicians, educators, and scientists. Since its launch in 2020, the program has awarded 137 grants totaling nearly $2.5 million, supporting innovative research in other areas such as cancer, brain health, chronic disease management, rehabilitation, and health equity.
"WE-SPARK Health Institute is dedicated to advancing healthcare research and innovation in our region and beyond," said Monica Staley Liang, St. Clair College Senior Vice-President of Academic and Career Supports. "A research idea is just a concept until someone puts faith and financial support behind the work.
When that happens, these ideas can transform into solutions to real problems facing society, which in many cases can foster lasting and meaningful change."
WE-SPARK Health Institute extends heartfelt thanks to all attendees, sponsors, partners, and volunteers who helped make the evening a success, and to the Windsor-Essex community for their continued support of local health research and innovation.
"Cheers to Hope is more than a celebration. It is a powerful reminder of the transformative potential of research when rooted in community," said Dr. Karamjeet K. Dhillon, the Director of Research and Innovation at St. Clair College, noting the department is working closely with stakeholders across the College to document its collective worth and the tangible impact the College creates. "When collaboration is synergetic, doors open, and efficiencies emerge that allow meaningful work to be completed with purpose and speed."
"Cheers to Hope reflects the power of grassroots research embedded in community relationships," Dr. Dhillon said. "At St. Clair College, we are working collaboratively to demonstrate how locally engaged scholarship, aligned with community needs, creates pathways for trust, shared purpose and measurable impact."
WE-Spark's Karen Metcalfe and St. Clair College's Karamjeet K. Dhillon in discussions at Cheers to Hope at
Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor on Nov. 6, 2025.
(Dylan Anthony/WE-SPARK Health Institute)
Courtesy: https://www.stclaircollege.ca/news/2025/cheers-hope-brings-community-together-support-health-research-and-innovation-showcase
