Grants

AIC, partnered with ACORN Canada, will explore the links between the digital economy and health outcomes for low income people. Systemic change will be influenced by connecting community members with leadership development, community engagement, and opportunities to inform policy to address root causes of inequality in health and prospects. Evidencing lived experience to challenge the current telecommunications policy architecture, the project aims to unlock the various health benefits resulting from digital inclusion. Overall, we seek to address the intersections between poverty, health and the digital economy to close the digital divide and improve health outcomes for low income Canadians.

This projects aims to improve air quality in the Alberni Valley. Air pollution is a complex problem that crosses political boundaries and involves everyone. The Alberni Valley is particularly vulnerable to air pollution due to its geography and climate. The Alberni Air Quality Society intends to partner with government bodies, organizations, and the local community to create and formalize a process by which to manage air quality. This will provide an overarching framework to address air pollution in all its forms, whether that be from backyard burning or industrial emissions. This collective action would reduce the human illness and the economic impacts that are associated with air pollut

As our population ages, there is more abuse, neglect and self-neglect among vulnerable adults. Financial abuse is the most common form of senior abuse. Community Response Networks (CRNs) are a proven vehicle for service providers and community members to develop a coordinated response in the detectection, intervention and prevention of abuse. Currently, there are no CRNs in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland (except on the North Shore). This project is designed to work with local communities within the city and surrounding municipalities over a three-year period to form up to 10 CRNs.

Our social innovation is to test an integrated recreation, education, cultural and social service programming model that builds resilience and empowerment in areas that affect lives in this culturally relevant facility. The objective is to create community driven types of activities that follow values established by the community to guide the stewardship of this important and unique facility. Objectives which focus on 3 core themes: Adhering to specific cultural protocols: 1. Consult and involve Aboriginal Elders 2. Showcase the history of First Peoples 3. Promote cross-cultural sharing and learning Creating standards of practice that are in keeping with the community’s desired values: 4. Build effective governance 5. Make the Carving Pavilion a gathering place 6. Practice inclusivity & embed low-barrier protocols Designing a wide range of programs that promote Aboriginal arts and culture, and provide opportunities for intercultural and intergenerational learning and sharing: 7. Create a community carving project 8. Create for-credit opportunities 9. Showcase Aboriginal art 10. Offer programs beyond carving This is innovative because this model requires formal institutions such as the City of Vancouver, Vancouver School Board, Vancouver Public Library and Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation to endorse, adopt and participate in non-Western governance and decision making in the delivery of services.

10% of Burnaby residents are working but still living in poverty. They are struggling with low wages, under-employment and a high cost of living. The patchwork of available programs are hard to access and aren’t enough to help them break the cycle of poverty. To empower people with low incomes to change their lives, this project will test a supportive self-advocacy approach, including training on navigating the system, coaching on employment and housing, a community of practice, peer-to-peer mentoring, transportation assistance and temporary housing if needed. To promote system change, a Steering Committee composed of system representatives will share and act on the learnings.

The ManTalk project aims to reduce social isolation and expand a faltering support network for the most vulnerable of the oldest-old population in our community, men who are not able to independently change their own situations. Facilitated group activities which include education, discussion and emotional support will be established in community and residential venues designed to foster new social connections and encourage meaningful activity.

Thousands of British Columbians experience poverty and struggle to care for their children, participate in their communities and fulfill their aspirations. Our 2008 report, A Poverty Reduction Plan for BC, identified the key elements of an effective public policy strategy to significantly reduce and eventually eliminate poverty. We seek to build on this work and meaningfully engage with BC’s new government as they launch a basic income pilot and develop a poverty reduction plan. A well-designed, transparent and accountable strategy that targets the root causes of poverty has the potential to be game-changing and greatly improve the health and well-being of communities across the province.

Canada is a prosperous and technologically advanced society yet many Canadians with vision loss are excluded from social and economic opportunities. The lack of skills training and support results in 65% unemployment of working age adults with vision loss and 50% earning less than $20,000 annually. The harsh reality is only 45% of blind or partially sighted Canadian children graduate high school compared to 90% of sighted kids. To tackle these challenges, CNIB Specialists train those with vision loss to access information using assistive devices. These devices coupled with the skills taught by CNIB Specialists increases self-reliance, personal capacity and the ability to be productive, contributing community members. Our project, Ensuring Accessibility for British Columbians with Vision Loss, ensures no one in our province with vision loss is denied the fundamental right to access information. With your support we will expand our stock of assistive devices to eliminate our wait list and meet the increasing demand for vision rehabilitation services and equipment in British Columbia.

Indigenous Peoples are committed to advancing the health and wellness of communities. Given the current health care crisis, the numbers and retention of Indigenous nurses must increase to provide needed culturally safe care. A BC Indigenous community based mentorship program proposes strategies to ensure success of Indigenous nursing students and retention of employed Indigenous nurses. Partnerships with Indigenous community leaders and organizations, and BC schools of nursing will build on a community needs based framework. Ensuring Indigenous peoples are fully represented in healthcare roles, has far-reaching implications for the health of Indigenous individuals and communities.

In 2008 the VFPC launched the Food Secure Vancouver Study to answer the question "How food secure is Vancouver in a changing world?" in terms of access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food, the structure and capacity of the food system, and the cultural, economic, social, and environmental needs of individuals and communities.The Food Secure Vancouver Study establishes an integrated and ongoing review, analysis, and reporting process that: Monitors the status of Vancouver's food security against our baseline definition; Informs citizens and decision-makers about the status of Vancouver's food security; Identifies priority actions for improving and maintaining the sustainability and security of all aspects of Vancouver's food system.In this project, we survey food security groups in Vancouver's neighbourhoods and inventory their activities and resources, and develop an information management system to gather and manage data, disseminate information about local food security initiatives and resources, and facilitate neighbourhood networking and collaboration.

The project is based on the recognition that housing is a primary and fundamental social determinant of mental health. It seeks to give low-income Downtown Eastside residents living with mental illness, trauma, and disability the power to contribute to—and seek knowledge about—their health by developing a new “residents first” approach to supportive housing provision and management. Their influence is integral to bettering social housing. We will facilitate spaces to draft and establish best practices and guidelines for meeting and decision-making. We observe an urgent need to work well in coalition, in good communication with other organizations, groups, networks, and services and we can contribute to their longevity. Part of our work will be to strengthen our community member's capacity to participate in decision-making structures. Through visual description, creative form, mapping, media we will address language barriers related to literacy and translation. We can influence the representation of our community. This work will advance our knowledge of supportive housing provision. Amplifying residents' voices and experience informed and grounded in the experience and needs of existing and future social housing residents. As a peer-led project, this plan will have at its core the fundamental belief that people living with mental illness, addictions, and poverty should be able to make basic decisions concerning the day-to-day activities in their lives and homes.

Systemic change beyond the Cathedral relies on vulnerably sharing the lessons learned through our year-long program transformation process with faith-based organizations seeking a way to deepen community engagement. This project will catalyze systemic change by building on faith leaders’ recognition of social isolation as a major issue facing their communities and neighbourhood networks. By sharing our experiences we will encourage other organizations to take similar risks to address the bigger issues of loss of community and economic bifurcation. The project will create toolkits, training programs, and workshops that will help other faith-based organizations to transform the entire process of food preparing, serving, composting, and cleaning into the vehicle by which inclusion, participation and community resiliency can be strengthened. We will also influence systemic change through the provision of focused opportunities for study and practical hands-on learning. In collaboration with our partners including other non-profits and local businesses, we will host public keynote events focused on how others can address social isolation, as well as workshops and voluntary opportunities for enterprises looking to channel their corporate social responsibility.

Local non-profits are often best positioned to respond to communities, however, in rural settings they face a number of challenges. Small populations face common issues and challenges but have few human resources to deliver programs and projects. In order to be effective, they must be more efficient. The Columbia Valley Community Foundation wants to develop a strategy to build the capacity they need. Ongoing support may allow them to react faster and more effectively to needs; communicate, collaborate, and celebrate success together; equip passionate people within organizations with the tools they need to serve their communities, and help to fill gaps when community members move on.

The purpose of this initiative is to bring together BC Food Systems Network members, community foundations and other food funders, and other key stakeholders to explore and enable working together in more intentional, strategic and effective ways.

The Aging in Place Project will assist housing co-ops and seniors living in co-ops to plan for a future in which: seniors remain in their co-op homes as long as possible; seniors’ homes are adapted, as far as practicable, to suit their changing needs; and seniors are connected to and actively participate in their co-op communities. The project will develop and model an active program of community supports for seniors living in housing co-ops and explore a range of options for improving seniors’ quality of life in co-ops by tackling the physical, social and financial obstacles they may face. The project will address issues of concern to seniors around the physical condition of co-op buildings, their financial security and their social connections within their co-op communities. Seniors will participate in decisions around the design, delivery and evaluation of the project to ensure that it will have an enduring impact on their lives and on the lives of their fellow co-op members as they age in place.

The development of our Community Council in 2013 initiated a process of more active involvement in the programming and running of the NH. Residents clearly identified that one of the things that set the NH apart within the many services offered in the DTES, was the fact that the NH embraced and welcomed them in a variety of capacities: member, visitor, contributor, programmer. Because of this exciting feedback we are mindful that our success lies in the critical dimension of allowing those involved to shape and control their lives in meaningful ways. Our projects engage a “many hearths theory” or a multiple small groups approach to build community capacity. We also recognize that healing is a necessary part of development in our community. Our project involves piloting program development through 6 key projects: 1. Support group for Fathers 2. Healing and wellness days 3. Support group on Death and Loss 4. Social Nights--outreach– Music/arts groups 5. Re-connection with Nature: Field Trips, Walking Groups 6. Social justice Indian Residential Schools Survivors’ Support Group

Green Building with Clayoquot Sound First Nations

EFry seeks to raise the issue of homeless women and children through the lens of BC Legislation, and government responsibilities to see that homeless women and children are not disproportionately disadvantaged by their relative small numbers. The project seeks to rationalize resources to see that the most vulnerable - homeless children - are prioritized; and that homeless and at risk of homelessness women are provided equal opportunity to access supports as their male counterparts to find or remain housed. Doing so will reduce the generational legacy of homelessness in the lives of children as they grow, and provide women fairness, equality and opportunity.

When information needs to be shared with team members (gov, health care teams, therapists,...) the end result is often inconsistent & clinical. Parents of children with disabilities find themselves constantly repeating their child’s story. Not only does this add undue stress to the family, it also further perpetuates a non person centered approach to their loved ones' care & they often get described with jargon & labels. This frustration is most apparent during the transition period of a youth’s life when they leave high school and enter adulthood - arguably, the most difficult time in a families' life. A Personal Information Booklet will address these challenges and build cohesive teams.

We will form the "Tri-Cities Seniors Network," the first seniors-led regional planning group for seniors in the Tri-Cities, involving seniors, seniors-serving organizations and businesses. The Network will explore the Tri-Cities "through seniors eyes" and develop collaborative solutions towards an Age-Friendly Tri-Cities. Our project will involve: * Developing an ongoing seniors planning network that ensures everyone's voice is heard, including developing a Terms of Reference and procedural guidelines *Organizing monthly meetings starting January 2013 on topics identified in our focus groups, to review existing service and initiatives, gaps, and develop initial action plans; topics identified include housing, social inclusion, transportation, access for socially isolated and immigrant seniors, lifelong learning, and coordinated services *Organizing seniors-led subcommittees to move forward on action plans *Conducting survey of seniors, particularly isolated seniors, and inventory of current services (depending on New Horizons funding).