Sandra Richardson is CEO of the Victoria Foundation.
The holidays are a wonderful time of year, and here at the Victoria Foundation, December is particularly special because it’s when we announce our Community Grants recipients.
Community Grants are a funding stream that goes directly to charities working on the issues that affect our community the most.
This year, we are thrilled to be distributing more than $2.8 million to 109 local charities, which will use that money to fund a whopping 112 projects in our region. That is a record high for the Victoria Foundation, something we take great pride in as the year draws to a close.
And if you include our other funding streams, you find the Victoria Foundation has awarded more than $18 million in 2019, and now more than $240 million since the foundation began in 1936.
The 2019 Community Grants will fund all manner of projects contributing toward creating a vibrant, caring community for all. From arts and culture, to the environment, to health and wellness and beyond, Community Grants touch on myriad issues in our community.
Each applicant is required to include which issue area from the Victoria’s Vital Signs report their project will address, along with which of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
For example, an organization new to our Community Grants program, Cetus Research and Conservation Society, will use the funds to mitigate noise impacts on southern resident killer whales. The Victoria Sexual Assault Centre will be funding their project to improve inclusion for marginalized survivors of sexualized violence. And the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness will be working on using Indigenous food sovereignty as a decolonized approach to harm reduction.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of the types of projects the Community Grants help bring to fruition.
For organizations that didn’t see their funding approved this year, they should know they won’t have to wait long to re-apply. This is a big change for our granting process, but in 2020 we will be moving the Community Grants cycle to a February to May timeline, which fits better with our overall workflow for the charitable sector. So rather than applying in the fall, our application process for 2020 will open from Feb. 3 to May 2.
So to all our Community Grants recipients, and to the donors that make them possible, I wish you happy holidays and I look forward to seeing the results of the projects that come from them.
