Did you know that registered charities account for at least $4 billion of economic activity in the capital region? This supports around 63,000 full-time jobs, and $300 million in municipal taxes.
Given the sheer size of our civil society’s impact, it’s clear the charitable sector has become a prominent force in our local economy. As we move into a brand new year of opportunity, I believe the strength of all kinds of social purpose organizations will continue to gain momentum and build hope for a thriving community.
While many of us, with full bellies and hearts, contemplate our resolutions for 2024, I invite you to include helping to build hope for those who might not be surrounded by the same love and support, especially during the early months when we typically see a dip in the level of giving.
I have a deep gratitude for organizations not only sheltering and feeding people this holiday, but supporting those who may be struggling emotionally.
We have some truly courageous wellness spaces, like the Island Community Mental Health Association which builds hope through a slew of important one-on-one and group wellness support programs, along with housing, employment services, and more.
Likewise, the Men’s Therapy Centre works to bolster mental wellness through an array of counselling, youth, and victim services aimed at helping self-identified men and survivors of trauma stay resilient through hardship.
These non-profits are only a fraction of the heroic mental wellness services available to anyone in our region.
Here at the Victoria Foundation, we’re also working to build hope upon the fresh slate of 2024.
We’ve recently unveiled a bold new three-year strategic plan for our growing organization, which solidifies our intent to embed diversity, equity and inclusion into all aspects of our work, and to expand our trust-based philanthropy by giving even more to the areas of greatest need.
Among many other priorities, we’ve also committed to investing up to 15 per cent of our assets in social impact causes, and are working to connect meaningfully with a community of those interested in impact investing.
We’ve further announced the grant recipients of our Nature-based Climate Action Funding – totaling $550,000 for two local Nations and 12 wonderful environmental groups, many of them Indigenous led. I’m very pleased the funding will support some critical actions toward the climate crisis locally and beyond, throughout 2024.
This past year has been one of continued recovery, resilience, and profound growth, and while the charitable sector continues to grow, so does our capacity for hope and our resolve for action.
I’ll end with a thoughtful quote from Royal Roads University professor Thomas Homer-Dixon, in his recent book Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril.
He says, “humanity can’t and won’t address its urgent challenges unless enough of us from a broad range of cultures and societies recognize ourselves as one group, with a shared sense of identity, facing these challenges and developing solutions together.”
So, I invite you to think about what kind of hope you have for a prosperous 2024, and how you might share that hope with your loved ones, your friends, and the wider community around you.
Together, we can build hope higher and take leaps greater than we ever have before, to ensure everyone is well and able to flourish.
