Make it happen! 2014/2015

How to Make it happen!

COMMUNITY NEEDS & OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR VITAL GRANTS

We are pleased to share the summaries of grant applications for community projects proposed for 2015. These projects reflect community needs identified in Victoria’s Vital Signs® and across the Victoria Foundation’s five areas of interest.

This year, we have received more applications than ever before. The combined total of funding requested is more than $2M, almost double the funding we have available through discretionary funds. Last year, through support of Make it happen! by many individuals and families, we were able to augment discretionary funding by almost 30 percent, thereby reaching more non-profits doing impactful work in the community.

Included in this booklet are project summaries from charitable organizations and other qualifed donees (such as First Nations and Boards of Education). Each project has been screened by Victoria Foundation staff to meet our basic eligibility criteria. Volunteer members of our Community Engagement Committee will recommend which projects will receive funding from discretionary funds – funds established by donors who have placed their trust in the Vict oria Foundation to make the best decisions to meet the ever-changing needs and opportunities that are presented each year.

We encourage you to consider supporting one or more of the projects or leadership funds in this booklet.

The steps to Make it happen!

1. Choose one or more projects You may support any project or leadership fund through a contribution from the available-tospend amount in your donor-advised fund held at the Victoria Foundation or by making a new gift. All contributions are welcome.

2. Let us know by October 24, 2014 Contributions to the specific projects are handled on a first -come, first-served basis, so please send your Grant Distribution Form to us as soon as possible. Or, call our donor services staff at 250.381.5532. They will be pleased to assist you.

3. Approval of the grant In mid-November, the Community Engagement Committee will review and recommend funding on the grant applications. If a project cannot be implemented due to partial donor funding only, we will be in contact with you to ask how you would like to proceed. The Board of Directors of the Victoria Foundation will give final approval for all grants recommended by the Community Engagement Committee on November 28, 2014, following which the grant cheques will be mailed to the organizations.

INTRODUCTION

2015 PROJECTS

Make it happen!

The Victoria Foundation has a long and valued history of helping, supporting and investing in our region. With our close connections and face-to-face dialogues with local charitable organizations, we are able to provide insightful, effective grants to improve our community’s collective wellbeing as a place to live, work, grow and play.

What inspires us is the opportunity for our donors and supporters to make a difference in virtually every aspect of community life.

We are pleased to share the summaries of grant applications received from local charitable organizations for projects proposed for 2015. These highlight the current needs of many organizations that carry out vital work in our community in five areas of interest: AREA OF INTEREST

PAGE

Arts, Culture & Heritage

2

Community Service

8

Education

13

Environment

17

Health & Recreation

20

On page 27, Make it happen! describes our six community Leadership Funds. This booklet is also available online at www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca where you can click through to the websites of each organization to learn more about them.

We also encourage you to visit the Community Knowledge Centre at ckc.victoriafoundation.bc.ca.

This online knowledge hub extends the Victoria Foundation’s commitment of connecting people who care with causes that matter® to highlight organizations addressing issues identified in our Victoria’s Vital Signs® report. Grantees that have received funding through past Make it happen! projects are also featured on the Community Knowledge Centre.

We encourage you to consider supporting one or more of the projects or leadership funds in this booklet. Please use the enclosed Grant Distribution Form. For assistance, please call our donor services staff at 250.381.5532.

Working together, we can create transformational change in our region to make Greater Victoria the best place to live, work, grow and play.

VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 1

ARTS, CULTURE & HERITAGE

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ART GALLERY OF GREATER VICTORIA REQUESTING $7,500 Diversity Volunteer Training Project – Growing Opportunities for Diversity in Age & Ethnicity www.aggv.ca Volunteers are mobilized throughout the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's (AGGV) programs. Key findings of research by a student employed by AGGV in 2014 indicate that although existing volunteers are strongly committed, the AGGV could be encouraging more diversity in age and ethnicity, both in its volunteer base and in how programs are offered. Achieving this goal would involve providing training in diversity sensitivity to Gallery staff and volunteers. The research also indicates that the current method of managing volunteers is antiquated and non-responsive. In 2015, the AGGV would like to undertake a project which would grow volunteering opportunities that reflect a diversity of age and ethnicity and introduce a new system for managing volunteers.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessLearning BALLET VICTORIA SOCIETY REQUESTING $18,000 AttenDance - Reaching Out to Seniors Living In Isolation www.balletvictoria.ca The AttenDance program is a companion to this year’s Tea for Tutu program. Its objective is to specifically target seniors living in isolation and in need of social interaction. The majority of seniors who attend Tea for Tutu are from assisted living facilities. However, many seniors still live in private residences with no staff to see to their needs and organize activities. Many have lost their spouses, are living alone, and have health problems. The AttenDance program will contact those seniors, with the help of partner organizations like James Bay New Horizons, and will offer them social activities such as cooking and computer classes culminating with a chance to see a free ballet performance at a Tea for Tutu event.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementHealth & Wellness BLUE BRIDGE THEATRE SOCIETY REQUESTING $25,000 Lighting Up the Village www.bluebridgetheatre.ca The Lighting Up the Village is part of a larger initiative of Blue Bridge Theatre to transform the oncederelict Roxy Theatre in Victoria's Quadra Village into a cultural hub for neighbourhood activity and a resource centre for multiple arts organizations for many years to come. This project will follow on the phase one upgrade of the theatre from 50 amp stage power service to 200 amp service. Funding requested for 2015 will be used to complete the upgrade by purchasing a state-of-the-art lighting console and a communication system that will facilitate front-of-house and backstage communication during performances.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & Culture EconomyGetting Started Learning CANADIAN LIGHT MUSIC SOCIETY (Palm Court) REQUESTING $7,000 Palm Court Light Orchestra 2015 Concerts www.palmcourtorchestra.com The project will provide financial support for concerts by the Palm Court Light Orchestra at the UVic University Centre in Victoria, the Charlie White Theatre in Sidney, and the Cowichan Theatre in Duncan. The Orchestra, now in its 28th year, concentrates on a musical style known as "palm court," which is essentially light orchestral music. It presents rarely performed music from the pre-WW II era. In 2015, it will present concerts entitled "Valentine Diva," "Around the World in 80 Days," and "On the Road to Mandalay." The palm court audience, which is 90 percent seniors, enjoys the 2 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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particular music and appreciates the daytime concerts and reasonable ticket prices. The concerts are both educational and creative and are also part of building community.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEconomyHealth & Wellness LearningStandard of Living COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL OF THE SAANICH PENINSULA REQUESTING $40,000 Sidney Fine Art Show 2015 Paid Coordinator www.cacsp.com The Community Arts Council of the Saanich Peninsula (CACSP) has managed the Sidney Fine Art Show for the past 11 years. This world-class juried art show, which is open to artists in all media, receives approximately 6,000 visitors each year. The Show has been administered entirely by volunteers, with over 300 involved annually. Since its inception in 2003, the Show has continued to grow and improve.

To remain sustainable, maintain the level of professionalism expected, and facilitate necessary administrative enhancements, the CACSP recognizes the need for a paid professional coordinator.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEconomyGetting Started Health & WellnessLearningStandard of Living DANCE VICTORIA SOCIETY REQUESTING $8,000 Strategic Planning www.DanceVictoria.com Dance Victoria, currently in a period of significant transition and renewal, seeks to engage an outside consultant to assist staff and board in updating the current strategic plan with special attention given to financial planning and management in the short, medium, and long term.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & Culture GREATER VICTORIA ELDERCARE FOUNDATION REQUESTING $10,000 Embrace Aging Through Arts & Community www.gvef.org Funding would allow long-term care residents to be a part of a community-based art program for a period of one year. The program is designed to improve the emotional, cognitive, and overall health and well-being of residents through providing art-based activities and projects with instructional support and community access. To ensure accessibility and cost-effectiveness as well as to provide opportunities for meaningful experiences that connect residents to the community, the program will be offered both at the Aberdeen Hospital and the Cedar Hill Arts Centre. A program highlight will be exhibitions of the residents' work, to which the public will be invited.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementHealth & Wellness INTER-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF GREATER VICTORIA REQUESTING $7,800 Elder Knowledge: Growing Food Close to Home www.icavictoria.org Elder Knowledge: Growing Food Close to Home will bring together 60 diverse and multi-ethnic seniors and 40 non-seniors to increase community and personal connections through a year-long gardening project. Seniors will share cultural and traditional knowledge of food and food production through hands-on, non-language-based activities and workshops, encouraging respect and appreciation for different cultures. The cultural safe space created through this project will increase immigrant newcomer seniors' inclusion, self-confidence, and participation in community, and the project will create a multi-generational community.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting Started Health & WellnessLearning VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 3

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INTREPID THEATRE COMPANY SOCIETY REQUESTING $20,000 Curtain Call! An Equipment Upgrade for the Intrepid Theatre Club www.intrepidtheatre.com The Intrepid Theatre Club, an accessible and extremely popular 50-seat theatre and emerging artist resource centre in downtown Victoria, inherited its decades-old hand-me-down curtains and technical gear from its big sister, the Metro Studio. Home to the Uno Fest, The You Show, and workshops, rehearsals, events, and performances by community groups year-round, it is necessary to upgrade the soft goods (black curtains, white "cyc" projection surface) projection and technical equipment. This will reduce costly emergency rentals and repairs and make the theatre clean and presentable for the thousands of artists and audience members who rely on the space to share the experience of live theatre.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementSafety PACIFIC PEOPLES' PARTNERSHIP ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $10,000 State of the Pacific - Pacific Peoples' Partnership 40th Anniversary Conference and Festival www.pacificpeoplespartnership.org Pacific Peoples' Partnership is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015. Project funding will contribute to a dynamic week of events to be held in September 2015 in the Greater Victoria region.

Over 600 people are expected to take part in the Pacific Networking Conference, a One Wave Festival, cultural exchanges and regional tours. Public events will include concerts, performances, presentations, panels, and more on the subject of the state of the Pacific. The program will connect diverse communities to discuss holistic concerns around environmental sustainability, human rights, cultural strength, health, globalization and socio-economics. A special edition of the publication Tok Blong Pasifik will be created from the proceedings and select events will be digitized to ensure wide distribution.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEconomyEnvironmental SustainabilityHealth & WellnessLearning SIDNEY AND NORTH SAANICH MEMORIAL PARK SOCIETY REQUESTING $10,000 (Mary Winspear Centre) Youth Educational Theatre www.marywinspear.ca Youth Educational Theatre at the Mary Winspear Centre is the creation of a performing arts production that addresses societal issues. The performances are created and performed by youth, and the storyline addresses racism and diversity, current issues that are relevant to youth. The project's outcomes will be an enhanced capacity of young performers to address societal issues and an opportunity for young audience members to obtain skills for inclusiveness.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & Engagement SOOKE FINE ARTS SOCIETY REQUESTING $14,603 LED Gallery Light Conversion www.sookefinearts.com This project will convert halogen gallery lighting at the Sooke Fine Arts Show to LED, the first phase in expanding and upgrading the gallery infrastructure. Existing lighting is at maximum load for the facility's electrical circuits leaving the Society unable to increase lighting in areas that need it or to expand the gallery. LED conversion will lead to reduced electrical consumption, reduced ambient heat for greater comfort for volunteers and guests, and reduced damage to artwork from exposure to sustained high temperatures. This will allow the gallery to expand to include about 50 more artworks, 4 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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increase the number of artists in the show by 15 percent, increase public exposure to art, and accept newer art forms requiring electricity. Existing lighting will be donated to organizations in need.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEnvironmental Sustainability THE BELFRY THEATRE SOCIETY REQUESTING $20,000 The New Incubator Project  www.belfry.bc.ca The New Incubator Project is a means of delivering support, mentorship, and professional development to theatre companies and artists interested in developing new work and exploring new areas of theatrical creation. In an isolated community, this is an essential means of encouraging artistic growth for professional artists, both established and emerging. This is a two-year project involving three independent companies or individual artists. Each will be developing a new theatre piece or exploring new theatrical practices. At least one of the projects will be presented during the Belfry's SPARK Festival. The New Incubator Project is a major redesign and expansion of a program that has been part of the Belfry Theatre since 2003.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureGetting StartedLearning THE CANADIAN HERITAGE ARTS SOCIETY (CCPA) REQUESTING $15,000 Capacity and Sustainability 2015 www.ccpacanada.com This project will build capacity for the Canadian College of Performing Arts (CCPA) to ensure its sustainability. CCPA is in need of a new facility to house its operations, offer its educational programming and create a sense of community with Greater Victoria residents. The first step is to establish a good annual giving program with strong donor relationships and effective data management that will create the platform for a future capital campaign. Funding for this project will support hiring a full-time Development Officer to implement the donor and fundraising program during 2015.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEconomyGetting StartedLearning THE OCTA COLLECTIVE SOCIETY (artsREACH) REQUESTING $9,890 artsREACH Visual Arts and Dance Workshops www.artsreach.ca These artsREACH Workshops are offered free of charge to schools in the Capital Regional District, with a higher than average proportion of students from lower-income families participating. Students from kindergarten to grade seven have the opportunity to work with professional artists and dancers to explore their creativity and self-expression through visual art and choreography. In the Visual Arts workshops, children engage in printmaking, collage, drawing and painting. In Dance, they are introduced to Jazz and Hip Hop techniques and movement. Working on their own and in groups, students develop self-confidence and build their communication and collaboration skills. Funding this project will contribute towards the goal of delivering 170 workshops during 2015, reaching over 3,500 children.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearning THE OTHER GUYS THEATRE COMPANY SOCIETY REQUESTING $15,000 For Pete's Sake www.otherguystheatre.ca It could be argued that no artist maintained the belief in the power of song toward social awareness more than Pete Seeger. The Other Guys Theatre's new work, For Pete's Sake, is intended as a tribute to musician Pete Seeger and an opportunity for audiences to gather and experience the power of VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 5

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music to unite a group of strangers. This new work will premiere in Victoria in January 2015, capturing the life, times, and music of an iconic folk singer. ''Participation. That's what's going to save the human race.'' - Pete Seeger.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEconomyHealth & WellnessLearning THE STORY THEATRE PRODUCTIONS SOCIETY REQUESTING $5,000 Lighting Equipment www.storytheatre.ca Story Theatre offers professional, pertinent, literacy and curriculum-based performances for young audiences. While performances are "low tech", funding is requested to purchase lighting equipment to enhance the theatrical experience when the organization performs for elementary school children in school gymnasiums. The technical elements of the lighting will appeal to students who may be more interested in how things work, than in the words they hear. The post-show classroom experience will also be expanded through conversations about how mood is affected by technology.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearning THEATRE SKAM ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $22,250 Theatre SKAM's Runaway (Premiere) www.skam.ca Theatre SKAM has commissioned emerging playwright Mika Laulainen to complete a full-length draft of her new work Runaway, which began as a 10-minute play at SKAM's annual festival Bike Ride. The company will continue on to develop, rehearse and premiere this new work of Canadian theatre, targeted at the under-served demographic of 13- to 19-year-olds. The creative talent involved includes a range of young professionals, from performers to designers to technical support, who will be provided a professional production opportunity with all the resources that it requires.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & Engagement VICTORIA IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE CENTRE SOCIETY REQUESTING $13,473 Welcome Gardens! www.vircs.bc.ca Welcome Gardens! pairs 30 newcomers (immigrants and refugees) with 30 elders willing to share their garden space and horticultural knowledge. With the onset of age-related physical limitations, elders' gardens often go fallow, resulting in a sense of loss, a decrease in healthy organic food, increased isolation, and reduced physical activity. Many newcomers are from gardening and farming cultures. New to Victoria and with limited access to garden plots, newcomer families lose out on food and friendships that stem from gardening. Welcome Gardens! is designed to cultivate inter-cultural understanding, inter-generational friendships, and a sense of feeling valued. Expected outcomes include the exchange of horticultural knowledge, expanded food literacy learning opportunities, improved food security for participants, increased inter-generational and inter-cultural engagement, and decreased isolation.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting Started Health & WellnessStandard of Living VICTORIA INDEPENDENT FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL REQUESTING $26,500 Comprehensive Aboriginal Program with Qualified Programmer 2015  www.victoriafilmfestival.com Funding is requested to hire an Aboriginal Programmer for the 2015 Victoria Film Festival who would source Aboriginal films and artists for the Festival, plan various youth-related outreach activities, and 6 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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curate related interactive exhibits and displays. This project would help counter a lack of positive representation of Aboriginal peoples in mainstream cinema, promote diversity and inclusiveness in the Capital Regional District, and encourage learning among the general public about First Nations history and culture. These programs would be accessible and affordable, with the aim to include a significant number of communities in the Region.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementLearning BALLET VICTORIA SOCIETY The AttenDance program will contact seniors, with the help of partner organizations like James Bay New Horizons, and will offer them social activities such as cooking and computer classes culminating with a chance to see a free ballet performance at a Tea for Tutu event. (Page 2)

Ken Miner Photography

REQUESTING $18,000

SOOKE FINE ARTS SOCIETY This project will convert gallery lighting at the Sooke Fine Arts Show to LED, allowing the gallery to expand by up to 50 more artworks, increase the number of artists in the show by 15%, increase public exposure to art, and accept newer art forms requiring electricity. (Page 4) REQUESTING $15,000

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COMMUNITY SERVICE

2015 PROJECTS

ACPD - ACTION COMMITTEE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES SOCIETY REQUESTING $37,328 ACPD Disability Advocacy Program www.actioncommittee.ca Funding will provide advocacy services for people with disabilities, helping them to navigate provincial and federal application and appeal processes to ensure income security, health care, and the ancillary benefits they are entitled to under legislation. Transitioning from the BC welfare rate of $610 to $906 on Persons with Disability (PWD) status is an enormous jump in equity for someone on low income. Gaining PWD status also saves on clients' expenditures, as they would be eligible for medical care, medical equipment, free public transportation, subsidized housing, discounted recreational passes, free prescriptions, and more. Most of the Action Committee's clients are in desperate need of both money and housing.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessHousingStandard of Living Transportation ARTEMIS PLACE SOCIETY REQUESTING $20,000 Sponsoring Childcare for Vulnerable Babies www.artemisplace.org Artemis Place is an independent alternative school for teenaged girls faced with obstacles such as anxiety, foster care, poverty, and trauma. Half of the school's students have children. The school has an onsite daycare where nurturing, responsive parenting skills are modeled. The school's most vulnerable mothers can't commit to full time attendance and are not eligible for a childcare subsidy.

Funding requested would sponsor two flexible childcare spaces to support these young families with the goal that the mothers will eventually attend the program full time.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyGetting StartedHealth & Wellness LearningStandard of Living BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB SERVICES OF GREATER VICTORIA REQUESTING $15,000 Boys & Girls Club Literacy/Numeracy Program www.bgcvic.org This project will provide mentoring specific to building skills in literacy and numeracy to the elementary school children in need of extra support, identified by Boys & Girls Club staff in cooperation with teachers and school counsellors. These children may or may not be members of Boys & Girls Club Community Clubs (Esquimalt, VicWest, Langford, Colwood, Central Saanich); however, the program will be offered to children in elementary schools in those areas.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementLearning BRIDGES FOR WOMEN SOCIETY REQUESTING $5,390 Bridges for Women & PEERS Capacity-Building Collaboration Project www.bridgesforwomen.ca This project focuses on the development of capacity for Bridges for Women Society, and in turn, for PEERS Victoria Resource Society. Bridges is partnering with PEERS on a pilot self-employment program based on the Bridges model. The organization aims to increase its efficiency in terms of using up-to-date systems--specifically, client management systems to improve its ability to best serve its clients. This pilot project would allow PEERS and Bridges staff to use a remotely accessible client data system for shared clients. This system could help Bridges collaborate more effectively with PEERS and other partners for shared clients in the future.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyLearningStandard of Living

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CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND COUNSELLING SOCIETY REQUESTING $12,080 OF GREATER VICTORIA (Mary Manning Centre) Raising Happy Children Project www.marymanningcentre.com The Raising Happy Children project provides practical parent education and support services in a group setting for 20 parents of children and youth at risk for abuse and bullying. Groups focus on life skills, parenting and non-violent communication. Depending on participants’ needs, topics include trauma, child development, self-care, anger, responsibility, resiliency, safety skills, loss, abuse, emotional regulation, and stress management. Methodologies used include art therapy, discussion, games, role plays, and relaxation techniques. The project will reduce wait lists through a costeffective mental health service approach offering group sessions instead of one-to-one counselling.

The project aims to help break cycles of violence, support child safety, and increase family selfsufficiency by transferring skills and knowledge.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & WellnessSafety BURNSIDE GORGE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $25,000 Youth Self Sufficiency www.burnsidegorge.ca The Burnside Gorge Community Association's Youth Self Sufficiency (YSS) Program supports youth who are in foster care, on Youth Agreements, or entirely without supports as they transition into adulthood. Working with youth aged 17-19, for up to three years, YSS takes an asset-based approach encompassing the following areas: housing, employment, education, relationship and trust building, life skills, identity and emotional healing. Working one-on-one with Youth Advisors, participants assess their needs, identify goals, and develop action plans to meet those goals. Youth Advisors support youth to become self-reliant as they "age out" of care. Youth learn how to make smart, healthy decisions and access the skills and tools (such as housing readiness and spending plans) necessary for a successful future.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessHousing Standard of Living GREATER VICTORIA COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS SOCIETY REQUESTING $11,836 Extending the Reach of the Greater Victoria Street Survival Guide www.victoriahomelessness.ca This project will ensure that all vulnerable people who are homeless or living in extreme poverty have access to the waterproof, durable Greater Victoria Street Survival Guide. Through this project the Guide will be updated, revised, and reprinted twice in 2015. This project will ensure that an existing, proven resource will remain up-to-date and relevant to the lives of those experiencing homelessness. This project will touch the lives of thousands of individuals across the region, including individuals accessing services at over 80 resources in downtown Victoria, Sidney, Langford, Saanich, and elsewhere.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & Wellness HousingSafety OUR PLACE SOCIETY REQUESTING $40,000 Volunteer Coordinator for Family Members www.ourplacesociety.com Our Place will be extending hours into the evenings and weekends, an increase from 55 to 92 operational hours that will create many new opportunities for volunteers. Our Place currently has over 380 weekly volunteers, 25% of whom are 'family members' (the term for people who access services). Hiring a Volunteer Coordinator to focus on recruiting, retaining, and supporting family VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 9

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member volunteers will impact the organization's ability to transform vulnerable people's lives.

Dedicated staff support will help family members who volunteer and struggle with such challenges as mental and physical health, addiction and illiteracy and will assist in better outcomes and provide skills for future employment, which is crucial to enable transitional journeys out of poverty.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessLearning PACIFICA HOUSING ADVISORY ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $14,300 Virtues Youth Group Program www.pacificahousing.ca The Virtues Youth Group program provides weekly sessions, based on the internationally renowned Virtues Project™ for up to 90 children, ages 4 to 12, living in Pacifica's subsidized family housing complexes in Victoria, Saanich, Colwood and Langford. Fifty-two virtues are featured in this program, such as confidence, generosity, integrity, respect, responsibility, and thankfulness. Children enjoy arts and crafts, engage in physical activities, celebrate various holidays, have nutritional snacks, and go on field trips to learn more about the community beyond their complex. In addition to fun, children practice socially appropriate behaviour that builds self-esteem and develops strong and healthy family relationships and friendships.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Environmental SustainabilityGetting StartedHealth & WellnessSports & RecreationStandard of Living PENDER ISLANDS FIRE PROTECTION SOCIETY REQUESTING $25,000 Training Facilities Improvements www.penderfire.org The ability to safely deliver emergency response services requires effective training and consistent practice. This is especially true for volunteers, who learn and maintain these skills in addition to their regular careers. To assist these men and women, the requested funds will be used to purchase a livefire training unit for volunteer firefighters from Pender, Salt Spring, North and South Galiano, Mayne, Saturna, and Piers Islands. An easily accessible facility on Pender Island will greatly increase the frequency and effectiveness of training for the more than 150 volunteer firefighters who serve their communities. These communities include more than 17,500 residents and over $6 billion of property value.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyHealth & WellnessSafety SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL OF VANCOUVER ISLAND REQUESTING $25,000 BLESS: Building Lasting Employment Success Strategies www.svdpvictoria.com Funding will contribute to the operation of an employment program to secure part-time employment for Society of Saint Vincent de Paul clients dealing with physical and mental disabilities. The program aims to assist clients in overcoming obstacles to suitable employment, providing them with greater financial stability and independence, increasing their self-esteem and promoting their social connection and integration into the local community. The project would involve an application and screening process and 12 individuals would be enrolled in each program, which would be offered four times during 2015, each meeting three times a week for four weeks.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyHealth & WellnessLearning SOUTH GALIANO VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT SOCIETY REQUESTING $19,296 Live-Fire Training and Water Supply Equipment South Galiano Fire The South Galiano volunteer firefighters are being called on to serve a growing population with heavy 10 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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tourist traffic. The department responds to a large range of emergencies including structural fires, forest fires, vehicle accidents, search and rescue, and medical calls. Funding will provide the training and core safety equipment needed to help the firefighters work safely and effectively. The Live-fire Training and Water Supply assessment for 15 volunteer firefighters will enable the Society to preserve and protect life and property on the Island.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & WellnessLearningSafety SWOVA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH SOCIETY REQUESTING $14,083 Youth Preventing Family Violence www.swova.org Family and domestic violence takes a heavy toll on our communities. Under this initiative, SWOVA will bring together the talents, resources, and skills of motivated young people to address and prevent family violence on Salt Spring Island and the Southern Gulf Islands. A network of youth leaders will receive training to help recognize signs of abuse; work with an advisory committee to create a more coordinated risk assessment and safety planning strategy; support best practices to keep women and children safe; and host workshops for peers to address family violence. With partner organizations, youth leaders will also host a week-long awareness campaign. The initiative will raise awareness, change attitudes, enhance gender equality, and mobilize community efforts, all with the aim of preventing family violence.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyHealth & WellnessSafety THE MUSTARD SEED STREET CHURCH REQUESTING $80,000 Food Share Network - Action Plan Implementation www.mustardseed.ca This project proposes to implement the action plan of the Greater Victoria Food Share Network, a developing network of diverse non-profits committed to the "provision of healthy and nutritious food access, with dignity and respect, while supporting communities to self-sufficiency." The Mustard Seed is requesting funding in 2015 to implement the sixth objective of this action plan by creating a coordinated intake system between food banks. The project will track food-insecure communities in the Capital Regional District, eliminate duplication of efforts, and coordinate needs assessments between agencies to "path" clients to specific social service programs.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting Started Health & WellnessLearningSafetyStandard of LivingTransportation TOGETHER AGAINST POVERTY SOCIETY (TAPS) REQUESTING $15,000 Federal Benefits Legal Education and Information Project www.tapsbc.ca Low income persons with disabilities are confronted with tremendous challenges accessing their federal benefits. The community currently lacks any systematic resource dedicated to providing holistic information and assistance. TAPS will fill this access gap with an innovative delivery model that sees carefully trained community volunteers working under a specialized federal benefits expert.

This model leverages the skills and experience of a single dedicated coordinator into a high-impact program that will touch the lives of thousands of disabled local residents. Persons with disabilities can expect assistance accessing their Disability Tax Credit, Registered Disability Savings Plan, Income Tax Return, Canadian Pension Plan and more, all through a single unified project at TAPS's convenient downtown location.

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VICTORIA WOMEN'S TRANSITION HOUSE SOCIETY REQUESTING $20,000 Women's Ongoing Support Group www.transitionhouse.net The Women's Ongoing Support Group is a dynamic program for women who have been isolated due to abuse. The program rebuilds lives through educational and recreational activities and by connecting participants with the broader community. The program includes a weekly support and psycho-educational drop-in group, which affords opportunities for women to share experiences and explore topics including abuse, healthy relationships, stress management, financial literacy, and communication skills. Activities integrated into the program encourage social and community involvement, with the support of community volunteers. Participants can identify activities to attend together, and participate in planning and budgeting for these events. These activities serve to reintegrate women who have been isolated back into the community and to build social skills.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & Engagement YOUNG PARENTS SUPPORT NETWORK REQUESTING $14,695 Prenatal to Postsecondary Collective Impact Initiative www.ypsn.ca The Prenatal to Postsecondary (P2P) Collective Impact Initiative is committed to an intelligent, collaborative, evidence-based redesign of the current approach to supporting young people from before birth through the transition to adulthood. Activities will be based on the collective impact approach, and include a community-wide convening event in early 2015; steering committee coordination; multi-sectorial partnership development; alignment of activities with other local initiatives; development of a shared measurement system; developmental evaluation; and identification of a backbone organization. Through identification of population-level outcomes and multi-sectorial engagement around mutually reinforcing activities to achieve these outcomes, P2P will then be positioned to create lasting transformative change.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessHousing PACIFICA HOUSING ADVISORY ASSOCIATION The Virtues Youth Group program provides weekly sessions for up to 90 children, ages 4 to 12, living in Pacifica's subsidized family housing. Children practice socially appropriate behaviour that builds self-esteem and develops strong, healthy families and friendships. (Page 5) REQUESTING $14,300

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BIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS OF VICTORIA CAPITAL REGION REQUESTING $19,000 Focus Mentoring www.bbbsvictoria.com Focus Mentoring is a program for children and youth who have been referred to Big Brothers Big Sisters because they need additional and sustained support in their lives to help manage and overcome significant disadvantages. They live in families that are struggling to cope with mental health challenges and are requesting a mentor through the Community Mentoring Program. Focus Mentoring is intended to increase supports to families within BBBS's target group that live with mental illness and are challenged in parenting and family wellness. It provides relevant training to mentors so that they are better equipped to manage relationships that accommodate the needs of youth, lessen social stigma by focusing on resiliency, and offer the potential of intense long-lasting personal relationships necessary for change and child well-being.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessSafetySports & Recreation CREATING COMMUNITY WELLNESS SOCIETY REQUESTING $20,000 Navigating Wellness www.wellnesscharity.ca In this project, Navigating Wellness, trained HansKai (Japanese style of health management) facilitators lead eight "Health School" sessions to promote self-management of wellness through basic health indicators, group empowerment, and access to community resources. Target populations of the project include pre-employment individuals, seniors, and low-income people. The project will include the development of Young HansKai for children and teens. Outcomes include capacity building for wellness education and independence, reduced isolation, and strengthened partnerships.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessLearning SafetyStandard of Living GREATER VICTORIA PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD REQUESTING $10,000 Adaptive Toy Lending Collection www.gvpl.ca Every child deserves to experience the joy of play. Children learn essential skills through play, and toys can enrich and facilitate their play. Greater Victoria Public Library's adaptive toy lending collection will provide families with young children who have cognitive, physical, sensory, or communicative challenges with the opportunity to borrow adaptive toys at no cost. Selected toys will promote a variety of skills, including auditory, visual, tactile, gross motor, fine motor, eye-hand coordination, communication, language, and cognitive skills. The adaptive toy lending library will give parents and caregivers new ideas and props for stimulating play and will help enrich the quality of life for all children in our community.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessLearning Standard of Living GREATER VICTORIA VOLUNTEER SOCIETY (Volunteer Victoria) REQUESTING $26,358 Youth Program Quality Initiative - Coaching for Better Youth Outcomes www.volunteervictoria.bc.ca The Youth Program Quality Initiative supports local organizations through an evidence-based quality improvement process. Staff of youth-serving organizations participate in training and observe other staff-delivering programs, looking for evidence of documented best practices in youth programming.

Staff then come together as a team to agree on how they apply best practices, and are coached to identify quality improvement goals for their organization. Volunteer Victoria will support the YPQI to VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 13

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achieve those goals and also offer a set of professional development workshops focused on the skills needed to make the improvements identified. The YPQI expects to train over 150 youth workers from up to 25 organizations, with programs impacting up to 1,200 youth per year for the next two years.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearning GROWING YOUNG FARMERS SOCIETY REQUESTING $15,000 Grower Educator Certificate Training www.growingyoungfarmers.ca Funding will contribute to providing a community-based training certificate for individuals who wish to become Certified Organic Grower Educators for the Growing Young Farmers Society (GYFS) within the Capital Regional District. The modeling of the certificate will be based on the proven successes of the GYFS's Mr. Organic. Graduates from the program will be qualified as Grower Educators to provide hands-on teaching to children of all ages and abilities. The program will be taught primarily outdoors at private or public institutions such as schools, community gardens, and recreation facilities. This program offers a proactive way to disseminate information about food insecurity and how to address it in the most sustainable and progressive ways.

Vital Signs® Indicator: EconomyEnvironmental SustainabilityHealth & WellnessLearning Standard of Living PACIFIC MONTESSORI SOCIETY (Selkirk Montessori School) REQUESTING $15,000 Special Education After School www.selkirkmontessori.ca Selkirk Montessori School offers affordable after-school-care for students enrolled from pre-school to grade eight. A number of children have special needs designations and benefit from one-on-one aides during the course of their regular school day. This project will offer a therapeutic experience three times a week to all students in after-school care. Students with special needs will be offered an enriched program that connects them with outside resources and professionals in the community.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & Wellness LearningSafetySports & Recreation SAANICH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLACE REQUESTING $7,500 1000X5 Children's Book Recycling Project Victoria www.saanichneighbourhoodplace.com The 1000X5 Children's Book Recycling Victoria project supports the crucial early literacy stage with the goal of every child having a home library and 1,000 books read to them by age five, building language, literacy and social-emotional skills that last a lifetime. In 2015, families at 30 Greater Victoria schools will donate books. Retired educators will sort, clean, label and create beautiful gift bags. Twenty community agencies will provide necessary drop-in and outreach programs and distribute the book gifts in about 60 different programs to 1,000 babies and pre-schoolers. Literacy changes lives emotionally, economically, and health-wise - daily home reading to babies and preschoolers is the single most significant variable.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyGetting StartedHealth & Wellness LearningStandard of Living SALTSPRING ISLAND SOCIETY FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION REQUESTING $7,800 Strengthening Volunteerism to Build Organizational Capacity Salt Spring's Volunteer & Community Resources Society will educate the community about the critical work of the not-for-profit sector and make the public more aware of the opportunities for volunteer 14 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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engagement and the need for greater financial support in key issue areas. Salt Spring Island not-forprofits will be provided with informational resources and helped to identify gaps in their organizational capacities as well as offered the dedicated expertise of volunteer mentors to address them.The Island's 250+ not-for-profits will be encouraged to work cooperatively to reduce redundancy and deliver cost-effective services. As a result, the community will gain a revitalized and more professional charitable sector, more effective employment of limited community human and financial resources, and an improved quality of life.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementStandard of Living SONGHEES FIRST NATION REQUESTING $15,000 Songhees Academic Youth Leadership The Songhees Academic Youth Leadership (SAYL) group promotes leadership for Songhees Nation youth aged 14 to 24. SAYL members volunteer 20 hours a year on projects that have included traditional food harvesting, community gardening, leadership training, and youth summer education camps. Funding requested for 2015 will support the Digital Stories Project, led by youth for youth, to support community development and educate the wider community about the Songhees' rich history and culture. Three digital story projects are planned: Elders Voices, Signs of Lekwungen, and Lekwammen Harvesters and Traditional Foods. Funding will also support a youth leadership retreat to enhance youth leadership skills, and a Songhees Youth Conference to be held in August 2015.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEconomyEnvironmental SustainabilityLearningSports & RecreationStandard of Living THE GARTH HOMER SOCIETY REQUESTING $25,755 LifeStreams Learning - Pilot Phase www.garthhomer.com LifeStreams Learning is a comprehensive, multi-year post-secondary learning program for young adults with developmental disabilities. It begins with a formal assessment of each individual's specific learning needs and follows with an individual learning plan of three to five years for each student.

The plans will include services already delivered at Garth Homer, combined in an integrated, learnerfocused approach, including digital learning, arts learning, literacy and numeracy, and employment readiness coaching. The program will maximize each person’s opportunities for community inclusion and employment. Phase one of LifeStreams Learning saw the completion of an online learning tool and database. In phase two, the program will be piloted with the first learners to establish an online credential for participants. Four words summarize LifeStreams' objectives: capability, confidence, choice, inclusion.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedLearning THE POWER OF HOPE SOCIETY REQUESTING $4,000 SAME!: Increasing Safety around Gender and Sexuality www.powerofhope.ca SAME! was established by Power of Hope in 2008 to address homophobia and increase safety and belonging among middle and high school students in the Greater Victoria region. In 2015, the program will provide presentations to schools, reach out to Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) and leadership students, and build on an amazing program. The SAME! presentation for grade eight students uses fun activities and age-appropriate subject matter to raise awareness and challenge homophobia as well as other forms of exclusion and bullying. The six-week series of workshops VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 15

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developed for high school GSA and leadership students provides a more in-depth exploration into root causes of homophobic and transphobic discrimination, and supports youth to create and implement an action project that promotes belonging.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementSafety VICTORIA ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY LIVING REQUESTING $15,000 (Victoria Opportunities for Community Youth Leadership) VOCYL Unity in Diversity Middle School and High School Project www.communitylivingvictoria.ca VOCYL has recently completed a very successful three-year Middle School Project and is looking to expand its impact to more students in Victoria. VOCYL wants to continue inclusion awareness presentations to over 300 grade six students in two local middle schools, and in addition, to collaborate with the Best Buddies programs in two local high schools. Best Buddies, an inclusive high school program that develops relationships between youth with and without disabilities, will be enhanced by VOCYL's partnership through recruitment support, educational workshops and presentations for the youth volunteers, and special event planning. This project aims to produce meaningful friendships and social connections between youth with and without disabilities at middle and high schools, as well as reduce isolation and increase awareness of the value of diversity in school environments.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearningStandard of Living SAANICH NEIGHBOURHOOD PLACE The 1000X5 Children's Book Recycling project supports the crucial early literacy stage with the goal of every child having a home library and 1,000 books read to them by age five, building language, literacy and social-emotional skills. (Page 14) REQUESTING $7,500

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ACCESS TO MEDIA EDUCATION SOCIETY REQUESTING $10,000 Digital Forage: Wisdom Harvest www.accesstomedia.org Digital Forage is an inter-generational digital storytelling program that uses technology to bridge generations and to preserve essential knowledge held by local elders. Through a series of school workshops and field trips, elders will share knowledge of wild food foraging, while artists will share skills in photography, digital storytelling and new media production. Coming full circle, youth will share their emerging digital knowledge with their elders and families on SalishHarvest.com, an interactive website that celebrates wild foods and medicines in the Salish Sea. The project's primary benefits are to provide 24 Galiano Island students with a chance to increase awareness of wild food foraging and habitat restoration, and to connect with local artists and elders in the creation of 48 place-based digital short stories.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityHealth & WellnessLearning CASCADIA GREEN BUILDING 2008 SOCIETY (Vancouver Island Collaborative) REQUESTING $10,000 Esquimalt Village Living Community Design Competition  living-future.org/cascadia/vancouverisland The Cascadia Green Building Council – Vancouver Island Collaborative is seeking funds to host the Esquimalt Village Living Community Design Competition in 2015. The competition solicits architectural ideas for the mixed-use community development project, Esquimalt Village, which is also intended to incorporate an integrated resource reclamation system for the wastewater of Esquimalt. The entrant must demonstrate how their design will help the Township of Esquimalt enhance its community capital (natural, physical, economic, human, social and cultural). The winning design of this competition must also demonstrate how the development will achieve the performance areas of the International Living Future Institute's Living Community Challenge, which include place, water, energy, health and happiness, materials, equity and beauty.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting StartedHousingLearningStandard of LivingTransportation EVERGREEN Uncover Your Creeks www.evergreen.ca REQUESTING $10,000 The Uncover Your Creeks program promotes holistic management of freshwater ecosystems by engaging volunteers in monthly stewardship events in the ecologically sensitive Tod Creek watershed. Pressures from residential development, food production, and recreation threaten the integrity of the Creek, the pristine Maltby Lake, and the watershed as a whole. Through this program, Evergreen and its local partners, including the Friends of Tod Creek Watershed and the District of Saanich, will train volunteer stewards to restore the riparian zone; identify threats to watershed health by collecting water quality data; and coordinate bi-annual water science workshops to engage volunteers, partners, and community members in dialogue about pertinent local issues.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting Started Sports & Recreation GALIANO CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $20,000 Galiano Community Food Forest - Phase 1 www.galianoconservancy.ca The Galiano Community Food Forest project addresses a pressing need for greater food security on Galiano Island, in the Capital Region and beyond. The project will create a permaculture food and VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 17

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medicinal forest - a locally adapted, sustainable, and high-yielding system that will contribute to and inspire resilient alternatives to conventional agriculture. Modeled on the local ecosystem, the food forest will minimize the inputs of labour, water, and nutrients required to produce nutrient dense food, while contributing to ecological health and resilience. It will operate as a social enterprise and provide an ongoing community asset. The food forest location at the Galiano Conservancy's Learning Centre will ensure its legacy as a living model, providing an important hands-on educational resource for our community and region.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting StartedHealth & WellnessLearningStandard of Living HABITAT ACQUISITION TRUST REQUESTING $21,000 Community Conservation Project www.hat.bc.ca The Community Conservation Program permanently conserves natural areas through legal agreements and brings Victoria's conservation community together to collaborate on environment issues. With funding, Habitat Acquisition Trust will work with three land owners and other conservation partners to permanently protect 24 hectares (57 acres) of natural area through conservation covenants. HAT will also bring together conservation stakeholders from around the region to introduce new tools to help local governments and environmental organizations plan conservation actions in the Coastal Douglas Fir Zone.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Environmental SustainabilityHealth & WellnessSports & Recreation MAYNE ISLAND CONSERVANCY SOCIETY REQUESTING $10,000 Nature Discovery and Stewardship Project www.conservancyonmayne.com The Mayne Island Conservancy Society, Gulf Islands Center for Ecological Learning, and Galiano Conservancy Association have invested countless hours in developing and delivering environmental education over the past 15 years. The cumulative wealth of knowledge that has resulted can be found in the heads of staff and volunteers, trapped on hard drives, and buried within filing cabinets.

Partners will collaboratively collect and refine this knowledge and make it accessible to current and future environmental educators. Outcomes will include an activities manual (ring-bound living document) and an interactive website where partners can upload field-tested lesson plans and continuously share education resources. Regional partner use will be encouraged and enabled through a colloquium and workshop.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental Sustainability LearningSports & Recreation PENINSULA STREAMS SOCIETY REQUESTING $14,000 Environmental Education Project www.peninsulastreams.ca Peninsula Streams Society (PSS) will continue to deliver its environmental education programs for grades three and six students and develop a new high school program. PSS has delivered its grades three and six programs annually since 2006 and 2009, respectively, to all School District No.63 schools (and some in School District No.61). In 2015, the Society hopes to expand these two programs into SD61 and will work with teachers and community members to develop and deliver a pilot grade nine program. In this way, educational content will be delivered to students three times over their school career. Currently, every year, over 1,000 students learn about increasingly complex 18 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

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concepts of environmental stewardship such as water conservation, pollution prevention, volunteerism, and hands-on ecological and stream/riparian restoration.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityHealth & Wellness Learning SIERRA CLUB OF BRITISH COLUMBIA FOUNDATION REQUESTING $12,000 Youth Environmental Leadership Program www.sierraclub.bc.ca Sierra Club BC's Youth Environmental Leadership Program (YELP) is an experiential project that will engage over 250 youth in the Capital Regional District. Youth training in conservation, environmental stewardship, and restoration will support sustainable food systems, healthy land and water, and a vibrant community of youth leaders. YELP's four components are habitat restoration; hands-on workshops and training; public education, outreach, and events; and mentoring and networking between participating schools and organizations in collaborative sustainability initiatives. Through increased skills, cohort comradery, and environmentally positive attitudes, YELP cultivates rich relationships with nature, which contributes to greater well-being, citizen engagement, and motivation for action.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting Started Health & WellnessLearningSports & Recreation WORLD FISHERIES TRUST REQUESTING $16,000 EcoLearning Hive www.worldfish.org Nature education contributes to the well-being of people, most specifically through the development of youth, education, and environmental sustainability. The website www.EcoLearningHive.org helps teachers and others access appropriate opportunities from the rich diversity of nature education suppliers and resources in the CRD. Over 30 organizations are currently registered, with over 40 regular programs, but the website's potential utility has not been reached. World Fisheries Trust proposes to respond to user inputs with increased functionality and promotion, moving to a new open-source platform (“Open Outreach”) with a mapping interface and enhanced resource sharing.

The project will include greater site maintenance, exposition at local events, information sessions for teachers, educational program “taster bus” excursions, and development specifically to serve the Gulf Islands.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Environmental SustainabilityHealth & WellnessLearningSports & Recreation PENINSULA STREAMS SOCIETY Peninsula Streams Society (PSS) will continue to deliver its environmental education programs for grades three and six students and develop a new high school program… (Page 18) REQUESTING $14,000 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 19

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BRITISH COLUMBIA CHILDHOOD CANCER PARENTS' ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $10,000 2015 Pediatric Oncology Family Support Program www.bcccpa.org The BCCPA Vancouver Island Chapter provides access to an expanded level of services and support specifically for Island-based families who have children with cancer and blood disorders. When families are stretched to their limit, the BCCPA's programs help children and their parents navigate their experience during transition back to the home; help to reduce their feelings of stress and isolation; and get access to the supportive resources they need in their community. The Family Support Program in Victoria provides targeted, caring services for local families who have a child with cancer. Program activities include on-site support during treatment, family support initiatives, individual support and program referrals, and emergency assistance.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessHousingLearningStandard of LivingTransportation CANADIAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $8,000 "Walk and Talk" Diabetes Self-Management and Prevention  www.diabetes.ca ''Walk and Talk'' is a free 10-week program that teaches the principles of diabetes self-management for those living with or at risk of diabetes. Participants meet weekly to learn new skills from professionals such as dietitians, podiatrists, diabetes educators and fitness instructors. The one-hour sessions include a group walk with peers and the guest speaker. Participants receive weekly wellness resources to add to their toolkit and work towards completing a 3 or 5-kilometre walk. The program empowers people to self-manage their diabetes, creates a supportive environment for individuals to engage in physical activity, and provides access to experts in a positive, proactive setting.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessSports & Recreation CAPITAL MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $29,283 Restful Creations Project www.miravictoria.ca Funding will contribute to the Greater Victoria community by providing services to Alzheimer's/dementia clients and their caregivers to support them to remain in their homes. This project will provide caregivers with respite, freeing them for self-care activities each Saturday for 4 hours. In addition, clients will be offered art and music therapy, a nutritional lunch, exercise, and activities. A qualified worker will ensure their safety and security. This is a one-year pilot program with an implementation date of January 2015, which coincides with Alzheimer's Awareness Month.

Vital Signs ® Indicator: Arts & CultureBelonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearningSafety CRISIS INTERVENTION AND PUBLIC INFORMATION SOCIETY OF VICTORIA REQUESTING $30,000 (Need2) Youth Suicide Prevention Program - from Distress to De-Stress www.need2.ca The overarching goal of NEED2's Youth Suicide Prevention Program is to prevent youth suicide by helping youth successfully negotiate periods of crisis, and providing suicide and mental health awareness education and online emotional support. The program addresses a gap in mental health support services and presents strategies for healthier coping strategies. Through funding for this program, NEED2 will increase its capacity to respond to youth on-line, more youth will have tools for reducing stress and coping positively, and youth will have somewhere to go for emotional and crisis support when other services are not available (evenings, weekends).

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DOWNTOWN BLANSHARD ADVISORY COMMITTEE REQUESTING $20,000 (Quadra Village Community Centre) Quadra Village Girls Program www.quadravillagecc.com The Quadra Village Girls Program is designed to serve youth ages 9-19 in the Quadra-Hillside community who are at risk, have multiple barriers, and are in need of extra support. The program hosts two weekly girls groups (ages 9-13 and ages 14-19) focused on mental health education, safety and recreation activities. The program provides youth with a safe environment in which to build selfworth, connect to the community, and form relationships with each other while learning about healthy living and accessing ongoing support from the professional staff team.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearningSafetySports & Recreation GREATER VICTORIA CITIZENS COUNSELLING CENTRE REQUESTING $30,000 Adult Counselling www.citizenscounselling.com The Citizens' Counselling Centre will provide short-term and affordable individual, couples, and group counselling to 1,200 adult residents of Greater Victoria, with all counselling offered by volunteers who are trained and supervised through the Centre. The organization will select, train, and supervise 18 to 20 volunteers in a 10-month training program (200 hours). It will also develop and conduct a 15-session Couples Counselling Training program for up to 18 graduate volunteer counsellors from Citizens' Counselling and from Esquimalt Neighbourhood House. Timely and appropriate short-term emotional support can help prevent or mitigate family breakdown, the effects of mental disorders, suicide, and violence against others.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementLearning HOME IS WHERE WE LIVE - LIFECYCLES PROJECT SOCIETY REQUESTING $65,000 Fresh and Local: Networks Supply Exploratory Project www.lifecyclesproject.ca Research conducted by LifeCycles shows that the backyard orchards across the Capital Region could provide upwards of 100,000 pounds of fruit to our communities. 'Fresh and Local' is a multi-partner project led by LifeCycles to add this fruit into our local food system through donations to vulnerable populations and sales, and to existing markets and networks. Together with CRFAIR, LifeCycles will expand and streamline systems to increase harvest and redistribute local food; build a business plan and partnerships to ensure ongoing operational funding for the program; and develop aggregation and distribution models to connect gleaning programs and local farmers to the Healthy Food in Schools Network and FoodShare.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Environmental SustainabilityHealth & Wellness INSPIREHEALTH SOCIETY REQUESTING $21,600 InspireHealth Bursary Program www.inspirehealth.ca InspireHealth has developed a unique evidence-based patient-centered program of integrative cancer care. The program focuses on transforming the fear and anxiety associated with a cancer diagnosis into empowering self-care and greater levels of health and personal responsibility. The individualized paid membership program consists of education, access to clinical services, and ongoing support. The InspireHealth Bursary Program removes financial barriers for people with a cancer diagnosis who are unable to afford a membership by providing four free annual memberships each month. The cost of a membership is $450, and it includes the creation of a self-management VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 21

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health plan, a fitness assessment, a visit with a clinical counselor, opportunities for follow-up clinical visits, and ongoing classes and information sessions to motivate and maintain healing and wellbeing.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & Wellness ISLAND DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CENTRE ASSOCIATION REQUESTING $17,270 Youth Transition Services www.idhhc.ca Funding provided will be used to develop long-term services for Deaf and hard of hearing youth ages 15 to 20 years. Once students leave the support systems of residential or local schools, continued education or training opportunities or employment can be challenging, stressful, and often overwhelming for youth and their families. Providing support early in this transition will equip youth with coping strategies and life skills, building peer and community supports and strategies for communication in the hearing world. Guidance and support will assist with education, career, and lifestyle choices. Connection with other Deaf and hard of hearing youth and adults as role models will develop inclusion, reducing the potential for isolation and give them the best chance for independence.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementGetting StartedHealth & WellnessHousing LearningStandard of Living ISLAND PATHWAYS REQUESTING $5,000 Walking Map and Festival www.islandpathways.ca Island Pathways will create the first walking map of all the public pathways and trails on Salt Spring Island. A Walking Festival will be held in June in celebration of the new walking map. All participants will get a newly created map of the public walks and hikes on the island. The Walking Festival and map aim to promote active transportation and inspire more people to go walking, get fit, and have fun. It will also showcase the Island and celebrate Salt Spring's green, vibrant, creative community.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Environmental SustainabilityHealth & WellnessSafetySports & RecreationTransportation ISLAND SEXUAL HEALTH SOCIETY REQUESTING $15,000 Breaking Down Barriers-Reaching Young People at Risk www.islandsexualhealth.org Island Sexual Health's Outreach Education Program provides a preventive approach towards healthy sexual decision-making. ISH works to ensure youth have the skills to practice healthy sexuality; however, youth who are not in school face additional challenges associated with high-risk behaviour.

Currently, ISH provides an outreach program for at-risk youth that promotes responsible decisions about sexual health. ISH has new opportunities to provide a more comprehensive outreach program, including the development of additional skill-based curriculum and the implementation of the Compassionate Contraceptive Assistance Program (CCAP). Through the CCAP, selected contraceptives can be obtained at no cost for patients who would not otherwise be able to afford them, which allows ISH to expand its program delivery to low-income youth who are at risk for unintended pregnancies.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyHealth & WellnessLearningSafety

22 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

HEALTH & RECREATION

2015 PROJECTS

PACIFIC TRAINING CENTRE FOR THE BLIND SOCIETY REQUESTING $10,000 Blind People in Charge www.pacifictrainingcentre.ca Through this program, classes will be offered two times a week to blind adults in Victoria and Nanaimo. Blind facilitators serve as role models, teaching blindness-specific and employmentreadiness skills such as Braille, adaptive technology, cooking, and independent travel. Using an empowering experiential style of learning in which blind people learn to problem solve and take charge of their own lives, the program features confidence-building activities and a positive blindness philosophy. Such training is a required first step before blind people can lead fully independent lives and has a proven track record of creating successful outcomes. It will connect participants with resources for career-path planning and offer job-shadowing or internship opportunities with local businesses and community groups to aid in finding employment.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyLearningSports & Recreation Standard of Living THE ARTHRITIS SOCIETY, BC & YUKON DIVISION REQUESTING $10,000 Arthritis Education Programs and Forums for the Greater Victoria Area www.arthritis.ca/BC Program staff or highly trained volunteers will deliver 50 free programs (28 educational programs, 12 forums featuring medical specialists, and other presentations and displays) throughout the Greater Victoria area to an estimated total of 2,059 participants. Participants include people who are newly diagnosed or are living with one of the over 100 forms of arthritis, as well as family, caregivers, friends and other adults interested in learning more about this disease. Research shows that understanding the disease and being pro-active in self-care are key factors in maintaining quality of life. Participants learn about accessing community resources and advances in research, and connect with others facing the same challenges.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessStandard of Living THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 63 – SAANICH REQUESTING $25,000 (O.R.C.C.A. Dental Clinic Society) Dental Clinic Administrator www.orccadental.com This project will help address the dental needs of children and adolescents under 19 years of age who come from families with an income level below $40,000 a year and have no dental insurance. It is built on a model that emphasizes education, prevention, and treatment. To achieve this mission, Oral Care for Children and Adolescent has built a dental clinic, located in the annex of Sidney Elementary School, that will serve 500 clients. This grant will provide start-up funds for the salary of a clinic administrator who will run the office and provide consistency for patients, volunteers including dentists and hygienists, agencies, and the general public.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearningSafetyStandard of Living THE CANADIAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND (CNIB) REQUESTING $15,000 Ensuring Accessibility for British Columbians with Vision Loss www.cnib.ca Many Canadians with vision loss are excluded from social and economic opportunities. Sixty-five percent of working-age adults with vision loss are unemployed and 50 percent earn less than $20,000 per year. Only 45 percent of blind or partially-sighted Canadian children graduate from high school (compared to 90 percent of sighted kids). To tackle these challenges, CNIB Specialists will conduct assessments and make recommendations for customized assistive technology based on individual VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 23

HEALTH & RECREATION

2015 PROJECTS

needs. The project will expand the stock of existing devices such as DAISY players, screen readers, and screen and video magnifiers to reduce the growing wait list for these technologies. It aims to encourage independence by giving those with vision loss the tools to function with freedom and confidence in day-to-day life.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEconomyGetting StartedHealth & WellnessSafetyStandard of LivingTransportation THE CANADIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY REQUESTING $15,100 Victoria Red Cross Health Equipment Loan Program (HELP)www.redcross.ca Funding will be used to purchase an industrial medical equipment disinfection machine (called a Hubscrub) that will double the speed with which the Victoria Red Cross HELP Depot can sanitize returned equipment and make it available for re-loan. With the Victoria senior demographic increasing, the demand for free, by-donation loans of basic mobility and home safety equipment (e.g. walkers, wheelchairs, bath chairs) and advanced equipment (e.g. hospital beds, patient lifts, electric wheelchairs) is set to double in the coming decades. An additional Hubscrub will immediately reduce current client wait times for specialized equipment that will keep seniors comfortable and safe as they convalesce at home.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & WellnessSafetyStandard of Living THE GALIANO CLUB REQUESTING $13,000 Galiano Club Community Food Program - Food for Thought www.galianofoodprogram.ca The Galiano Community Food Program's ''Food for Thought'' project would provide Island seniors with opportunities for regular nutritious meals with others, socializing, and discussion on subjects of interest. The project would be open to island residents of all ages at the request of Galiano seniors who prefer inter-generational gatherings. The project would also make economical meals available for purchase to take home. A 2010 island assessment indicated the need for a meals program and the local nurse has reported that there are a large number of independent elders whose nutrition is diminishing. Volunteers would experience meaningful involvement in community activities, which is a significant contributor to health and volunteer motivation.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessLearningStandard of Living UMBRELLA SOCIETY FOR ADDICTIONS AND MENTAL HEALTH REQUESTING $9,000 Enhance Measuring Success Project www.umbrellasociety.ca This project builds on the Umbrella Society's Measuring Success project to create a wonderful secure and wireless mobile client database. This database met Umbrella's identified needs, but it can be better. 'Revision 2' of the database will make changes so that all comments appear in a single continuous view, and in chronological order. These 'progress notes' would include each encounter, each referral, and every comment, and would be automatically date and time stamped. Also envisioned is a 'Revision 3' of the system that would integrate the strengths of the database with the GPS capabilities of iPhones, and add a system (much like the one that taxi dispatchers use) that would display the location of each team member on a digital map.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & Wellness

24 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

HEALTH & RECREATION

2015 PROJECTS

VANCOUVER ISLAND AIDS SOCIETY REQUESTING $44,323 Peer Navigator Project www.avi.org The Peer Navigator will offer clients at the Access Health Centre an immediate and integrated point of contact on arrival at the offices of AIDS Vancouver Island. As services in the Access Health Centre have grown and diversified, the need for immediate client-centred and responsive referral within and between programs and organizations has increased. The Peer Navigator will offer a consistent and fully informed point of contact for clients of AVI - welcoming, assessing immediate and longer term needs, and quickly linking individuals with appropriate programs and services. The Peer Navigator will streamline the referral process and increase the impact of current services by reducing wait times.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessSafety VANCOUVER ISLAND KIDS KLUB CENTRE SOCIETY REQUESTING $10,000 Brown Bag Lunch Program www.kidsklub.ca Since 1990, Kids Klub has offered a healthy, nutritious "Brown Bag" lunch to children in need at local elementary and middle schools in the Victoria, Saanich and Sooke School Districts. This program is offered at no cost to the school or families. During the 2013/14 school calendar year, Kids Klub provided 117 lunches per day (2,574 lunches per month) to children who would otherwise go hungry at school. Funding would support this program for 2015.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & WellnessLearningStandard of Living VICTORIA COOL AID SOCIETY REQUESTING $30,125 Cool Aid Community Kitchen www.CoolAid.org The Victoria Cool Aid Society's Community Kitchen program helps people overcome homelessness by providing those starting a new life in safe, supportive housing with the skills they need to succeed in a crucial part of their new homes: the kitchen. More than giving them a fish, Community Kitchen's free weekly group sessions teach people how to make delicious, budget-saving dishes from seafood or anything they might find in a food bank hamper or produce aisle. Participants also learn about nutrition and purchasing. Sessions are open to all supportive housing tenants, with special sessions created to train staff at other charities how to encourage healthy living and community through food.

Sessions take place at the Downtown Community Centre and Cool Aid's apartments for seniors.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementEnvironmental SustainabilityGetting Started Health & WellnessHousingLearningStandard of Living VICTORIA SEXUAL ASSAULT CENTRE SOCIETY REQUESTING $25,000 Trans* Inclusion and Gender-based Violence Community Education Project www.vsac.ca Sexualized violence affects people of all genders; however, women and trans* people are disproportionately affected. The Society believes that to bring an end to sexualized violence, the root causes of gender-based violence must be addressed. The Project will have three components: community consultation and engagement, community education and resource development, and youth leadership and social action. First, community members, particularly trans* individuals, will be invited to participate in developing and refining educational workshops and resources. Second, 20 interactive community-based trans inclusion workshops will be delivered to local service providers and partners. Finally, youth, through Project Respect's youth summer camp and social action activities, will raise awareness about trans* inclusion and gender-based violence prevention.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessSafety VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 25

HEALTH & RECREATION

2015 PROJECTS

VICTORIA SOCIETY FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM REQUESTING $7,500 Respite for Parents of Children with Autism www.victoriaautismsociety.com The Victoria Society for Children with Autism offers low-cost, volunteer-run programs including monthly parent support groups and social activities for families, an equipment and book lending library, connections to community resources, support to families after diagnosis, and a monthly newsletter to support parents with children on the autism spectrum. Many of these parents have had to leave full time employment to take care of their child, and it can be exhausting and lonely. Under the Respite for Parents of Children with Autism program, each family can request up to $100 three times per year to hire a respite worker to spend a night with the child or children so that Mom and Dad can have a break.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Health & WellnessStandard of Living WE RAGE, WE WEEP ALZHEIMER FOUNDATION REQUESTING $10,000 Personal Safety System www.werageweweep.com The Personal Safety System is a wearable digital watch device (an integrated GPS, cellular, Internet, radio frequency, and safe zone technology with an accompanying home base station) for seniors prone to wander or become lost due to cognitive impairment. With an aging population and greater numbers of people with dementia, the Personal Safety System addresses care challenges while supporting caregivers and assisting seniors through security, greater independence, ability to age in place and fight isolation. This project will provide relief for senior and adult caregivers, as well as communities taxed by a growing number of searches for missing seniors due to dementia.

Vital Signs® Indicator: Belonging & EngagementHealth & WellnessSafety

VICTORIA COOL AID SOCIETY The Victoria Cool Aid Society's Community Kitchen program helps people overcome homelessness by providing those starting a new life in safe, supportive housing with the skills they need to succeed in a crucial part of their new homes: the kitchen. (Page 25) REQUESTING $30,125

26 VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

LEADERSHIP FUNDS VITAL VICTORIA FUND The Vital Victoria Fund supports community applications in all fields of interest. Grant decisions, made annually by our Board on the recommendation of our Community Engagement Committee, support the needs and opportunities identified through our Victoria’s Vital Signs ® report – our community check-up that evaluates the Capital Region as a place to live, learn, work and grow. Up to 50 percent of the balance of this fund is allocated to board-mandated priorities arising from low scores identified in Vital Signs. This discretionary fund allows the Victoria Foundation to do what it does best – identify and help to address the issues in our community through the vital work of the many charitable organizations that receive grants each year.

SMART & CARING COMMUNITY FUND Our Smart & Caring Community Fund supports programs that are proactive, measurable and responsive to findings from our local and national Vital Signs reports. The first initiative focuses on the finding that Canada’s children are less active and at greater risk from childhood obesity than ever before. In partnership with the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence, the ABCs of Physical Literacy program provides young children with the skills that establish the groundwork for confident involvement in sports and recreation opportunities. Now in its third year, the number of children involved in this program has increased from 173 to 3,000.

VITAL YOUTH Our Vital Youth program provides students at eight high schools on southern Vancouver Island with hands-on experience in philanthropy and community development. The Victoria Foundation allocates each school group an annual grant of $2,500 to distribute to local federally registered charities of their choice and adds $500 to each school’s endowment fund to model the importance of legacy gifts.

ENVIRONMENT FUND The current focus for the Environment Fund is initiatives that address climate change in our region.

Applications from community organizations on southern Vancouver Island are accepted each year for review by the Community Engagement Committee of the Board.

LITERACY FUND A love of reading led Harry and Mary Morrow of Victoria to leave a legacy for literacy. Born in Northern Ireland in 1924, Harry immigrated to Canada in 1947 and developed a deep affection for his adopted country. Following Mary’s death in 1999, Harry found some consolation in his love of reading. Through a generous bequest gift upon Harry’s death in 2014, the Victoria Foundation has created the Literacy Fund to support initiatives in our region which strengthen literacy skills.

VICTORIA FOUNDATION ADMINISTRATION FUND The Administration Fund is used to fund leadership initiatives of the Victoria Foundation such as research for the Victoria’s Vital Signs ® report, our online Community Knowledge Centre, and other projects that allow us to support and showcase charitable organizations in our community.

VICTORIA FOUNDATION – MAKE IT HAPPEN! 27

HOME IS WHERE WE LIVE - LIFECYCLES PROJECT SOCIETY (Page 21)

MUSTARD SEED STREET CHURCH (Page 11)

THANK YOU Together with you, the Victoria Foundation works to make our community stronger by

connecting people who care with causes that matter 速.

Our vision is as relevant today as it was when the Foundation was created in 1936.

That is our history, our legacy, and our future.

HABITAT AQUISITION TRUST (Page 18)

THE CANADIAN HERITAGE ARTS SOCIETY (CCPA) (Page 5)

VICFO / 0914 / 300