Therapies for children with disabilities, food access programs, and assistance for low-income families with newborn babies are among the initiatives selected by the Nanaimo Foundation to receive grants through the community prosperity fund.
The community prosperity fund is a $25-million grant investment from the province that can be used on both operational expenses and project delivery for up to three years by local charities, non-profits and Indigenous organizations.
In Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Cedar, Gabriola Island and Lantzville, applications are reviewed by the Nanaimo Foundation, which is in charge of locally dispersing the money, which amounted to $635,000.
Funding allocated this year includes $225,000 to the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society, $150,000 to the Nanaimo Association for Community Living, $50,000 to the Cedar Opportunities B.C. Society's COCO Café, $50,000 to the Growing Opportunities Farm Community Cooperative, $51,000 to the Gabriola Hope Centre, $57,000 to the Ladysmith Family and Friends Society, $31,500 to Nanaimo Foodshare Society, $4,000 to Altrusa and $16,500 to Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre.
For the multicultural society, the funding will be spent on the local entrepreneurial accelerator program for newcomers, which provides training, education and professional development for newcomers to Canada to start a business. It includes teaching how to create a marketing plan, register a business name and comply with local regulations.
Angelika Valchar, the society's director of client services, told the News Bulletin that the society is thrilled to receive the funding.
"The purpose of LEAP is to focus to start up new businesses," she said. "We believe newcomers can contribute to our very vibrant and inclusive region, and so this would be a 14-week program that would engage in completing lessons where they would be learning how to problem solve, how to debrief subject matter, how to practise their business pitch – how to basically take all the learning in class into the real world of running a successful business in our community."
The first cohort of the program is anticipated to run from January to March.
In a press release, the Nanaimo Foundation said in addition to the nine grants, it has also partnered with Kw’umut Lelum Foundation to deliver $200,000 in funding to three organizations in the Cowichan Valley.
“Over the past few years, British Columbians continue to showcase resilience, innovation, and tenacity as they face new challenges. Community service groups across the province are playing a pivotal role in supporting communities,” said Megan Dykeman, parliamentary secretary for community development and non-profits, in the release.
