Victoria Foundation distributing $280,000 to nearly a dozen organizations on Vancouver Island

Victoria Foundation distributing $280,000 to nearly a dozen organizations on Vancouver Island
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11 organizations on Vancouver Island have qualified and will be receiving a combined total of $280,000 in grant money from the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program (IRP), which will be distributed by the Victoria Foundation.

Nearly a dozen organizations on Vancouver Island will receive grant money from the Victoria Foundation.

According to a media release, 11 organizations on Vancouver Island have qualified and will be receiving a combined total of $280,000 in grant money from the Government of Canada’s Investment Readiness Program (IRP), which will be distributed by the Victoria Foundation.

Those organizations that are receiving money, which include charities, nonprofits and for-profit businesses, operate with a “social purpose” and aim to sell goods or services to earn revenue, while also achieving “positive social, cultural or environmental results,” the release said.

Furthermore more, recipient organizations are also focused on making improvements to local issues of concern. Such issues included affordable and supportive housing, natural habitat protection, Indigenous entrepreneurship and waste reduction and recycling. 

“We are proud to be a part of this program and to help our community tackle some of its biggest challenges as we move into pandemic recovery,” said Sandra Richardson, chief executive officer of the Victoria Foundation. “The successful recipients of these funds are shining examples of organizations moving forward towards investment readiness and building capacity for the sector.”

Organizations receiving money are the Canadian Mental Health Association Port Alberni ($25,000), Galiano Conservancy Association ($18,000), Habitat Acquisition Trust ($25,000), Habitat for Humanity Victoria ($30,000), INEO Employment Counselling Incorporated ($12,500), Scale Collaborative ($30,000),  The Mustard Seed Street Church ($24,500), Unbuilders Deconstruction ($30,000), Victoria Native Friendship Centre ($25,000), and Westcoast Community Resources Society ($30,000).

READ: Victoria Foundation’s Rapid Relief Fund raises $5 million in 31 days

The IRP helps launch, design, measure and scale the organization’s social enterprise and prepare to them access investment in Canada’s growing social finance marketplace, including through the Government of Canada’s Social Finance Fund.

According to the release, Unbuilders Deconstruction plans to use the money to expand its business on Vancouver Island.

“Unbuilders are thrilled to be expanding our service to Vancouver Island, the epicentre of the BC logging industry and the old-growth lumber we recover,” the company’s founder Adam Corneil said in the release. “We want to ensure building owners on the Island a better way to remove an old building and divert that waste. It’s not waste, it’s just wasted. We don’t destroy an old building, we unbuild it.”

Habitat Acquisition Trust will use the funding to gather crucial information in order to co-develop one or more social enterprises that will “enable a First Nation to derive revenue based on conservation,” which will support the creation of an Indigenous Protected Area.

“This funding makes it possible for us to lay the groundwork for really meaningful enterprise that supports communities and the environment,” said the trust’s executive director, Katie Blake. “It enables us to do the necessary work to get it right for the long-term.”

A full list of all eleven funded organizations can be found on the Victoria Foundation website and on CFC’s national website which lists all 257 funded social purpose organizations across Canada. Applications for the second and final round of funding for CFC’s IRP program will be accepted starting Sept. 8 until Oct. 9. For more information regarding eligibility and program FAQ’s visit the national website.

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