VICTORIA – A distribution of over $2.3 million from the Victoria Foundation’s Community Recovery Program will help 126 organizations on Southern Vancouver Island weather the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds are providing federally-registered charities and qualified donees in the capital region with flexible, general operating funds assisting them in continuing to offer services and helping provide financial security now and moving forward. These funds will in turn allow these organizations to support vulnerable communities affected by the pandemic and strengthen the charitable sector more generally.
Sandra Richards
“We know how great the impact of this pandemic has been on local charitable organizations, as we see them stretch every dollar in order to continue to offer desperately needed services in our region,” said Victoria Foundation CEO Sandra Richardson. “It’s the generosity of the community and our fundholders that is allowing us to offer this support, largely through donations made to Community Action Funds.”
Of the total $2,389,996 being granted to 126 organizations for 128 projects, just over $750,000 has come from direct donations made either to the Community Action Funds or from Donor Advised Funds. The Community Action Funds, launched in September 2020, give the opportunity to donate directly to issue areas in our community, including pandemic recovery through the continuation of the Rapid Relief Fund.
A major donation that contributed to this funding was made by the JAYMAC Fund, a donor-advised fund held at the Victoria Foundation that offered up a $100,000 gift to the Arts & Culture Fund, a Community Action Fund supporting the arts sector, which has been hit especially hard by the pandemic.
“The support from the Victoria Foundation’s Community Relief Program has been vital to Intrepid Theatre’s overall stability while pivoting all operations,” said Heather Lindsay, Intrepid’s Artistic and Executive Director. “From discovering online adaptations to our festivals, to reconfiguring our venues to be able to safely open our doors when the time is right, to finding ways to keep artists and audiences connected, every aspect of Intrepid’s operations have changed and having the Community Recovery Program support allows us to continue to stay creative, hopeful, and operating.”
From the environment, to mental health, to homelessness, to racial equity, the organizations being support by this funding are responding directly to needs in the community, often exacerbated by the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
The Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness, for instance, has opened two new housing sites and has seen its staff grow from seven to over 50 since March of this year, all in its efforts to meet demand.
Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi
“This funding support is timely on a number of fronts, first because of the need to transition individuals into housing, particularly in light of Covid-19 and second because of Covid-19 our workload has intensified greatly,” said Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi, Executive Director. “Our goal is to help Indigenous people maintain their housing within the context of pathways to healing and recovery; thus, this grant is important in this process.”
Moving forward, the Victoria Foundation will continue to evaluate funding opportunities based on need in the community as the pandemic evolves. To help in these efforts, donations to the Community Action Funds can be made at victoriafoundation.bc.ca/community-recovery-program/.
