SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 4
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
DECEMBER 14, 1995
POLICY REPORT
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCE
Date: November 29, 1995
TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: Acting Director of Social Planning
SUBJECT: Barriers-To-Bridges Neighbourhood Development Grants
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve the establishment of the Barriers-to-
Bridges Neighbourhood Development Grants program, as
described in Appendix A of this report.
B. THAT Council approve, without offset and in advance of the
approval of the 1996 Operating Budget, a 1996 budget
allocation of $15,000 for the Barrier-to-Bridges Grants
Program, subject to the normal budget review process.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services submits A and B for
CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
City Council, on February 4, 1994, resolved that during the terms of
the 1994-1996 Budget Management Program, any proposed increases in
program and/or service levels be offset by corresponding spending
reductions elsewhere in the City's operating budget or by increases in
non-taxation revenues, subject to Council discretion.
SUMMARY
The City has been involved in and has supported a wide range of
activities aimed at reducing racism and discrimination. One component
of this comprehensive approach has been the "Barriers-to-Bridges"
program which Council has supported for the past three years.
While other anti-racism strategies have focused on access to services,
communications and education, the two Barriers-to-Bridges pilot
projects have created an environment where local residents who come
from diverse backgrounds can comfortably come together, identify areas
of commonality, and take part in activities which are based on common
interests. This approach should not be seen as a possible alternative
to the others, but rather as an important component of a multi-faceted
strategy for dealing with the difficult and serious problems of racism
and discrimination.
With this report, we are recommending that a modest new grants program
be established to enable the development of several more similar
projects. Short-term, relatively small grants (maximum $5,000 each)
will be available to help cover meeting costs, notifications and
program costs. These grants will not be available for on-going
operational costs. City Council approved a total of $26,000 from
Contingency Reserve over the past three years for the first two phases
of this program. We are recommending that a budget of $15,000 be
established for the next phase of the program in 1996.
It has been proposed that funding for this new program come from
incorporating it into the Community Services Grants (CSG) program or
from an off-setting reduction in spending elsewhere. Neither approach
is recommended here, for the following reasons:
(1) This proposed program is not a direct service to people
experiencing disadvantages, and therefore does not fit any of the
criteria or objectives of the CSG program.
(2) Impending funding cuts from senior levels of government could
have serious negative consequences for the CSG program; now is
not the time to make cuts or change criteria to accommodate a new
program.
(3) This proposed program represents a new way of addressing the
problems of racism and discrimination and consequently an
entirely new grants stream should be established for it.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to propose a new grants program which is
intended to assist in the fight against racism and discrimination.
BACKGROUND
In October 1992, City Council approved a request for $14,000 from the
Special Advisory Committee on Race Relations to fund a new program
called "From Barriers-to-Bridges". This project aimed at "identifying
the cultural barriers which prevent full participation in community
life, and the bridges which could assist in fostering harmonious race
relations in the City".
Following a series of neighbourhood forums, involving more than 200
residents from diverse backgrounds, a conference was held on March 20,
1993. Feedback received from both the forums and the conference
indicated that much work needs to be done to provide better
understanding among and between various cultural groups. There was
general agreement that a more focused approach, especially at the
neighbourhood level, should be undertaken. These conclusions were
reported to City Council in October 1993. Council endorsed 24
specific recommendations (with some amendments) and approved an
additional $12,000 from Contingency Reserve, to fund the next stage of
this program.
The 1994 "Barriers-to-Bridges" program took a different format. Two
neighbourhoods (Douglas Park and Champlain Heights) were chosen as the
bases for more in-depth neighbourhood action oriented activities.
Local residents met together, used the tool of personal stories to
identify common areas of concern and interest within the
neighbourhood, and then developed specific projects to work on.
The Special Advisory Committee on Cultural Communities concluded that
this program was very successful and that it should be continued and
expanded. Consequently, in April 1995, they recommended to Council
that:
"City Council incorporate a "Barriers-to-Bridges"
neighbourhood development stream in the Social Planning
Community Services Grants program which is focused on
promoting inclusion of cultural communities in neighbourhood
activities."
Council responded to this recommendation by referring it to the
Director of Social Planning for review and report back.
DISCUSSION
The two neighbourhood-based Barriers-to-Bridges projects shared
several characteristics which make them quite unique among government
funded programs:
- They were based in self-defined neighbourhoods that are small
enough that frequent contact between neighbours was not only
possible, but likely.
- They were not oriented towards services; rather the focus was on
activities which all residents could, and might want to,
participate in.
- The focus was on activities, not discussion.
- The projects focused on shared commonalities, rather than
differences.
Staff feel that it is these characteristics which enabled the program
to be a success. Bringing the discussion down to the "people next
door" level, and focusing on the commonalities (which far outnumber
the differences) provides an environment which discourages racism and
discrimination.
BUILDING ON SUCCESS
Racism and discrimination are serious problems that need to be
addressed. The City is involved in a wide range of programs and
activities that deal with different aspects of these problems. For
instance, all recipients of Community Services Grants are required to
ensure that their services are readily available and appropriate to
program users from all cultural backgrounds. More than 20% of
Community Services Grants are provided for programs specifically
directed at facilitating the integration of recent immigrants and
refugees into mainstream activities.
Other examples of City involvement in increasing cross-cultural
awareness and understanding include:
- diversity and cross-cultural training for City staff
- support of the Hastings Institute and its programs
- continuing support of the Council Committee on Cultural
Communities (previously the Race Relations Committee)
- the diversity communication project
- inclusion of Cross-Cultural Initiatives Grants as part of the
Cultural Grants program.
However, all of these activities and programs deal with rather
narrowly defined groups of people (e.g. recent immigrants in need of
social services, arts patrons, City staff). Racism all too often
manifests itself out on the street, where ordinary residents and
neighbours do not understand each other, are afraid of each other, and
sometimes get angry at each other. The types of projects arising from
the Barriers-to-Bridges program specifically address these situations.
We believe that such projects, operating in conjunction with (but not
instead of) the other existing client-based programs and activities
could
make a significant impact on race relations in the City. Therefore we
are recommending that a new grants program be implemented, which will
enable the continuation and expansion of the Barriers-to-Bridges
projects.
Details of the proposed program are attached as Appendix A. In
summary, the key features are:
- Small scale, local neighbourhood focus.
- Use of activities of interest to all residents as a way of
bringing people together (rather than the need for service).
- The requirement that the process go somewhere, it should result
in linkages to existing community programs, services and
organizations.
- Short-term, small grants (maximum $5,000). On-going, operational
funding will not be provided via these grants.
FUNDING
Implementation of the kinds of projects carried out in Douglas Park
and Champlain Heights is not expensive, but there are some costs.
Someone (usually a part time paid coordinator, or a volunteer
collecting an honorarium) needs to do some leg-work, contacting local
community groups, knocking on doors, setting up meetings, etc. There
may be some small printing costs for leaflets and notices, permit
costs for events in public areas, or perhaps an assured supply of
coffee, tea and cookies (the lifeblood of any organizing effort).
City Council approved $14,000 in 1992 and $12,000 in 1993 for the
Barriers-to-Bridges program, both times from Contingency Reserve.
Continuation and a modest expansion of the program will require some
more funding. Experience with the first two neighbourhood project
suggests that a relatively small grant of approximately $5,000 will be
sufficient to fund one of these projects for a year.
Using the definition of small, self-defined neighbourhoods there could
conceivably be requests, eventually, for a hundred projects or more.
However, many neighbourhoods are not that diverse internally, and many
do not have the ability or desire to develop and strengthen intra-
neighbourhood ties.
Initially, we do not expect many groups to be able to put together a
realistic proposal right away. Therefore, we suggest that the first
budget for this program be set at $15,000, enough to fund 3-4
projects.
The Acting Director of Social Planning recommends that funding for
this new program not be connected to the Community Services Grants
(CSG) program (as was proposed by the Cultural Communities Committee).
The focus of the CSG program is services, in particular services to
people who are experiencing social, physical and/or economic
disadvantages. While it is possible that some residents in any given
neighbourhood may be in need of the kinds of services provided by
Community Services Grants, it is not reasonable to expect that efforts
to promote racial harmony in neighbourhoods must be predicated on the
needs of individuals with specific social service needs. The
objectives and intended program participants in the Barriers-to-
Bridges program are as distinct and different from those of the
Community Services Grants as are the objectives and participants in
the Cultural, Childcare or Environmental Grants programs.
Also, we would like to remind Council that significant cut-backs in
senior level government funding are probably going to have significant
negative effects on existing social service programs. We have no way
of knowing, at this point, what the resultant CSG program will look
like, but feel that it would be inappropriate to consider cutting
funding to desperately needed services to accommodate a new program,
prior to dealing with the cut-backs from outside the City systems.
Council's policy is that any increases in program and/or service
levels be offset by corresponding spending reductions or increases in
revenue. However, Council has twice exercised its discretion and
approved funding for the Barriers-to-Bridges program without any such
offsets. We are recommending that it do so again.
As long as this program remains small scale, the existing staff
resources in Social Planning are adequate to administer it. Review of
applications and recommendations to Council will probably take place
after completion of the Community Services Grants review process.
CONCLUSION
The original Barriers-to-Bridges projects developed a model for
building on the multi-cultural resources available among residents in
local neighbourhoods to reduce racial tensions and discrimination. We
are recommending that a small grants program be established to build
on this model.
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APPENDIX A
Page 1 of 2
BARRIERS-TO-BRIDGES NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
Purpose
- recognizing the value of face-to-face human interaction in the
fight against racism and discrimination, to encourage and
facilitate opportunities for residents from diverse cultural
backgrounds to interact by participating together in
neighbourhood activities
Goals
- foster a sense of "community" at the local neighbourhood level
which is inclusive, caring and supportive
- foster cross-cultural interaction and improve inter-cultural
relationships
- improve communications among neighbourhood residents and between
neighbourhoods
- promote participation in an on-going series of neighbour-hood
activities through the development of increased opportunities for
involvement and by bringing together people which reflect the
cultural, linguistic, age, economic and physical ability
diversity of the neighbour-hood
- develop a process (or processes) for on-going resident
interactions and community building.
Guiding Principles
The guiding principles for the Community Services Grants would
generally apply as well to the Barriers-to-Bridges Neighbour-hood
Development Grants.
a) Working together Usually, no one group or organization is
representative of a neighbourhood. Collaboration among groups or
coalitions of people will be required.
b) Inclusiveness Neighbourhoods are made up of people from a great
diversity of backgrounds and abilities - project participants
must be reflective of this diversity within the neighbourhood in
question.
c) Participation Active participation of as wide a range of people
as possible in project design and implementation will help to
achieve the goal of increased involvement in existing and future
neighbourhood activities. Appendix A
Page 2 of 2
Eligibility
Applicants must be, or be sponsored by, a registered non-profit
society in good standing with the Registrar of Companies.
Neighbourhood based coalitions of existing groups may develop a
proposal for funding, but the formal application must be sponsored by
a single non-profit society. Applications for a grant under the
auspices of a sponsoring non-profit society should include a letter of
commitment from that society, noting the terms and conditions, as well
as the fact that the sponsors have reviewed the complete application.
As funds will be limited, and one of the primary objectives is to
encourage collaboration and neighbourhood unity, only one application
can be funded from each neighbourhood (as defined below). Groups
within any single neighbourhood are strongly encouraged to reach
agreement on a single application. If more than one application is
received, Social Planning staff will assist applicants in developing a
single proposal. To meet the objectives of dealing with issues
arising from multi-cultural diversity, there must be a demonstrated
cultural diversity within the population of the neighbourhood for
which a grant is sought.
Funding
- Maximum grant of $5,000.
- Term of grant is 1 year, renewable only for a maximum of 1
additional year when unforeseen or unusual circumstances warrant
it.
- These grants cannot be used to duplicate or add to community
development programs which are funded from other City sources;
however, we encourage the use of these grants to develop
processes that will ultimately link with existing programs,
services, and organizations.
- These grants are intended to fund the operating expenses incurred
in setting up neighbourhood activities; they are not to be used
for capital expenses. Although the grants may be used to pay
staff salaries, there must be a clearly defined and significant
time commitment from local residents in the project.
- Paid staff cannot be expected to "do it all".
Definition of Neighbourhood
- Whatever you think it is, but with these characteristics:
- walking distance across it
- contains a focus (e.g., school, community centre, shopping
area, etc.).
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