ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 6, 1996
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of Community Services, Social Planning
SUBJECT: 1996 Barriers to Bridges Neighbourhood Development Grant
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve a Neighbourhood Development grant
of $15,000 to be distributed to eight community service
organizations in the amounts listed as follows; source
of funds to be the 1996 Other Grants:
$1,000 to Downtown Eastside Youth Activity Society
$1,000 to Douglas Park Community centre Association
$2,000 to grunt gallery
$2,200 to Mount Pleasant Healthy Communities Committee/
Mount Pleasant Community Centre
$2,500 to Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House
$2,000 to South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
$2,300 to West End Community Centre Association
$2,000 to Yaletown Neighbourhood Health Group
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services submits the
foregoing for CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative
votes.
PURPOSE
This report recommends approval of the Barriers to Bridges
Neighbourhood Development Grants to eight community service
agencies. The grants will provide opportunities for local
residents from diverse backgrounds to come together and
engage in a positive interaction aimed at increasing
understanding among residents and thus reducing
discrimination.
BACKGROUND
On December 14, 1995, Council approved the establishment of a
new grants program - "Barriers to Bridges" Neighbourhood
Development Grants. This new grants program is intended to
be small scale, neighbourhood focus. The goal is to promote
inclusion of cultural communities in neighbourhood activities
and assist in the fight against racism and discrimination.
Council allocated $15,000 for the initial pilot program in
1996.
The Special Council Advisory Committee on Cultural
Communities
had sponsored a similar "Barriers to Bridges" program in 1993
and 1994. The program took the format of neighbourhood
forums and neighbourhood self-identified activities to
involve residents working on common issues, interests and
concerns. Both programs were very successful. In April 1995,
the Special Council Advisory Committee on Cultural
Communities recommended to Council that the City should
establish an ongoing annual Barriers to Bridges grants
program and expand opportunities to more neighbourhood
groups. Both staff and the Committee viewed this as a
positive strategy to promote cultural harmony, increase
understanding, fight racism, and reduce discrimina-tion.
DISCUSSION
The brand new Barriers to Bridges Neighbourhood Development
grants program received a total of seventeen applications
requesting $75,254 in grant funding from the community.
Three committee members, nominated by the Special Council
Committee on Cultural Communities, together with the
Multi-cultural Community Planner of the Social Planning
Department, formed the grants review committee. With a
nominal budget of $15,000, the review committee struggled
over the recommenda-tions. Grants recommended to eight
community organizations are in small amounts of two thousand
dollars range.
The following eight projects are recommended for grant
funding:
Grant
Organization Activity Recommended
1) Downtown Eastside To involve community $1,000
Youth Activity organiza-tions, a cross section
Society of residents and business
together and discuss health and
safety issues in the "People
Gathering" forum.
2) Douglas Park Community groups, residents and $1,000
Community Centre businesses from a diverse
Association back-ground gathered together at
the neighbourhood festival
"Sharing our wealth". There will
be display of home/locally grown
vegetables, flowers and herbs,
music, arts and culture
activities involving all
attending residents.
3) grunt gallery An open artist studios event with $2,000
exhibitions of artists in seven
live work studio developments in
North Mount Pleasant.
Invita-tions will go out to all
housing co-ops, strata councils,
community agencies and businesses
in the area, hoping to include
all diversities within the
neighbourhood to participate.
4) Mount Pleasant To co-ordinate inter-agency $2,200
Healthy efforts, provide language
Communities assistance to new immigrants,
Committee/Mount leadership training for youth and
Pleasant new immigrants. A group of
Community diverse community leaders will be
Centre established and involved in at
least four ongoing community
planing initiatives.
5) Mount Pleasant To bring together new immigrant $2,500
Neighbourhood women with other local women in a
House positive, safe and supportive
environment. This diverse group
of women will plan a variety of
local activities for children and
families in the neighbourhood.
6) South Vancouver To develop a diverse volunteer $2,000
Neighbourhood committee and organize community
House events and activities in the
neighbourhood.
7) West End To put on a Neighbourhood Day to $2,300
Community bring together the diverse local
Centre residents, businesses and
Association community groups in a positive
environment. There will be
festival celebration, a
multi-lingual survey, as well as
issues discussions.
8) Yaletown To reach out to the established $2,000
Neighbourhood and the new immigrant residents
Health Group in the area and bring them
together for a community
celebration at the Roundhouse
Community Centre.
Since this is the first year that the City has opened up the
program to receive community applications, an evaluation will
be done at year-end to summarize the learning and successes.
A more fine-tuned grant criteria and instructions to the
applicants will be developed for the 1997 grant application
process.
Appendix A lists all grants applications, the requested
amount, and the recommended grants to eight community
organizations.
Appendix B describes the previously approved grant program's
goals and objectives for Council reference. Appendix C is
the front pages of all applications.
CONCLUSION
The City has always been very proactive and supportive of
initiatives that aimed at increasing cross-cultural awareness
and understanding, promoting cultural harmony and reducing
discrimination. The first year "Barriers to Bridges"
neigh-bourhood development grants for the community has
proven to be very popular and deemed to be much needed. Many
groups are still enquiring about the program after the
application dead-line date. Staff anticipated that as we
continued to offer this program the demand could increase.
The demographic and cultural diversity of our city is on the
increase, neighbourhood opportunities created by a program of
this nature will enhance the integration and communication of
all residents. This program could become one of the City's
vital strategies in promoting positive race relations.
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