Allocation of 2000 Cross-Cultural Expertise Grants

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: September 25, 2000
Author/Local: Anne Kloppenborg/6031
RTS No. 1694
CC File No.
CS&B: October 17, 2000

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Director of Community Services, Social Planning Department

SUBJECT: Allocation of 2000 Cross-Cultural Expertise Grants

RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve a Cross-Cultural Expertise Grant of $19,500 to MOSAIC, in partnership with Nisha Family and Children’s Services Society, the source of funds being a $19,500 reserve in the 2000 Community Services Grants Budget:

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing recommendation.

COUNCIL POLICY
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

This report recommends approval of a grant to a project involving MOSAIC (Multilingual Orientation Services Association for Immigrant Communities) and Nisha Family and Children’s Services Society.

BACKGROUND

For the year 2000, Council approved a reserve of $19,500 in the Community Services Grants Budget for the Cross-Cultural Expertise Grants. This is the sixth year of the program, which was developed in collaboration with immigrant-serving and general community service organizations, to increase cross-cultural understanding and to make organizations and programs more culturally accessible (Appendix A: program criteria).

Projects have included an initiative in Hastings Sunrise which developed better connections between Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, Thunderbird Community Centre and First Nations families in the area; a partnership between SUCCESS and Family Services to share cultural and professional expertise in family counselling and support services; development of a culturally appropriate parenting group model for Chinese families; an innovative multi-agency family support model in the South Asian community; and a project to assess barriers and organizational issues in three eastside agencies regarding gay, lesbian, bi- and transsexual youth.

This year, two proposals were received and one is recommended. Both projects were large in scope and could not easily be reduced.

RECOMMENDED:

C. MOSAIC and Nisha Family and Children’s Services Society

Request: $19,500 Recommendation: $19,500

This project will enable the partners to share their respective expertise on youth and on family issues in ethno-cultural communities. It will assist MOSAIC to broaden the scope of training to its family support workers, and will broaden Nisha’s expertise in serving cultural communities. Staff strongly support this project as it furthers the program objective of making better use of existing staff to provide accessible and appropriate support to ethnocultural communities. Total project cost is $26,000, with the partners sharing the balance of the costs.

NOT RECOMMENDED

The second project was a partnership between South Vancouver Neighbourhood House and SUCCESS, to improve volunteer recruitment from and links with Chinese-speaking communities. While the objective is good, staff felt this project was not as clearly conceived.

We have also previously funded another project involving volunteer development in ethno-cultural communities, and are awaiting the final results of that work, which may be of assistance to the neighbourhood house.

CONCLUSION

A grant of $19,500 is recommended to MOSAIC and Nisha.

* * * * *

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TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Community Services, Social Planning Department
SUBJECT:	Allocation of 2000 Cross-Cultural Expertise Grants
RECOMMENDATION THAT Council approve a Cross-Cultural Expertise Grant of $19,500 to MOSAIC, in partnership with Nisha Family and Children’s Services Society, the source of funds being a $19,500 reserve in the 2000 Community Services Grants Budget: GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing recommendation. COUNCIL POLICY Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes. PURPOSE This report recommends approval of a grant to a project involving MOSAIC (Multilingual Orientation Services Association for Immigrant Communities) and Nisha Family and Children’s Services Society. BACKGROUND For the year 2000, Council approved a reserve of $19,500 in the Community Services Grants Budget for the Cross-Cultural Expertise Grants. This is the sixth year of the program, which was developed in collaboration with immigrant-serving and general community service organizations, to increase cross-cultural understanding and to make organizations and programs more culturally accessible (Appendix A: program criteria). Projects have included an initiative in Hastings Sunrise which developed better connections between Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, Thunderbird Community Centre and First Nations families in the area; a partnership between SUCCESS and Family Services to share cultural and professional expertise in family counselling and support services; development of a culturally appropriate parenting group model for Chinese families; an innovative multi-agency family support model in the South Asian community; and a project to assess barriers and organizational issues in three eastside agencies regarding gay, lesbian, bi- and transsexual youth. This year, two proposals were received and one is recommended. Both projects were large in scope and could not easily be reduced. RECOMMENDED: C. MOSAIC and Nisha Family and Children’s Services Society Request: $19,500 Recommendation: $19,500 This project will enable the partners to share their respective expertise on youth and on family issues in ethno-cultural communities. It will assist MOSAIC to broaden the scope of training to its family support workers, and will broaden Nisha’s expertise in serving cultural communities. Staff strongly support this project as it furthers the program objective of making better use of existing staff to provide accessible and appropriate support to ethnocultural communities. Total project cost is $26,000, with the partners sharing the balance of the costs. NOT RECOMMENDED The second project was a partnership between South Vancouver Neighbourhood House and SUCCESS, to improve volunteer recruitment from and links with Chinese-speaking communities. While the objective is good, staff felt this project was not as clearly conceived. We have also previously funded another project involving volunteer development in ethno-cultural communities, and are awaiting the final results of that work, which may be of assistance to the neighbourhood house. CONCLUSION A grant of $19,500 is recommended to MOSAIC and Nisha. * * * * *