Deadline: 16-Oct-20
The City of Vancouver is seeking applications for its Direct Social Services (DSS) Grant Program to provide funding for programs that address inequity and mitigate conditions that create vulnerability for residents.
Priority Areas
Direct Social Services grants provide funding for programs that address inequity, and conditions that create vulnerability for residents. Priority consideration is given to services or programs that meet the following:
- Align with the Social Policy Grants Statement of Intent,
- Reinforce or support the goals of the Healthy City Strategy with a specific focus on goals,
- The primary function is to remove barriers and/or provide supports to ensure more equitable access to services and opportunities,
- The primary focus is residents who are experiencing social, physical, and/or economic disadvantages and/or who face discrimination,
- Use one or more of the following approaches:
- Service-oriented, and aimed at reducing the effects of disadvantage
- Systemic or individual advocacy aimed at securing services and protecting rights
- Community development, which empowers and involves population experiencing marginalization in solving social problems, bringing about positive social change, and extending participatory democracy.
- Use one or more of the following strategies:
- Organizing/mobilizing volunteer resources
- Developing mutual support (e.g. coalition building, collaborative projects) among groups, individuals and group support systems, or cross-cultural support networks
- Facilitating improved access to other services
- Building the capacity of individuals, families or communities to address the causes of marginalization
- Developing or supporting new service delivery models.
Social Policy Principles for Grant Making
- Accountability: They embrace ongoing feedback loops with partners to understand City investments and how they influence change.
- Equity and Inclusion: They strive to build equity in our communities by making grant processes accessible, especially for groups that experience exclusion.
- Transparency: They are open, transparent, and consistent with our grant making processes.
- Informed Decision-Making: They inform our grant making using evidence-based research, and consider data sources, both formal and informal.
- Balanced Investment Approach: They balance short, medium and long-term investments so that, while addressing immediate concerns, they never lose sight of our goal of effecting lasting systems change.
- Diversity and Reconciliation: Our grants recognize the unique strengths of our many diverse communities by fostering relationships, helping heal the past, and moving forward with shared understanding and respect – working within the context of Vancouver as the unceded homeland of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
- Strategic Alignment: Our grants demonstrate alignment with Healthy City Strategy goals and related initiatives.
- Partnerships: Our relationships with our community and funding partners are based on trust, respect and transparency.
Eligibility Criteria
- Be a registered non-profit society, community service co-op or social enterprise wholly owned by a non-profit and in good standing with the Registrar of Companies; OR be a registered charity, in good standing with the Canadian Revenue Agency; OR a First Nations Band.
- Please note that if applicants are not registered as one of the above, they may partner with a fiscal sponsor who is a registered non-profit society or registered charity in order to meet this requirement.
- Have an independent, active governing body composed of volunteers.
- Demonstrate accommodation, welcomeness and openness to people of all ages, abilities, sexual orientation, gender identities (including trans, gender-variant and two-spirit people), ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, religions, languages, under-represented communities and socio-economic conditions in its policies, practices and programs, except in instances where the exclusion of some group is required for another group to be effectively targeted.
- Be in compliance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the British Columbia Human Rights Code.
- Have the demonstrated functional capacity and sufficient resources to deliver the programs to which the City is being asked to contribute.
- Show costs that are reasonable and on par with other similar programs.
- Deliver the funded program in Vancouver to Vancouver residents.
Ineligible Programs and Program Expenses
- Those which fall wholly or primarily within the mandate of other government departments, e.g. (but not limited to)
- Direct healthcare programs (such as health self-help groups, health information programs, medical treatment, maintenance or rehabilitation programs);
- Employment training;
- Initial settlement programs.
- Direct welfare supports, including food banks, meal programs and the provision of clothing;
- Housing;
- One-on-one counselling with licensed psychologists, social workers or registered clinical counsellors;
- Programs which are primarily recreational (formal recreation programs such as clubs/groups or teams), or educational (formal education leading to a credential);
- Travel expenses, attendance at, or fees for, conferences, workshops or other forms of training;
- Delivery of conferences;
- Transportation expenses, except those that allow users or potential users to access services;
- Legal fees;
- Payment of: City property taxes; capital expenses, operating or capital deficits;
- Act in the capacity of a funding body for, or make grants to any other group or organization;
- Programs directed to the preservation of any particular ethnic or cultural heritage, except in instances for Reconciliation initiatives;
- Time-limited projects (three years or less), or programs in the developmental or formative stage (18 months of operation or less);
- Research.
For more information, visit https://vancouver.ca/people-programs/direct-social-services-grants.aspx