The Strategic Opportunity Grant will help launch “Unison Tuesday@Knox”, a new collaboration with Knox Presbyterian Church serving as a satellite location for Unison Calgary programs. As soon as funds are available, Knox Presbyterian Church will begin serving as a site for Unison’s “Thrive Free Food Market”. This poverty-reducing food-bank program strongly augments Knox’s current efforts to address food insecurity. Engagement with clients of the “Thrive Free Food Market” will provide critical feedback to Knox and Unison on what other poverty-reducing and mental health programs are actually needed by the community. The project name, “Unison Tuesday@Knox”, reflects that this and other Unison programs will be offered on Tuesdays at Knox.
The goal of this project is to provide professional development training to Spirit North’s Regional Coordinators, who are responsible for leading and managing teams of 6 – 10 Community Program Leaders, Assistants and volunteers. The Regional Coordinators have expressed a strong desire for support in the way of training and education specific to managing teams and employees. As new leaders and managers, they are finding aspects of management such as critical conversations, performance feedback and motivating teams to be challenging. As their employer, Spirit North would like to support these new leaders and managers with professional development designed to improve their skill levels and increase their confidence managing teams.
A student club develops new friendships through regular gatherings to make and distribute knitted items for homeless people
Youth engage their peers in equity learning by reflecting on the history injustices of the Chinese Immigration Act
Women within the Afghan community organize a series of learning sessions with their more isolated peers
Neighbourhood volunteers help their peers appreciate their community and collectively imagine future gathering spaces and parks
A parent group organizes a cultural celebration to build community and to break social stigma their children face
Inclusio, Accessible Housing’s supportive living site for adults with disabilities/limited mobility needs to upgrade the emergency call system in the residents. For the safety of residents a very old outdated system lacking safety features expected in a supportive living site needs to be replaced. Inclusio is looking to replace the system with newer technology that will improve safety for emergency responses to falls or medical situations. The grant will go towards implementing a new system.
The project aims to enhance the use of English language among East Africans to address their low English literacy and proficiency. By expanding OCHFA’s English Language Proficiency (ELP) program this will improve East Africans’ communication in English thereby creating employment opportunities to help reduce financial barriers improving access to social programs and strengthening connections to improve their well-being. This grant enables OCHFA to expand its ELP and reach more East Africans.