NEWS DETAILS

Giving back: Community and neighborhood grants  

The City of Vancouver began accepting applications for its newly reinstated Community and Neighborhood Grants Program in early January. I’m happy to share that we received 41 applications during our first review cycle and are preparing to award more than $163,000 in grant funds to support 30 local community groups. This program’s goal is to build and strengthen community connections, encourage partnerships between groups and empower residents to take meaningful action in their community.

Homelessness emergency data collection 

The City is continuing to address the homelessness crisis with urgency. Since I declared a homeless emergency in Vancouver last November, we’ve made it a priority to inform the community about the progress we’re making with monthly emergency declaration situation reports. 

We have been working with the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency, and the Vancouver Police and Fire Departments on data collection to develop metrics that are helping us track and develop a baseline for the work we’re doing under the emergency. This data collection and tracking will help inform us where we’re improving and where we need to do more work. 

In the fourth situation report shared at City Council’s March 25 meeting, we saw even more encouraging data about what has been accomplished to date. A clear example is the fact that since February, more than 10 people have moved into permanent housing from our Safe Stay and Safe Park community programs; more remain on deck for housing and are just waiting on unit availability. Check out all of the latest numbers in our latest homelessness response update.

An invitation to help shape Vancouver’s future 

The City, in partnership with our community, continues the important work of developing Vancouver’s next comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan, “Our Vancouver”, will shape how our city looks and feels over the next 20 years, guiding investments in future parks, needed housing and transportation. This month, we’re hosting several community mapping activities that will help create a plan for future growth in Vancouver, and advance our shared vision for a safe, equitable and sustainable city. I encourage you to get involved and invite you to join us at one of the following free and family-friendly events where you can meet the project team, win gift cards and enjoy some food and refreshments: 

• Community Mapping Activity: 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, April 20, Hudson’s Bay High School  
• Youth (ages 13-25) Community Mapping Activity: 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 23, Evergreen Public Schools District Office 
• Community Mapping Activity: 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, April 25, Firstenburg Community Center 

You can learn more and find links to RSVP for the events here.