HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-09-067 - Community Grants Tier 3 - Community Services Innovation Investment - 2009 AllocationREPORT
REPORT TO:
Community Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING:
November 16, 2009
SUBMITTED BY:
Pauline Houston, General Manager, Community Services
PREPARED BY:
Ingrid Pregel, Manager, Cultural Development (Ext. 3383)
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
N/A
DATE OF REPORT: November 12, 2009
REPORT NO.:
CSD-09-067
SUBJECT:
COMMUNITY GRANTS TIER 3 (COMMUNITY SERVICES
INNOVATION INVESTMENT FUND) - 2009 ALLOCATION
RECOMMENDATION:
That a Tier 3 (Community Services Innovation Investment Fund) grant in the amount of
$10,000 be approved from the 2009 Community Grants budget for the Waterloo Region
Resiliency Initiative.
BACKGROUND:
At its June 23, 2008 meeting Council approved report CSD-08-063 Community Investment
Strategy that provided criteria for Tiers 1, 2 and 3 of the Community Grants Program. The
report identified the following objective for Tier 3: “Tier 3 services are innovative projects
requiring seed funding. It is anticipated that these would be collaborative projects with other
funders in the community and that a relatively small portion of the grants fund would be
dedicated to this tier.” $10,000 was allocated for Tier 3 in the Community Grants Program
budget approved by Council for 2009.
Since that time some of the funders that collaborated with the City of Kitchener throughout the
process of creating the Community Investment Strategy have continued to meet to further
develop the program for collaborating on innovative projects. The group submitted a funding
request that has recently been approved by the Ontario Trillium Foundation for the Waterloo
Region Resiliency Initiative. This report seeks Council approval for city participation in this
collaborative project in the amount of $10,000.
REPORT:
The funders who collaborated on the grant application with the provincial Ontario Trillium
Foundation (OTF) include: Ontario Trillium Foundation (local office), Kitchener Waterloo
Community Foundation, United Way Kitchener Waterloo and Area, United Way of Cambridge,
Lyle S. Hallman Foundation, Astley Family Foundation and the City of Kitchener.
Discussions among these funders in 2009 focused on innovative ways to increase the resiliency
of the not for profit sector during challenging economic times. The group put forward a funding
proposal to the Ontario Trillium Foundation that was approved on November 9, 2009 in the
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amount of $113,200 over 24 months. Known as the Waterloo Region Resiliency Initiative, the
objective of the project is to help not for profit agencies find ways to meet increased demands
for service within the context of flat lined or decreasing budgets.
The project will include two parts: a) working with the not for profit community to create
awareness of the available options, such as shared administrative services, program and
service rationalization, capacity building and potentially mergers and b) subsequently requesting
and funding proposals from agencies to implement selected options.
The OTF application reads in part “Agencies are struggling to meet these service demands, yet
old models of service delivery are not always able to keep pace with changing needs of clients.
The ability of funders to provide organizational support to address these needs has been
significantly constrained by market returns and therefore, funders have agreed that there is a
need to collaborate in order to leverage available resources. The community needs an effective
way to address this situation and respond to requests for transformational support that will result
in stronger more resilient organizations or systems and ensure sustainable service delivery into
the future.”
Having received OTF approval, the funders are seeking approval from their respective Boards
to proceed with investments in this project. They are also approaching additional funding
partners including The Region of Waterloo, The City of Waterloo, The City of Cambridge,
Cowan Foundation and Cambridge and North Dumfries Community Foundation to broaden
participation in the project.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None. $10,000 is available in the approved Community Grants budget for 2009.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Before the end of December 2009 the final group of participating funders will be reaching out to
the not for profit community to invite participation in the project.
CONCLUSION:
The Tier 3 Community Grants program plays a key role in the Community Investment strategy
of the City. It enables City participation in innovative projects funded in collaboration with other
funders and largely by foundations and the private sector. This project is a first for the OTF and
will likely be followed by several others during the course of 2010 in other Ontario communities.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Pauline Houston, General Manager, Community Services
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