From crime prevention to economic development, Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Randene Neill has made several funding announcements in the past month, totalling more than $400,000 for the Southern Sunshine Coast. Here’s a summary:
- Town of Gibsons received $40,000 for operations training and supplies for emergency operations centres through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, said a June 6 press release.
- Deer Crossing The Art Farm received $40,000 for xwanstut ?e te swiya - ambassadors of the land. “This project will improve the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of shíshálh and other Indigenous youth, aged 15-30, by connecting them back to land and culture through a land-based mentorship program,” said the June 5 press release. The funds come through the Civil Forfeiture Grant Program, through which $9.1 million in one-time grants is being distributed to support 166 community projects across the province.
- Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society received $48,641 to “support a feasibility study to develop a best practices model employing an integrated approach to conversion of single detached houses into multi-unit properties through retrofitting and the addition of garden suites,” said a May 21 press release. The funding is through the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program.
- Gambier Island Community Association received $64,440 to help the organization establish an independent co-op association “to provide the administrative and organizational infrastructure for a vast array of economic activities on the island. This will support job creation, a market for island-produced goods, and help encourage local food security,” said a May 21 press release. The funding is through the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program.
- Gibsons Community Building Society received $75,102 to upgrade commercial and community kitchens on the bottom level of Gibsons Public Market. The funding is through the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program.
- shíshálh Nation received $150,000 for a coastal erosion hazard mitigation study, said a May 9 press release. The funding from the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund is to help reduce the impact of future climate disasters by addressing current vulnerabilities and by supporting informed planning and decision making, said the release.
