2026 Community Services Grants A–T Approved

Statement Watch

Hello?

Hi, please go ahead.

Hi, I'm Grace Nombrado, founder and executive director of Free the Fern Stewardship Society. A nonprofit who since 2021 has been bringing community together to care for the Champlain Heights trails 1 of our last remaining native forests in our city. And today I'm speaking in opposition of this item earlier this month. I received an email to notify me that. Free the Fern Stewardship Society was not recommended to receive operational funding through the core support grant. We were informed that we meet eligibility criteria, but funding was not recommended as, quote, grant budget is limited and other applications rated higher in addressing city priorities. Contrary to the decision of the grant committee, Free the Fern's work is actually a city priority. On October 8, 2025, City Council unanimously passed a motion to protect the Champlain Heights Trails. That motion states, quote, that Council recognizes the critical importance of maintaining the trail network, end quote, and, quote, that Council directs staff to engage with Free the Fern Stewardship Society and others to support complementary resident-led stewardship of the Champlain Heights Trail Network, end quote. I spoke with several city councillors who have expressed to me that this city council motion means that Free the Fern Stewardship Society should be prioritized to receive the core support grant. Last Friday, I spoke with Mark Tyler, who's lead planner of the core support grants. Mark shared how he was not aware of the details of this previous city council motion. and the need to prioritize funding for Free the Fern. He reiterated that Free the Fern's application did meet all eligibility criteria but that quote the environment is not one of the listed priorities for this grant. He emphasized that these priorities are set by city councillors themselves, and he recommends speaking to council on this issue. I would like to remind city council that over the past five years, Free the Fern has done so much for the city on city land. We have removed over 240 cubic meters of invasive species, replanted over 4,000 native plants, recruited over 1,700 event volunteers, hosted over 140 free community events. In October, we were awarded a City of Vancouver Heritage Award for our planting efforts. All this work has been done on the Champlain Heights Trail, which in the draft ODPs coming to Council tonight is listed as an existing ecological corridor. In the words of a local community member, between invasive species removal, native reforestation, teaching events, and creating a healing forest, what exactly is considered higher rated in the list? of city priorities for funding therefore i wish to advocate that one environmental work be included as a priority within the core support grant moving forward currently there is no other avenue for operational funding for environmental work as the other community climate action grant can only be used for special climate projects and is not for operational funding and two that in light of the october council motion to support the stewardship work of free the fern that a special motion must be made in council to provide the 30 000 of operational funding which we have applied to through the core support grant and which is needed to continue our stewardship work thank you great thank you very much chris uh speaker number four james harry senior good morning hello please go ahead Hi, James here from All Nations Area Society. We're a grassroots organization, indigenous organization. So just a little history. We do some valuable work in the downtown east side where we... We help our indigenous people, brothers and sisters. And for that matter, we don't turn anybody away. And we help all races, anybody that is down there. Our main focus is our indigenous people. But again, we do not turn anybody away. So our hope is that we guide our people into a better direction. And it's something I believe that the city is striving for, is to help our people, not only Indigenous, but all people in the downtown Eastside find a better path. And I believe that we're doing that. And so even more, and I believe... Do you guys believe we did that? We're doing that because in that leaked memo, our name was brought up that you're going to partner with us to make this happen. And in that, we asked for a meeting. We got a meeting with Trevor, as well as a few other councils were invited, and it ended up MORE COUNCILS SHOWED UP, AND I THINK WE ENDED UP AT EIGHT OR NINE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND THEY HEARD WHAT WE DO, WHERE WE ARE, AND THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING. AND AT THE END OF THAT MEETING, WE WERE TOLD THIS IS A GOOD MEETING. I THINK THIS DESERVES A MEETING WITH THE MAYOR. SO WITH THAT, THAT'S WHAT WE ANTICIPATED. WE YEARED OURSELVES UP FOR THAT. And when that meeting came, we attended that meeting, and it turns out that we sat with the mayor and the council to talk about the work that we're doing. And moving forward, as we were told, we were met with the infrastructure team. And to be honest, we took it as a slap in the face. NOTHING AGAINST THE INFRASTRUCTURE TEAM, BUT FOR THE PATH THAT WE WERE GOING, THE PATH THAT I THOUGHT THAT WE WERE GOING, AND THAT ACCESSIBLE FIRST MEETING AND BEING TOLD THAT A MEETING WITH THE REST OF THE COUNCIL AND MAYOR IS NEXT. SO BY NOW, OUR HOPE IS THAT WE NEED MORE BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS SUCCESS In order to get people off the street, get the detox and the treatment, we need more boots on the ground. And we came into a bit of funding, but we've only had four months to spend it. So we hired three people, three additional people. And those three additional people, in a short amount of time, we got 16 people off the street into detox and the treatment. And two of them home.

Statement Watch

so James I apologize we're at time thank you for speaking and thank you for the work that you're doing okay so that that's the speaker twos back online okay so we'll go back to speaker to Mariette Jabril Mariette are you there

Statement Watch

I am. Good morning, Council. My name is Mariette Gibrell. I'm the founder of Better Not Better Society, and I'm proud to be a Vancouver resident. So I'm speaking today in relation to the 2026 Community Services and Social Grants Report. While our organization was not approved in this round of funding, I'm here to introduce the work that we're doing and why it matters deeply to the well-being of our city. Better Know Better Society was founded from my lived experience and a simple but powerful belief that healing, belonging, resilience should be accessible to everyone. Over the past two years, we've built a growing community initiative focused on mental awareness, storytelling, and inclusive spaces where people feel seen, heard, and supported. What makes this work remarkable is that every program we have delivered so far has been powered entirely by volunteers. Despite having no operational funding, our impact continues to grow. Through our Better Not Better Summit, community gatherings, master classes, and awareness programming, we've brought together hundreds of participants across Vancouver, including newcomers, professionals, individuals navigating trauma, isolation, and systemic barriers. Mental health remains one of the most urgent challenges facing our city. According to national data, one in five Canadians experiences a mental health challenge each year. Cities like Vancouver continue to see rising levels of social isolation, anxiety, and community disconnection. What we're doing is simple but powerful, creating spaces where people feel we can reconnect to themselves and to each other. Some members of the council, including the Deputy Mayor, Sarah Carey, have attended our event. weakness, and the sense of belonging that spaces create. Our programs include initiatives like the Thriving Women Project, Leadership and Mental Awareness Workshops, and community events designed to reduce isolation and strengthen social connection. Even with even modest support, our capacity to serve the community will grow significantly. Our programs are committed and our community is growing, and the need in Vancouver is undeniable. So today, while our grant may not have been approved this cycle, I stand here with gratitude and we hope because the work continues. We respectfully encourage Council to continue supporting grassroots initiatives like ours,

are working every day to strengthen mental awareness belonging community resilience in vancouver thank you for your time and for your commitment to the well-being of our feeding thank you great thank you very much and so uh that's the end of our speakers list and i would like to thank everyone for speaking to council uh would someone like to move a motion okay i think that was counselor class and seconded by a counselor kirby young council is there any discussion counselor fry