Logo - CHF Canada

Regional Diversity Grants

Regional Diversity Grants

 

CHF Canada will fund innovative ideas and projects that promote diversity in your co-op community!  This is your opportunity to develop a project for your co-op, while at the same time encouraging and inspiring diversity initiatives across Canada!

Why a Diversity Grant?

CHF Canada supports diversity projects in co-operative communities. We want to help your co-op to promote and celebrate diversity and inclusion while also spreading the word about these initiatives to other co-ops across Canada.

Who can apply?

Any CHF Canada member co-op.

What do we mean by “ideas and projects that promote diversity”?

We mean projects that celebrate, and educate others about diversity and inclusion. By diversity and inclusion we mean respect for and appreciation of differences, including; ethnicity, gender identity and expression, nationality, sexual orientation, age, religion, education, ability.

How much can you ask for?

Between $500 and $3,500.

What are the grant criteria?

Your project must meet at least one of the following criteria:

  • educate CHF Canada’s members about diversity and inclusion
  • promote equity
  • develop leadership in underrepresented groups
  • be useful to other housing co-ops across Canada

How do I apply?

Applications are closed for 2023. The next grants will be offered in 2025.

What are the reporting requirements?

When your project is done, send us a final report of no more than two pages. Tell us what you did, who did them, things you learned, and how your co-op benefitted from this initiative. Send us a summarized list of the costs and include receipts. Also send us pictures of your project. Submit the report and receipts no later than October 31, 2023.

Questions?

Contact jlapalme@chfcanada.coop.

Past Grant Recipients

2021:

  • A Zoom screenshot of a group of peopleAlder Bay (False Creek South Co-ops)Six False Creek South housing co-ops in Vancouver (Marina, Creekview, Twin Rainbows, Alder Bay, False Creek, and Heritage) received a grant to coordinate a roundtable discussion on the co-ops’ key concerns relating to barriers to equity, inclusion and belonging. The session addressed reviewing membership policies and recruitment practices to remove barriers and increase diversity. To better include the voices of all generations, the group discussed how to build stronger intergenerational knowledge exchange and experience, such as fostering aging in place by including aging members who have helped build the community. The session also explored ways to seek authentic connections with Indigenous people and to better serve Indigenous members by learning about the history of the land as well as Indigenous knowledge and practices. Karen Goodfellow, a First Nations facilitator of Squamish, Stolo and Austrian ancestry, led the session.“The grant has given us the opportunity to bring our neighborhood co-ops together on pressing issues. It looks like we’ve got some momentum and may continue working on this project.”- Damla Tamer, Twin Rainbows Housing Co-op
  • An array of pressed dried plants and flowersTwin Rainbows Housing Co-op in Vancouver, on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil Whaututh First Nations, used their diversity grant to hold two workshops on land and cultural dispossession, reconciliation and creating awareness around colonial structures in order to build better relations with the land and the host nations.The first workshop focused on cultural teachings and storytelling. The second workshop involved a community walk to identify and recognize the importance of conserving biodiversity through an observation of interconnections of human and non-human species with a focus on mycelium networks. The project culminated with the installation of planters to plant Indigenous seeds.T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss, a Skwxwu7mesh Elder, artist and ethnobotanist and Métis artist Vivian Bassette led the sessions.

2019:

  • Vancouver East Housing Co-operative in East Vancouver, B.C., is developing a guide for inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity minority groups in housing co-ops across British Columbia. They plan to share their guide as a template for future projects in other provinces.
  • Garden Village Cooperative Homes in St. Catharines ON, is buying translation software so that they can correspond with members and provide important information in members’ preferred languages.
  • Harbourside Housing Co-op in Toronto, ON, received a grant to allow them to offer a KAIROS Blanket Exercise to members. The Blanket Exercise is a participatory history lesson designed help people understand the history of First Nations, Inuit and Métis treaty-making, colonization and resistance in Canada.
  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto received funding to support their Aging in Place committee, Living in Diversity award, Black History Month events, Century of Co-operation awards, and the Diane Frankling Youth Award.

2018:

  • Photo courtesy of the Community Living Society

    Kaslo Gardens Housing Co-op: Inspired by the work of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Kaslo Gardens is creating a dialogue and workshop series with a focus on social justice and environmental sustainability. Indigenous youth leaders will be invited to offer workshops on reconciliation to co-op youth.

  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC) & the Community Living Society: CHF BC received a grant for their proposal to establish a partnership with the Community Living Society (CLS), a community-based non-profit group supporting adults with developmental disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and fetal alcohol syndrome. Under the proposed partnership, CLS will refer people to housing co-ops for consideration of membership.
  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto: In Toronto, the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) received a grant to continue several projects. During Black History Month, CHFT sponsors events at various co-ops to educate co-op members about the important contributions of Black Canadians. CHFT also honours older co-op members with its Century of Cooperation Awards, while promoting the idea to co-op organizations in other parts of the country.

2017:

  • Photo courtesy of Sarcee Meadows Co-op.

    Sarcee Meadows Housing Co-op (AB): The co-op hosted a multicultural celebration where members dressed in culturally-specific attire and offered food, arts and crafts, and entertainment from their cultures.

  • John Fitzpatrick Steelworkers Housing Co-op (ON): The co-op purchased translation software with their grant funding.
  • Peel-Halton Co-operative Housing Federation (ON): PHCHF’s grant allowed them to market their Diversity Scholarship program.
  • Highfield Park Housing Co-op (NS): This Dartmouth, NS co-op created a community mural and art project.
  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT): CHFT received funding to create a plaque for its Living in Diversity award, and to support its Aging in Place and Century of Co-operation events.

2016:

  • Northern Alberta Co-operative Housing Association (NACHA): NACHA received a grant to develop a Diversity Scholarship program.
  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT): CHFT received funding to create a plaque for its Living in Diversity award, and to support its Aging in Place and Century of Co-operation events.

2015:

  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT): CHFT received funding to create a Black History Month Poster and initiatives, to create a plaque for its Living in Diversity award, and to support its Aging in Place and Century of Co-operation events.

2014:

  • Century of Co-operation honourees

    Metta Housing Co-op (ON): This Toronto co-op received funding to create a rooftop garden and host a diversity dinner.

  • Fédération des coopératives d’habitation montérégiennes (FECHAM): FECHAM received funding to offer diversity workshops and leadership development.
  • Peel-Halton Co-operative Housing Federation (PHCHFC) (ON): PHCHF’s grant allowed them to market their Diversity Scholarship program.
  • The Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto (ON): CHFT received funding to create a Black History Month Poster and initiatives, to create a plaque for its Living in Diversity award, and to support its Aging in Place and Century of Co-operation events.