Grant Recipients 2019

At the Bowen Island Community Foundation Annual Meeting on April 26, 2019, $35,500 in grants was awarded to support important community initiatives. These grants are made possible by generous community donations. The funded projects are all responsive to the community’s needs identified in the 2017 Vital Conversations report and were awarded from the Foundation’s Community Impact Grants.

Organization: Bowen Island Resilient Community Housing Society (BIRCH)
Project: Affordable Housing
Grant Amount: $15,000
Vital Conversations Priority: Develop Housing for All

BIRCH’s purpose is to develop and manage diverse, permanently affordable housing on Bowen Island.

As identified in the 2017 Vital Conversations event, developing housing for all on Bowen is a top priority. With 87% of our housing stock being single family homes, there is a severe lack of diverse and affordable housing options. The first affordable housing project for Bowen will have a significant impact on the community, allowing opportunities for those here facing housing challenges to remain, as well as those who have already been forced off the island that hope to return. This $15,000 grant will go towards the Phase I feasibility stage of BIRCH’s first project to build approximately 20 units of rental housing on Lot 3 of the Community Lands.

Organization: Cates Hill Chapel
Project: Kitchen Renovation
Grant Amount: $2,500
Vital Conversations Priority: Create Gathering Places for All

Cates Hill Chapel is a facility that is widely used by the entire Bowen community. Rent is kept low to make the available spaces affordable. With few larger facilities available for public use, the chapel has been more widely used than anticipated and often at maximum capacity. Over time it has become evident that a more functional kitchen would greatly benefit all who use the space. This $2,500 grant will help with the renovation of the existing kitchen so that food can be prepared and heated, large quantities of dishes can be quickly cleaned, and tableware can be stored efficiently.

Organizations: Bowen Disc Golf Club, Island Pacific School
Project: Disc Golf Course Construction
Grant Amount: $7,500
Vital Conversations Priority: Create Gathering Places for All, Support our Youth, Intergenerational Connections

Disc golf is a fun and healthy activity for all ages. Partnering with Island Pacific School, the Bowen Disc Golf Club has secured 2.3 hectares of land in Veterans Park from the Bowen Island Municipality to build an 18 hole disc golf course. Numerous local businesses have also joined the initiative by sponsoring to finance the baskets for each hole. This disc golf course has many benefits including a place for all ages to play together in a year-round outdoor recreation area, new access to public lands, preserving the land as park space, and attracting and enhancing visitor experiences This $7,500 grant will go towards helping to prepare the land for the course.

Organization: Bowen Island Conservancy
Project: Marine Conservation Atlas
Grant Amount: $5,000
Vital Conversations Priority: Take Responsibility for the Stewardship of our Environment

The Bowen Island Conservancy is developing and publishing a Bowen Marine Conservation Atlas to foster public awareness of and engagement in local marine conservation issues and to celebrate the recovery of our marine neighbourhood. To date, there has been no such telling of Bowen’s marine story. The Atlas will be built from layers of scientific data overlaid by local knowledge from citizen scientists, divers, and fishers and traditional knowledge from Coast Salish members. The Atlas will address 15-20 themes, illustrated with maps, text, and photos.  It will be given to Bowen schools and the library, sold through local stores to islanders and visitors, and provided online in PDF format. This $5,000 grant will be used for the general design of the Atlas, layout and maps.

Organizations: Bowen Island Arts Council and Bowen Island Public Library
Project: Truth and Reconciliation Workshop
Grant Amount: $3,000
Vital Conversations Priority: Celebrate Diversity and Inclusion

For the past three years, under the banner of Knowing Our Place, the Bowen Island Public Library and the Bowen Island Arts Council have been working together to organize a series of events and activities with the goal of developing our community’s relationship with and stronger ties to local First Nations. This $3,000 grant will be used towards a workshop for community leaders and representatives of nonprofits. The workshop will focus on gaining knowledge on how to take action and develop meaningful relationships and dialogue, and work with local First Nations.

Organization: Tir-na-nOg Theatre School Society
Project: Sound System
Grant Amount: $2,500
Vital Conversations Priority: Create Gathering Places for All

The Tir-na-nOg Theatre School provides year-round courses in Theatre Arts education for young people. The School offers an intensive and unique experience in the Theatre Arts, encouraging individual development of creative expression while nurturing cooperation and a sense of group accomplishment.  In addition to providing educational and a performance space for the students of Tir-na-nOg, the auditorium is frequently made available for the concerts and performances of other community groups. For many of these events, a sound system is an essential ingredient. This $2,500 grant will go towards the acquisition of a sound amplification system to meet the needs of the various performing groups. This sound system is the next step in the evolution of the Tir-na-nOg Auditorium as a community gathering place, significantly increasing its capacity to serve as a venue for various artistic productions.