This release was issued under a previous government.
Belgravia Community League Hall construction
The Alberta Government is providing $6 million in Community Facility Enhancement Program grants and $4.5 million in Community Initiative Program grants to assist 294 projects in communities throughout Alberta. Projects include facility upgrades and construction, playground development and support for the delivery of social, cultural and recreational programs and activities.
“This investment in the work of community-based organizations will help ensure that Alberta’s youth, families and the most vulnerable in our communities continue to have access to important programs and services. Projects to upgrade and develop new community-use facilities and programs also help to support local business and create new job opportunities.”
“For more than 60 years, the Belgravia Community League Hall has been the heart of our community. The funding provided through the Community Facility Enhancement Program, along with contributions of the City of Edmonton and the residents of Belgravia, will help us to continue to deliver programs for our youth, seniors and families in a facility of which we can all be proud.”
“When a non-profit organization is able to go ahead with the construction or an upgrade of a community hall, an arena or a playground, it means work for a company like ours. It also means jobs for my crew and sales for my suppliers. As a company, we see the benefit of a program like CFEP in the business opportunities it generates and in the opportunity to be part of a project that will benefit the community for years to come.”
Through the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP), eligible non-profit organizations can apply for matching grants to support facility enhancement and development projects. The Community Initiative Program (CIP) provides operating and programming funding. The CIP International Development Program grant also provides support to international emergency relief efforts as well as Alberta-based organizations involved in humanitarian and poverty reduction projects in developing nations.
CFEP and CIP grants are administered on a quarterly basis. Budget 2015-16 provides $38 million in CFEP funding with an additional $24.6 million allocated for CIP.
A complete list of grant recipients and projects is available online. Examples of projects approved for funding include:
Belgravia Community League (Edmonton)
Grant amount: $70,000 (CIP): Funding will support the enhancement and expansion of the BCL Community Centre to improve access and usability. The centre is home to a range of programs including the BCL-operated playschool, out-of-school care, and youth clubs, as well as adult and seniors activities. The project has been designed as a “model of sustainable development” with measures to improve energy efficiency, including installation of solar panels.
Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta (Calgary)
Grant amount: $75,000 (CIP): Project details include support for the SunMaker program at Camp Kindle. SunMaker is a one-week, residential camping program offered to children affected by cancer and their siblings aged six to 16. The program helps children and their siblings adjust to a cancer diagnosis and deal with the impact of treatment and the long-term effects on all of the family.
Loaves & Fishes Benevolent Society (Red Deer)
Grant amount: $50,000 (CIP): Funding will help to address operational and staffing costs to support the society’s front-line programs. Loaves and Fishes provides a range of front-line services including a school lunch program, hot dinner program, pastoral counselling and outreach services to assist clients secure housing, employment, funding and assistance in the community.
Pincher Creek Women’s Emergency Shelter Association (Pincher Creek)
Grant amount: $15,000 (CIP): Funding will assist with the purchase of a vehicle to provide their outreach program to families who require transportation support.
Leduc 2016 Summer Games Society (Leduc)
Grant amount: $75,000 (CIP): Funding will help to address costs for operations and hosting of the 2016 Alberta Summer Games. The event will feature 3,000 athletes, coaches and officials along with 2,000 volunteers in a showcase of excellence in Alberta sport.
The HUB Family Resource Centre (Fort McMurray)
Grant amount: $7,600 (CFEP): The project includes installation of new flooring in the program room of the Franklin Avenue centre, as well as the addition of custom shelving to increase storage space. These enhancements will create more room to provide safe, educational, and engaging program to the families who visit their centre.
Catholic Family Services Society of Grande Prairie (Grande Prairie)
Grant amount: $125,000 (CFEP): Funding will help to address costs to develop the new Family Services Centre. The facility will house programs offering professionally accredited counselling and various psycho-educational workshops/programs on a not-for-profit basis to Grande Prairie and the surrounding communities. The project is a collaboration of Catholic Family Services Society and contractors, and private donors, who are working to help disadvantaged area residents of the community overcome challenges.