Announcing Spring 2022 Neighbourhood Small Grants !

We are excited to share 20 grass-roots community projects that will be receiving Neighbourhood Small Grants this cycle. 

As usual, the West Coast Community Resources Society, our community partner for creating the cheques for community members. NSG makes empowering, accessible opportunities for residents from all demographics to rise up and make their communities more inclusive, vibrant places to live. Check out the projects below and reach out to colin@clayoquotbiosphere.org if you want to connect to a project leader and participate. 

Spring 2022 Neighbourhood Small Grants

Fruit preservation for Hotsprings Residents – Heather Charleson, Hot Springs Cove
Food security project where Heather will pick up bulk quantities of fruit from the mainland when it is in season this summer, bring it back to Hot Springs, then have community preservation workshops and gifting to community members to enjoy through the winter.

Family taking care of family – Pat Charleson Sr, Hot Springs Cove
An intergenerational relationship-building initiative that focuses on helping Hesquiaht elder Pat Charleson Sr connect with community members, share knowledge, and stories, and receive care.

Hot Springs Cove Baking Giveaway – Rakaylyn Charleson, Hot Springs Cove
Baking care packages for Hesquiaht elders and community members to brighten their day!

Cedar preparation – Maria Desnoyer, Hot Springs Cove
The goal of this project is to prep the Cedar harvested with my Mom Dolores to host a community weaving workshop in the fall.  If community members were interested in learning the prep they could come help mom and I get the cedar ready- we would have food and snacks available.

Cedar Harvest and workshop – Dolores Bayne, Hot Springs Cove
I plan to hire a boat and harvest Cedar in Hesquiaht Traditional Territory. To gather enough material to run a weaving workshop in the fall in the remote community of Hot Springs- I will invite any interested community member to come and learn how to harvest. It will take at least 6-8 hours. During the weaving workshops, I like to share stories about our ways as an opportunity to revive our way of living.

Elders Lunch – Ruth  Charleson, Hot Springs Cove
The goal of the project is to help us reunite as a community and improve our community's Mental Health. Hot Springs has been very isolated as a result of the pandemic and Elders have felt this the most. With less than 50 members currently in our community and the majority are elders things have been dark and we want to start reuniting over food. The idea is to host a series of Elders lunches in rotating locations.

Learn to garden for Extended Family – Jean Thomas, Ahousaht
I will teach my family and any interested community members the basic of gardening and starts with food familiar with community members. It is best on our community that more families start growing and sharing food as we are so remote and food costs in Tofino are very high.

Cultural/ Traditional Family dances and learning family roots  – Lisa Sabbas, Ahousaht
I would like to take the time to teach my extended family( Very large in both Hot Spring and Ahousaht): Shawl Making, Beads, Sequins, Thread, Teach family dances. I want to teach youth and adults alike how to sustainably harvest cedar to make headdresses for our family dances. These activities all work to rebuild our culture which inherently cares for the land- the grant makes it possible to open these events up to new people who are unfamiliar with our traditional ways.

Sharing Traditional Knowledge – Neil  Keitlah, Ahousaht
My goal is to work with Youth from the Maaqtusiis Highschool and teach them the whole process of our traditional ways of hunting and gathering. I want to give the youth the pride that comes with giving food back to the community and help create less reliance's on box store food. We will have an evening to learn safety from a certified instructor- work on building a team of youth that support one another. To entice the youth to come we would like food and honarium for trainers to come to the evening events. This grant will focus on training and prep and we will seek additional funding for the actual hunt. We plan to host a community feast after the event as well.

Ahousaht Skate Park Clean Up – Aaron Keitlah, Ahousaht
I have cleaned the skate park weekly for the last three years. I would like to build a sense of community and care for the skate park which will hopefully ripple out to the community. But showing youth the commitment to maintain and keep garbage out of the ocean I am hoping to grow the community of skateboards/scooter and bikers in the community and build a sense of pride around caring for the environment. I will host weekly cleans and continue to invite community members.

Community Beach Day – Candice Steven c/o Tofino Youth, Tofino
A group of youth are organizing a community-focused beach day including a beach clean up, art projects made with found debris, guest Nuu-chah-nulth storyteller, and community feast. Participants will be invited to bring their own plates and cups.

Year-end park / neighborhood clean-up – Kelsey  Rix, Tofino
As covid restrictions have lightened up, use this opportunity to get all of the neighbours in Ocean Park together again.

Family Garden – Corissa Campbell, Ahousaht
We want to get a garden going for my family, extended family, relatives, and neighbours- the goal is to create food security in our home community- I had an injury last year and the garden needs work. In our culture traditionally we harvest and grow foods together as families and then trade- I want my family to learn how to grow in a greenhouse and with funding for supplies and gathering I believe we can work towards more food security in Ahousaht.

Trees for Kids – Nora O'Malley, Ucluelet
"My idea is to gift baby cedar trees to all the Grade 2 and Grade 3 students on the Coast. They could take them home with a little note of instructions on where / how to plant it. If they don’t have room to plant in their backyard, they can plant it in a pot and banzai it! On the day of delivery, I would like to organize having a person from REDD Fish Restoration Society or Raincoast Education Society come in and talk a bit about trees and how wonderful they are for the planet. I would also like to buy a few copies of the book 'Worth More Growing' edited by Christine Lowther as prize draws for each class. The book features poems about trees written by youth."

Senior's Hair Makeover – Lisa Morgan, Toquaht
There is an ongoing challenge in the local towns of Tofino and Ucluelet of finding a reasonable-priced haircut, not to mention if an individual lives at Macoah (40 minutes outside of Ucluelet). The population at Macoah is growing in numbers including the growing number of elders with a total of 15. Within the last year, I have had elders approach me to ask, "where can they get a haircut in town". A majority of elders are on a fixed income, do not get out of the house much, do not have a vehicle, and do not feel comfortable making their own appointment. I am hoping to gift my community elder's with a one-day 'Sexy Senior Hair Makeover'!

Lone Cone Library – Marnie Recker, Tofino
I would like to have a Free Library built for the corner of Lone Cone Road and Vincente Place. There is the perfect spot in front of the bushes and trees that border my property. It would be called the "Lone Cone Library" and people in the community will be encouraged to exchange books. I think with a $500 grant, we can build a really nice one that could also have small items, seeds, and plants to share. I know I have a lot of books and items to get it started.

Introduction to Jewellery Making – Lisa Fletcher, Tofino
The goal of our Grant is to host a one-day workshop for youth on how to make jewelry. Exposing youth to arts and culture at any age is important in fostering positive mental health and well-being, as well as shaping their future in learning new skills and exploring alternative professions. Engaging in a creative process can often alleviate anxiety, stress, and depression, while also building confidence.

Pride event – Kira Cameron, Ucluelet (youth-led project)

I plan to buy flags, signs, stickers, etc. and organize a pride walk and small event to celebrate pride in our community. I think Wise Tea may be able to sponsor the event. All ages are welcome and I would try and purchase baking supplies so that snacks can be provided. I learned about this grant opportunity through the UCC youth room. 

Music video - Lothar Myck, Ucluelet (youth-led project)

I plan to gather a group of community members to create a video for an original song of mine. Throughout the making of this video, I will be learning and demonstrating my leadership and teamwork skills as I collaborate with other members of my community. We will be finding young members of our community that are interested in different areas of media arts (this will include make-up, costume, acting, etc.) to help us with the video. This is meant to be a fun project to help bring like-minded individuals of our community together, foster healthy relationships, and inspire more collaborations and projects in the arts in the future.

Hollywood Gardens – Natalie Mitchell, Ucluelet
Inclusive community gathering with food and good energy in the park between Holly Crescent and Bay Street in Ucluelet.