In this issue

• 🆕New Lived & Living Experience Employment Grant Applications Open
• Learning, Connection, and Care at CAI Convening
• Capacity Building Grant: Seeing Community in Action
• External Community Opportunities & Resources
• Articles & Media

🆕New Lived & Living Experience Employment Grant Applications Open

We are excited to announce the new Lived and Living Experience Employment Grant, led by CAI with funding from the Vancouver Foundation, an opportunity for community-based organizations in BC to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with lived and living experience of mental illness and/or substance use. The purpose of the grant is to build organizational and system readiness and to embed lived and living experience as a valued and recognized form of expertise in the workplace.

Apply by Friday, January 16, 2026, 5:00 pm (PST)

Learning, Connection, and Care at CAI Convening

On November 13-14, 139 attendees representing 67 grantee organizations and community partners across the province joined CAI in Vancouver for our Youth Wellness Grant and Community Counselling Fund Grantee Convening, around the theme "Grounded in Care: Community-Led Responses to Grief, Wellness, and Mental Health."

Throughout the two days, attendees engaged with a range of sessions and discussions. Some of the key themes featured at this year’s convening included:

• Responding to loss, grief, and tragic deaths

• Government relations

• Children, youth, and toxic drugs

• Working with recently incarcerated people

• Incorporating land-based and art-based activities into counselling

We extend our sincere appreciation to all the delegates, speakers, facilitators, and invited guests whose insights and expertise strengthened our collective learning and reinforced the importance of this work. The conversations and connections built over the two days reflected the depth of care and dedication they bring to their communities every day.

Capacity Building Grant: Seeing Community in Action

In October, CAI had the privilege of visiting two 2025 Capacity Building Grant recipients: Tsow-Tun Le Lum Society and Kackaamin Family Development Centre. These visits offered a meaningful opportunity to connect in person, learn more about their work, and witness the spaces where healing, culture, and community come together.

At Tsow-Tun Le Lum, we were welcomed into a beautiful long-house grounded in Land-based wellness and cultural teachings. We toured their programming spaces (including their Big House) and were honoured to meet their Elder in residence. It was especially powerful to see the development of their new healing pond, supported by the Province of BC through CAI’s 2025 Capacity Building Grant, which will serve as a dedicated space for water ceremonies, an important element of their wholistic healing approaches.

At Kackaamin Family Development Centre, staff shared their multi-generational model of care and the deep relational work that guides their programs. We saw firsthand the areas where families gather, learn, and heal together, as well as outdoor spaces that support cultural practices, such as an outdoor playground built by community.

We are grateful to both organizations for welcoming us so generously.

External Community Opportunities & Resources

• Grief, Loss and Bereavement Supports for Youth - Comox Valley Hospice Society This program is for youth who are impacted by the toxic drug crisis, offering a limited number of 1:1 counselling sessions and play-based options for younger children, as well as outreach, in-services and consultations to schools and community agencies.

• Indigenizing Harm Reduction in Response to the Overdose Crisis: Knowledge Gathering with First Nations in BC to Create an Indigenous Harm Reduction Framework FNHA has published the Phase 1: Summary of Findings Report. The three-phase research project was launched as a part of FNHA's toxic drug response, which continues to disproportionately impact First Nations people in BC.

• Vancouver Foundation 2026 Grants Calendar For charities and non-profits to prepare for upcoming funding opportunities.

• Applications for funding from the Civil Forfeiture Grant Program are now being accepted until December 15 providing annual, one-time funding to organizations from across BC for the implementation of crime prevention and remediation projects.

Articles & Media

• Study: A human rights-based approach to the toxic drug crisis B.C. This paper lays out the BC Human Rights Commissioner’s positions on the toxic drug crisis and calls for an evidence-based response that centers public health and compassion for those impacted.

• Article: As homelessness rises in Abbotsford, B.C., advocates say housing and resources are not keeping pace - CBC The city has 654 people experiencing homelessness, according to latest count, but only 210 active shelter beds.

• Article: Expanded supports coming for Surrey youth with new Foundry opening next week - BC Gov More young people in Surrey have better access to essential mental-health and substance-use services with the opening of Foundry Surrey Central.