Photo from the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta's website

By Liam Verster

Federal funding for those in need

Applications open for second round of Emergency Community Support Funding

Oct 6, 2020 | 9:33 AM

The Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta is accepting applications for the second round of the federal Emergency Community Support funds.

The fund was first announced by the federal government in April, and the first round saw $720,590 go towards supporting 30 organizations in Northwest Alberta alone. This second round of the funding, which like the first round is being distributed by the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta, will see $229,110 go to groups and organizations in the area, to help support those in need and still feeling the effects of the pandemic.

Laura LaValley, CEO of the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta, says their team has done a lot of work connecting with organizations and groups in the region to determine the needs of the public, and how to best support them. In the first round, the funding provided a variety of supports and services for the public, the most recent being the Northreach Society’s program that would see outreach nurses travel to more remote communities in the region and help address health care concerns.

“[The nurses] were doing things like wound care and prescription management and those sorts of things that are maybe overlooked during the pandemic, and just really reaching out into those areas to see what the needs are, and then further connecting those people to the type of care that they need the most,” says LaValley. “So there’s certainly a mental health component to that service, and addictions, and lots of different areas that that position can support. So that was just kind of a neat pivoting that Northreach Society has done, and we were really excited to be able to help with it.”

The money also went to support organizations that provided the public with food security, which LaValley says was crucial during the pandemic.

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“Lots of the smaller communities are operating food banks, they’re doing lots of really important work to make sure that their most vulnerable are being fed, and so we’ve been able to support that in a few different regions in our area. We know that need is not going away, we see that here in Grande Prairie, but it certainly stretches to those remote areas as well.”

Because there’s less funding in this second round, LaValley says they will have to prioritize the applicants, and ensure they are selecting groups and organizations that can meet the particular needs at this time.

“Of course we’re always making decisions based on what we know at the moment, and so we really just need to see what applications come in and what those needs are in the communities. We’re not really putting huge parameters around what we will and will not fund as a dollar amount, but we do want to support organizations that are helping to serve vulnerable populations that have been adversely affected by the pandemic.”

Organizations that wish to receive a portion of these funds to help support those in the community can apply through the Community Foundation of Northwestern Alberta’s website. The deadline to apply is October 30, 2020.