Collection: Causes

1Up Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre has been committed to serving the varied and changing needs of single parent families in the Greater Victoria area since 1978. They provide practical support, opportunities for growth and a sense of hope to single parent families across Greater Victoria.

1Up Victoria provides a wide array of services including mentorship programs, counselling services, parenting courses, markets, bursaries and more!

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On September 17, 1985, five men (Wayne Cook, Don MacIvor, Roy Salonin, John Spencer, and Grant Sullivan) sat around a kitchen table and decided it was time to meet the challenge posed by the AIDS epidemic on Vancouver Island. These five men saw the growing need for accurate and up-to-date information and services relating to HIV/AIDS. That evening saw the birth of AIDS Vancouver Island (Now AVI Health and Community Services), with the founders forming the first Board of Directors.

Since its inception AVI has been a beacon to so many people in the communities they serve – Campbell River, Courtney/Comox, Nanaimo, Westshore, and Victoria. Each day staff work tirelessly to deliver on AVI’s mission to promote health, dignity, and well-being for all people affected by HIV, HCV, and substance use by delivering sex-positive and harm reduction based education, prevention, and support services.

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Young people are more likely to grow up successfully when they experience developmental relationships with important people in their lives. Developmental relationships are close connections through which young people discover who they are, cultivate abilities to shape their own lives, and learn how to engage with and contribute to the world around them. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Victoria's (BBBSV) goal is to enable life-changing mentoring relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people.

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On December 16, 1955, a group of dedicated parents founded what is now called Community Living Victoria (CLV). Today, as the largest non-profit community living service provider on Vancouver Island, Community Living Victoria provides a range of support services to children, youth and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Their work is guided by their values, experience and history and draws from strong roots in the community. Community Living Victoria recognizes the rights of everyone to have a full range of life choices, including access to education, affordable and appropriate housing, leisure options, gainful employment and participation in the community. A healthy community encourages the involvement of everyone.

The Victoria Community Living Foundation was established in 1995 to raise funds and awareness that benefit the children, youth and adults and their families supported by Community Living Victoria.

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The Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) is a not for profit organization that helps military members and their families navigate and celebrate all facets of military family life.

The MFRC brings the military community together and connects family members with the resources they need, when they need it most. They service families of 6,700 military personnel (Regular and Reserve force). These families cope with frequent and unpredictable geographic relocations, long deployments of their loved ones in the military and concern about the well-being of their military member. The MFRC's aim is to support families on the home front so that they can develop coping skills as well as enhance their resilience and sense of belonging.

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The Island Kids Cancer Association (IKCA) was formed in 2017 to fill a gap in services on Vancouver Island. After a childhood cancer diagnosis, families often need to spend time on the mainland in Vancouver for treatments, but the support needs to exist in their home communities as well. Beyond medical expertise and experience, families need to live and navigate their experiences, connect with one another, and receive access to supportive resources such as financial assistance and mental health and wellness opportunities. IKCA understands that a childhood
cancer diagnosis is often a lonely and frightening experience that impacts
everyone — including siblings and extended family members, and so they filled the gap.

While growing as a charity, IKCA remains local and grassroots. They've grown in community partnerships recognizing that community support is crucial to continue assisting the children and families facing childhood cancer. They've been able to expand the offerings that they can provide to families which focus on connection, mental health and wellness, and financial support.

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The Greater Victoria School District (SD61) has 45 schools spanning Elementary, Middle and Secondary schools. SD61 has schools located in View Royal, Esquimalt, Victoria, Oak Bay, Gordon Head, Strawberry Vale and more.

These schools work tirelessly every day to ensure that every child has a quality education, a supportive environment and they need to succeed in their daily life.

By selecting the Lakehill Elementary P.A.C. (Parent Advisory Council) you're helping to support a team of volunteers who act as a conduit between parents and school administration; putting on events to bring families together; and raising funds for things like field trips, musical performances and classroom technology.

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The Greater Victoria School District (SD61) has 45 schools spanning Elementary, Middle and Secondary schools. SD61 has schools located in View Royal, Esquimalt, Victoria, Oak Bay, Gordon Head, Strawberry Vale and more.

These schools work tirelessly every day to ensure that every child has a quality education, a supportive environment and they need to succeed in their daily life.

By selecting the Macaulay Elementary P.A.C. (Parent Advisory Council) you're helping to support a team of volunteers who act as a conduit between parents and school administration; putting on events to bring families together; and raising funds for things like field trips, musical performances and classroom technology.

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NEED2 has the unenviable task of continually talking about an issue loaded with stigma and silence; suicide. Despite the fact that suicide has impacted the lives of most people, it remains a topic avoided in mainstream conversations and media. NEED2 is working hard to change that; utilizing their programs to provide prevention education and support to create suicide safer communities across Vancouver Island and BC as a whole.

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The Greater Victoria School District (SD61) has 45 schools spanning Elementary, Middle and Secondary schools. SD61 has schools located in View Royal, Esquimalt, Victoria, Oak Bay, Gordon Head, Strawberry Vale and more.

These schools work tirelessly every day to ensure that every child has a quality education, a supportive environment and they need to succeed in their daily life.

By selecting the Oaklands Elementary P.A.C. (Parent Advisory Council) you're helping to support a team of volunteers who act as a conduit between parents and school administration; putting on events to bring families together; and raising funds for things like field trips, musical performances and classroom technology.

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Founded in 2010, Rainbow Kitchen is a family-friendly community kitchen that specializes in providing delicious meals and connecting the community to resources. Their dedicated team of staff and volunteers have helped grow Rainbow Kitchen into the second largest soup kitchen in Greater Victoria!

If you or someone you know is in need of food, Rainbow Kitchen can help. Everyone is welcome, no questions asked! With a variety of programs centered around food security, Rainbow Kitchen serves over 10,000 meals every month.

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The Victoria Native Friendship Centre started out in 1970 with 1 person and a phone. Now, VNFC offers 55 programs and wrap around services for urban Indigenous people out of a decommissioned elementary school along with off-site affordable housing units and a medical clinic.

A dedicated staff of 140 people provide 55 programs and services to the 20,000 off-reserve Indigenous people in community, as well as supporting 4,500 on-reserve citizens in the 10 local Nations. VNFC's unique wrap-around programming includes full daycare, early childhood development programs, family violence prevention, law and health services, mental health and addictions supports, education and employment programs, youth services, food security programs, housing supports and services, Elders' programs, a full community kitchen, cultural and arts events. The VNFC also owns and operates 50 units of affordable housing and hopes to expand its housing options in the future.

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