More than 120 south Island charitable organizations are getting a hand up, thanks to targeted donations and specific funds overseen by the Victoria Foundation.

The foundationB次元官网网址檚 Community Recovery Program has distributed nearly $2.4 million to 126 organizations hard hit financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants provide general operating funds that allow these federally registered charities and other qualified recipients to continue offering services to the community.

From allowing theatre companies to find safe ways to keep audiences and artists connected, to helping transition Indigenous people into housing and maintain it, the funds impact the community in various ways.

Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi, executive director of the Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness, said the grant to her group is crucial as COVID-19 has increased the urgency to get people into housing, which in turn intensified their workload.

B次元官网网址淥ur goal is to help Indigenous people maintain their housing within the context of pathways to healing and recovery; thus, this grant is important in this process,B次元官网网址� she said in a release.

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Organizations supported specialize in areas ranging from the environment and mental health to homelessness and racial equity.

More than $750,000 of the total distributed came from donations to the foundationB次元官网网址檚 new Community Action Funds or from donor-advised funds. The community funds allow donors to target specific issues, including pandemic recovery through the Rapid Relief Fund.

B次元官网网址淲e know how great the impact of this pandemic has been on local charitable organizations,B次元官网网址� foundation CEO Sandra Richardson said. B次元官网网址淲e see them stretch every dollar in order to continue to offer desperately needed services in our region. ItB次元官网网址檚 the generosity of the community and our fundholders that is allowing us to offer this support, largely through donations made to Community Action Funds.B次元官网网址�

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The Victoria Foundation plans to continue evaluating community funding opportunities as the pandemic evolves. Donations to the Community Action Funds can be made at . For a list of 2020 grant recipients, visit .

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