News from Community Action Initiative
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** February 2020 News & Notes
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** Here's what's going on at CAI
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* Welcoming a new CAI Team Member
* Registered Supportive Recovery Assisted Living Residence Training Grants
* Announcing the Alcohol & Girls Fund Recipients
* 2018 MHSU Sector Survey Results
* The latest on Community Action Teams 
* Impact Corner - Fort St. John Community Action Team
* Community Updates & Learning Opportunities
* What's Caught Our Attention

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** Welcoming a new CAI Team Member
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Emily Wagner joined the Community Action Initiative team in December 2019 to take on the role of Community Grants Manager. Emily’s current portfolio includes the coordination of two mid-sized projects: a province-wide training bursary program and the formation of a community of practice for the supportive recovery home sector and a harm reduction granting stream for BC municipalities and regional districts.

She holds a Master of Science degree from Simon Fraser University and has over 15 years experience working in various health research, education, and advocacy roles in the academic and non-profit sectors. She is passionate about information equity as a path to transformative individual, family, and community health and wellness.

Welcome to the team, Emily!

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** Registered Supportive Recovery Assisted Living Residence Training Grants
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A Training Bursary Fund is available to Registered Supportive Recovery Assisted Living Residences. The goal of this fund is to strengthen the quality of services and comply with new Assisted Living Regulations that govern supportive recovery residences.

Operators who are in financial need can apply for a maximum of $8,000 per residence to support training needs related to legislative changes.
* Residences registered for 4-10 units may apply for up to $4,000
* Residences registered for 11-30 units may apply for up to $6,000
* Residence registered for 30+ units may apply for up to $8,000

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until December 2020. All courses must be complete, and receipts submitted by December 31^st, 2020. Only fully completed application forms will be considered.

To learn more and apply, visit our website ([link removed]) .
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** Announcing the Alcohol & Girls Fund Recipients
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In 2019, CAI identified alcohol related harms as a funding priority in alignment with Ministry of Health strategic priorities. We have since invested in inclusive community dialogues on harms associated with moderate-risk drinking, and are also working on specific approaches to address alcohol harms for Indigenous populations. This phase of the alcohol initiative will respond to the wide-range of alcohol-related harms experienced by young women.

The purpose of this one-time $25,000 funding is to support the community sector to create ways to tailor youth programming specifically to young girls (grades 7-12) with the goal of increasing resilience and reducing harmful drinking behaviours.

We are pleased to share the recipients of 2019's Alcohol & Girls: Making Prevention a Priority funds:
* Bella Coola Community Support Society
* Cowichan Green Community
* Dze L K'ant Freindship Centre
* Fraser House Society
* Freedom Quest Youth Services Society
* Gitxsan Health Society
* Heiltsuk Kaxla Society
* Hope and Area Transition Society
* Kwakiutl District Council Health
* Kwakiutl Health Department
* Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society
* Osoyooos Indian Band
* Pathways Addictions Resource Centre
* Positive Living North: No khe̅yoh t'sih'en t'sehena Society
* Saulteau First Nations
* Skwah First Nations(Coast Salish)
* Snuneymuxw First Nation
* South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
* St. Leonard's Youth and Family Services Society
* Stz'uminus First Nation
* Watari Research Association

Congratulations to the recipients! For more information, visit our website ([link removed]) .
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** 2018 MHSU Sector Survey Results
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CAI’s 2018 Community Mental Health and Substance Use Sector Survey Results are now available!

Through the 2018 Sector Survey, we’re exploring the capacity and demographics of the workforce, in addition to steps that community organizations are taking to develop and support the workforce, and existing linkages between the sector and policy-makers

For more information and to view the results infographics, visit our website ([link removed]) .
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** The latest on Community Action Teams
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Beginning in July 2018, one-year grants were available for initiatives aligned with the Overdose Emergency Response Centre’s Comprehensive Package of Interventions. The purpose of the Community Action Team Grants is to help communities develop partnerships to provide focused, action-oriented strategies that will help to address the overdose crisis on a local level. There are currently 35 Community Action Teams in operation.

The Community Action Initiative has prepared a synopses document based on Community Action Team reporting.

You can learn more about the activities of Community Action Teams across the province here ([link removed]) .

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** Impact Corner - Fort St. John Community Action Team
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Beginning as a smaller coalition of community groups in 2017, today, the Fort Saint John (FSJ) Community Action Team is a large group of community organizations. The members include health agencies, front-line service providers, and people with lived and living experience, all of whom are collectively committed to tackling the opioid crisis locally.

Through funding received in 2018 from Community Action Initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, this committee was able to formally become the Fort St. John (FSJ) Community Action Team.

The FSJ Community Action Team’s activities and initiatives include education, awareness, partnership development, working with Peers, resiliency training, and taking stock of existing overdose services. Healthy FSJ continues to be the vehicle for education, awareness and dialogue for this local opioid crisis response effort.

One of their efforts has included the production of two videos: the collaborative video It's Here - The Opioid Crisis in Fort St. John ([link removed]) and Healthy Fort St. John ([link removed]) , both aimed at engaging and connecting community members with resources to reduce overdose.

For more information, access to resources and upcoming community events, v ([link removed]) isit their website ([link removed])
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** Community Updates & Learning Opportunities
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Changing Practice, Changing Policy - BC Substance Use Conference 2020

We are in the midst of a longstanding crisis of drug-related harms in BC. One thing that has become apparent in the midst of this crisis is that it will take the ongoing and effective collaboration of a variety of stakeholders in order to bring about urgently needed changes across the entire continuum of care. The goal of the Changing Practice, Changing Policy conference is to strategize ways to bring about effective policies, interventions, and solutions

Taking place June 4th to 6th in Vancouver, BC, The Changing Practice, Changing Policy conference welcomes everyone including addiction medicine clinicians, other health care providers, researchers, people with lived and living experience, families impacted by substance use, and policymakers — from all across BC and beyond. Along with strategizing, attendees will also have time to connect and learn from new colleagues, as well as cement relationships with familiar friends and allies from all across our province and country.

The submission deadline for abstracts closes on Friday, February 28th. To learn more about the conference and to register, visit the UBC Continuing Professional Development ([link removed]) website.
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A Shift In Thinking – TEDxBearCreekPark

The second TEDxBearCreekPark is set to take place on Feburary 29th at the Bell Performing Arts Centre in Surrey. On February 29th, Guy Felicella ([link removed]) will be speaking at the event. Through his journey through homelessness, substance use, safe consumption sites and health care failures, Guy has become a respected and trusted expert, and is a current Peer Clinical Advisor for the Province of British Columbia’s Overdose Emergency Response Centre. He dedicates his career to advocating for harm reduction and removing the stigma of addiction

To learn more about the TEDxBearkCreekPark event and to get tickets, visit the TEDxBearCreekPark website ([link removed]) .
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Request For Proposals – Employment Supports for Youth with Barriers to Employment

The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research is working with the government of British Columbia to support the Children and Youth with Special Needs Initiative. The Request For Proposals is soliciting proposals from qualified proponents to bid on this project.

The purpose of this RFP is to solicit proposals to complete an environmental scan, a literature review and a knowledge synthesis and best practices for consideration paper that focuses on employments supports for youth with barriers to employment (i.e. mental health and/or substance use) in order to provide evidence-based advice that will support better, less fragmented services to youth and families in BC. For this initiative individuals who are 14 – 29 years old are considered to be youth and this work is focused on employment supports for youth with substance use issues and/or mental health issues. The focus will be on pre-employment and ongoing employment supports for these youth including supports provided beyond the school system.

Proposals are due by Friday, March 20th. For more information, access the RFP here ([link removed]) or contact Project Manager Judith Hutson. (mailto:[email protected])
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** What's Caught Our Attention
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Check out what's caught our attention in February 2020!
Visit the blog section of our website to access videos, articles, books and other media related to the Mental Health and Substance Use sector.

This month's entry includes a photovoice project video by Addiction Matters Kamloops, the 2019 Rural and Indigenous Overdose Action Exchange report and Canada's Chief Public Health Officer’s Report titled "Addressing Stigma: Towards a More Inclusive Health System".

Read the blog here. ([link removed])

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