The Landing Youth Centre
The Vault Studio Program offers free, professional music and media training for at-risk youth in their own community, combining creative expression with technical skills in production, performance, and storytelling. With expanded facilities and mentorship, it builds confidence, safety, and long-term resilience through primary and secondary prevention.
VSB: Britannia Secondary
Grade 8 Camp offers Britannia students a supportive, overnight outdoor experience led by trained senior mentors, helping them build confidence, leadership, and a strong sense of belonging. By fostering early connections and resilience, the program eases the transition to high school and promotes long-term student success and safety.
VSB: Florence Nightingale Elementary
The Intermediate Student Outdoor Education Camp offers weekly local trips and a three-day Evans Lake experience that build environmental connection, outdoor skills, and physical literacy. Designed to remove financial barriers, it fosters leadership, confidence, and independence for students from diverse backgrounds.
VSB: Mona Francis
The School Garden Enhancement program transforms an existing garden and outdoor classroom into a hands-on learning hub from Kindergarten to Grade 7. By installing an efficient watering system, it ensures thriving plants while deepening students’ engagement with science, math, food literacy, and environmental stewardship.
VSB: Japleen K Gill
Queens ParkField Trip provides K–5 students, many from financially challenged and newcomer families, with free access to a supervised gymnastics lesson and outdoor play. Funding for busing ensures equitable participation in this enriching year-end experience for approximately two-thirds of the school.
Red Fox Healthy Living Society
Red Fox Drum & Dance Group and Youth Leadership programs blend Indigenous cultural arts with active play and mentorship, offering free, inclusive weekly sessions in inner-city schools and community centres. Participants build cultural pride, leadership, employment skills, and confidence through performance, certified training, and supported first job experiences.
BGC South Coast BC
The After School Prevention Program at BGC Kimount Club offers a safe, inclusive space where children and youth build social, leadership, and academic skills through sports, arts, homework help, and shared meals. With a strong focus on health, belonging, and positive relationships, it supports participants of all abilities.
VSB: Champlain Heights Elementary
Manjit Torrance is a community-based literacy program for vulnerable students aged 10–12, combining levelled books, guided reading, and nutritious snacks to boost fluency, comprehension, and confidence. By engaging families and expanding to more classes, it creates a safe, supportive environment that strengthens home–school connections and long-term learning.
VSB: Lord Strathcona Elementary School
Strathcona Elementary Dungeons & Dragons Club offers a free, school-based program where Grade 6–7 students (and some Grade 5s) learn D&D in a safe, inclusive environment. Led by trained school staff, the club builds creativity, teamwork, problem-solving, and social-emotional skills through age-appropriate, collaborative storytelling.
Growing Chefs Society
LunchLAB is a school-based food literacy and meal program where student chefs, mentored by professional Chefs-in-Residence, prepare and share nutritious, culturally relevant lunches for their peers. Operating on a universal, pay-what-you-can model, it builds real-world food skills, leadership, and a strong sense of belonging.
Vines Art Festival
DTES - Honouring the Children is a free, family-focused Pow Wow celebration in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside that uplifts Indigenous children through culture, ceremony, and community care. Rooted in Elder Kat Norris’s legacy, it offers accessible cultural activities, regalia support, and a safe space for healing, pride, and belonging.
Eastside Arts Soceity
Studio 101 connects over 250 East Vancouver youth each year with free, hands-on visual arts workshops led by professional artists in their studios and classrooms. Through immersive experiences, Indigenous artist residencies, and partnerships with Emily Carr University, the program builds creative confidence and opens pathways to arts education and careers.
AIRS Program Society
The AIRS Program at ¿uuqinak'uuh Grandview Elementary brings professional artists into the school day to create an inclusive studio space where every child can explore diverse art forms, build confidence, and feel a strong sense of belonging. Through trauma-informed, hands-on projects, students develop creative, social-emotional, and resilience skills that support their overall success.
Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House
The Kids’ Tutoring Program – Digital Coordination Enhancement provides free, weekly literacy and numeracy support for children aged 6–13 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. A new digital coordination tool improves tutor-student matching, session tracking, and safety, ensuring consistent, individualized academic support in a structured environment.
VSB: Thunderbird School
The Summer Reading Program for Thunderbird Students provides free, high-quality books for children to build their home libraries and foster a love of reading. By overcoming cost and distance barriers to libraries, it supports continuous summer literacy growth for families with limited access to reading materials.
Some Assembly Arts Society
Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group (RHYTAG) is a free, 10-month, arts-based program where diverse inner-city youth collaborate with professional artists and clinicians to create and perform original plays about urgent social issues. Participants gain theatre training, mental health support, leadership skills, and a powerful sense of belonging while educating thousands of peers through performances and dialogues.
VSB: Strathcona Elementary School
Luey McQuaid is Strathcona Elementary’s annual Pride parade that unites students, staff, families, and community in a vibrant celebration of LGBTQ2SAI+ safety, visibility, and belonging. Through creative projects, performances, and student leadership, participants build artistic, presentation, and collaboration skills while affirming inclusive school values.
Mom2Mom Child Poverty Initiative Society
The Happy Healthy Children Program removes financial barriers so children in single-mother, low-income families can access sports, arts, tutoring, and camps. By fully covering activity costs and offering low-barrier support, it builds children’s skills, confidence, and sense of belonging while easing stress for moms.
EYA Environmental Youth Alliance
Land Guardians is a free, land-based program where urban Indigenous and equity-denied youth learn ecology and Indigenous Knowledge from Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and BIPOC educators. Through hands-on activities, mentorship, and honoraria, participants build cultural connection, scientific skills, and confidence as emerging community leaders.
Amy Weeks
The Backpack Program provides weekly, customized hampers of fresh, nutritious food to 135 Strathcona families, helping children thrive at school and in the community. Alongside groceries, it offers a welcoming space for cultural celebrations, youth leadership, and connections to local educational and health resources.
Kiwassa Neighbourhood Services Association
Harbourview Childcare Centre offers year-round, play-based learning in a safe, inclusive setting supported by qualified educators. With consistent care, responsive programming, and nutritious snacks, it helps children thrive developmentally while providing dependable childcare for working families.
VSB: Tillicum Elementary Community Annex
Social Emotional Learning through Gameplay equips young children with high-quality playground balls and cooperative classroom games that foster inclusion, teamwork, and communication. By transforming everyday play into shared, positive experiences, the program strengthens social-emotional skills and reduces barriers for children living in poverty.
Leave Out Violence (LOVE) Society BC
The free Media Arts Program empowers youth ages 13–18 to explore photography, film, and writing while addressing anti-violence and social justice issues. With all costs covered and a safe, supportive environment, participants build creative, technical, and critical thinking skills through projects and field trips.
VSB: Captain James Cook Elementary School
Cook Coyotes Professional Basketball Experience offers students a rare, fully funded trip to a CEBL game with on-court access, player interactions, and post-game activities. This immersive experience promotes representation, inspires continued participation in sport, and supports students’ mental, social-emotional, and physical wellbeing.
Annastasia Forst
The Writers' Exchange Summer Literacy Program offers free, creative literacy enrichment, mentorship, and nutritious meals for 210 low-income, school-referred children and youth in East Vancouver. With trauma-informed, relationship-based support and low student-to-adult ratios, it builds strong reading, writing, and social-emotional skills while addressing food insecurity.