Island Health Announces 2024/2025 Community Wellness Grant Recipients

Island Health is launching 53 new locally led wellness projects focused on community resilience.

The Community Wellness Grant program helps promote health and wellness across the region Island Health serves by fostering local partnerships and grassroots initiatives. Nearly $800,000 from the program will fund a mix of projects and initiatives.

“We’re so pleased to support innovative Community Wellness Grant projects for another year,” said Dr. Réka Gustafson, Island Health’s Vice President of Population Health and Chief Medical Health Officer.

“Each year, these projects support community organizations to address the unique wellness needs of each part of our region. My congratulations to this year’s recipients.”

Recipients include the Comox Valley Art Gallery, the Campbell River Child Care Society, Nuchatlaht First Nation for its Financial Literacy Series, and the Sayward Community Health Society for a lunch program for seniors.

A food security and cooking skills project for families in Port Alberni will also see funding, along with a restorative justice program for Cowichan Valley high schools, a community arts program on Pender Island, and a Decolonizing Addictions conference hosted by the Kwakiutl Health Centre in Port Hardy.

The program is designed to support community-led upstream wellness interventions that reduce barriers and increase support, enabling all members of the community to enjoy health and wellness.

The theme of this year’s grant program was community resilience, inviting applicants to focus on one or more of the following criteria: diverse communities, connected communities, safe communities, nourished communities and active communities.

A complete list of recipients is available at Island Health.