December 2025 Recipients - $7575 awarded
1) Cumberland Community School Society (CCSS) - $3500
CCSS will create a weekly drop-in space (for 32 weeks in duration) for queer parents and caregivers of all genders to bring their children (ages 0–5) for play, connection, and mutual support. This program responds to an identified community need, as a similar group does not currently exist in the Comox Valley, and many local queer parents have shared that they do not feel comfortable or fully included in traditional parent-and-baby groups. By providing a dedicated, inclusive and affirming environment for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals, we aim to reduce isolation and strengthen mental well-being through peer support, guided discussions, and access to affirming resources and facilitation. This program will be offered at no cost, on a drop-in basis, with no pre-registration required. In addition, one CCSS staff member and one community member have expressed interest in serving as co-facilitators. Both individuals identify as queer and nonbinary, and bring lived experience that supports the creation of a safe, identity-affirming environment for participants. They also have extensive experience in group facilitation, trauma-informed practices, expressive arts therapy, early childhood arts education, and childcare - all of which will help guide discussions, offer support, and assist in planning weekly activities.
2) Coastal Queer Alliance (Tofino and Ucluelet) - $4075
Community Conversations & Queer Resilience and Joy Zines
To promote queer resilience and joy, strengthen community connections, and enhance the visibility of queer people in a historically resource-limited part of Vancouver Island, Coastal Queers proposes to host “Community Conversations”. These conversations will be guided by a series of questions focusing on queer joy and resilience, providing community members the opportunity to connect with one another over shared experiences. With participants’ informed consent, these conversations will be recorded for the second component of this project.
Quotes from the recordings will be curated into two Zines, which will be made available online, at Coastal Queers events and at youth centres in the region. Through bringing people of various backgrounds together to connect about shared struggles and successes, we hope to reduce feelings of isolation on the coast and cultivate a stronger network of care and support within our community.
These Zines will elevate the voices of queer people in the area, promoting increased visibility of queer individuals on the coast. The simultaneous focus on queer resilience and queer joy will create a fulsome narrative of the multitudes of queer experiences on the coast, helping non-queer individuals better understand the realities of our queer community.
Coastal Queers will rely on previously established relationships with community members, as well as promoting the opportunity to participate in Community Conversations through social media, in order to foster inclusion of a wide variety of queer voices. After the guided conversations, Coastal Queers will use the recorded voice clips to select key quotes and statements from participants to develop two Zines. These Zines will be made readily available digitally (i.e., on website, sent via email to subscribers, and included in the quarterly newsletter) and distributed in person throughout Tofino and Ucluelet to youth centres.
By focusing the dialogue on queer joy and resilience, Community Conversations seeks to create a fulsome picture of the hardships and the beauty of being queer. At a time where queer individuals, and particularly queer youth, are facing attacks on their rights, we want to create an opportunity for people in our community to connect about the real challenges that we face as queer individuals living in a rural area, while also holding space for the belonging, joy, and beauty that we experience despite these challenges.