HeroWork & CCSPI Named Top 100 Recovery Projects
The holiday buzz has begun. But meanwhile, across the country and under the radar, Canadians are working hard to help their communities respond
and recover from the pandemic.
The HeroWork Society was selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 Recovery Projects by Future of Good, a Canadian digital publication covering social impact. HeroWork was selected from among hundreds of nominations across the country. The pan-Canadian exercise, led by Future of Good was to find, celebrate, and showcase 100 of the most ambitious and innovative projects doing essential work, as determined by an expert selection committee.
We’re less than a decade away from the deadline to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the pandemic has set Canada and the rest of the world back. Rates of poverty, food insecurity, unemployment, gender-based violence, and more are skyrocketing. The SDGs’ rallying cry — ”leave no one behind” — is more important than ever.
From volunteer-based to professionally run organizations, short-term to long-term projects, local to national in scope, projects such as HeroWork are stepping up to help one another. They’re building mutual aid networks from scratch, creating technology that supports at-home learning, developing re-skilling programs for those who’ve lost their jobs, and more.
“All kinds of people in places all across Canada are coming up with projects that are helping communities get back on their feet. This is an extraordinary local and civil society response. As a digital publication focused on social impact, we are excited to celebrate and amplify these projects by telling their stories and sharing their projects with a pan-Canadian audience,” says Future of Good Publisher and CEO Vinod Rajasekaran.
“It’s an honour to be chosen for this award,” says Paul Latour, founder and CEO of HeroWork. “Providing purposed-designed infrastructure for charities is a huge asset to the Victoria community. Even during the pandemic, we were able to complete a transitional housing project for young moms and their children, in partnership with the YMCA and Kiwanis Victoria. Coming this spring, the Salvation Army ARC building in downtown Victoria gets a new kitchen to help them provide 15,000 meals a month to the vulnerable. These kinds of collaborative partnerships are what will help us build back better!”
As part of recognizing the top 100, Future of Good has created an interactive digital map of the 100 most impactful community recovery projects, so people across Canada can learn about and engage with them. The top 100 projects were revealed at the Future of Good digital summit on November 25-26, 2020, where more than a thousand charities, non-profits, philanthropic organizations, impact investors, co-operatives, CSR teams, and social enterprises gathered to discuss how communities can build back better post-pandemic. In 2021, Future of Good will be telling digital stories of how the projects evolve and support local communities.
About HeroWork
HeroWork is a charity that renovates other charities because many non-profit buildings are run down and in need of repairs or upgrades. With renewed buildings charities have bigger impact, are more sustainable, and better serve vulnerable populations.To date HeroWork has completed over 5 million worth of non-profit renovations in the greater Victoria region. In a typical year HeroWork engages over 150 companies and 900 volunteers. Together they participate in huge community events through which comprehensive renovations are completed in a fraction of normal time and costs. HeroWork describes these events as modern-day barn raisings, calling them “Radical Renovations.” HeroWork Canada launches in 2021, where they will replicate their model in cities across the country, building a movement of charity and community renewal.
For more information on HeroWork, please visit herowork.com
For further information:
Marlena Salvador, Philanthropy & Communications Manager.
marlena.salvador@herowork.com
(250) 588-0148
We are excited to share that the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative (CCSPI) has been selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 Recovery Projects by Future of Good. Future of Good selected CCSPI as a program helping communities not just return to normal, but build back better for a thriving decade.
“We’re thrilled that CCSPI has been selected as a top recovery project,” said Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, CCSPI Co-Chair. “We began this initiative in 2016 to improve the health of our communities and the strength of our economies by changing the culture of public sector procurement. This work is now more important than ever.”
CCSPI is a member-led initiative that provides local governments across the region with the training, expertise and support they need to integrate social procurement practices and community benefits into their existing purchasing. Participating governments access a full suite of professional development and training, templates, case studies, impact measurement tools and expert consultation support to implement social procurement practices in their community.
“It’s exciting to see the community benefits and impact that local governments across Vancouver Island and coastal regions are experiencing as they embrace and implement social procurement. Their opportunity to be recognized is a reflection on the real value that local government and staff are receiving,” stated City of Campbell River Councillor Colleen Evans, CCSPI Co-Chair.
In just two years, the CCSPI membership has grown from 6 to 20 local governments on Vancouver Island and the Coast. Collectively, members have realized over $25 million in procurement spend with added community benefit. That means local employment and community benefits are generated from existing procurement dollars at a time when local economies need it most.
Social procurement is a key economic recovery opportunity for local governments by adding social value to their existing procurement in order to help economies and communities weather the storm of COVID-19.
About Future of Good
Future of Good is a fast-growing digital publication covering Canada’s social impact sector. Thousands of Canadians look to Future of Good each month for its comprehensive coverage of the world of impact so they can stay current and improve their ability to do good in the world.
Future of Good’s readers and members include professionals working in charities, non-profits, philanthropic foundations, social enterprises, co-operatives, public policy, corporate social responsibility departments and more.
For more information on Future of Good, visit futureofgood.co.
For more information on Canada’s Top 100 Recovery projects, visit
https://100recoveryprojects.futureofgood.co/.
For further information:
Thi Dao, Account Manager / Content Partnerships Lead thi@futureofgood.co