A Foundry is coming to West Shore, Sooke & Port Renfrew!
Presentation describing the integrated youth service model, development funding, and project priorities for the new Foundry hub.
A Foundry is coming to West Shore, Sooke & Port Renfrew!
Foundry offers youth 12 to 24 (and the folks who love them) connection, tools and support in living a good life.
January 2025
Presenters
Scott Bradford, Executive Director Thrive Social Services Society (Host Agency)
Kathy Easton, Director of Implementation for Foundry Thrive Social Services Society keaston@thrivevictoria.org thrivevictoria.org/foundry/
Partnership of The Village Initiative https://thevillageinitiative.ca/
Land Acknowledgement
Our Thrive team acknowledges that our agency stands and works on the unceded Lək̓ʷəŋən territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
We also acknowledge the five W̱SÁNEĆ communities: W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip), BOḰEĆEN (Pauquachin), SȾÁUTW̱, (Tsawout) W̱SIKEM (Tseycum) and MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat), as well as the Sc'ianew (Beecher Bay), T’Sou-ke, and Pacheedaht Nations and the Spune’laxutth’ (Penelekut) tribe where our work extends.
Foundry is
Part of a provincial, national and international network.
Aims to transform access to services for young people.
Brings together & integrates services so that young people can access the services they need in one location:
- Mental health care
- Substance use services
- Physical and sexual health care
- Indigenous health services
- Youth and family peer support, and
- Social services
Why Foundry
We all want the youth in our communities to be able to live healthy, well-balanced lives.
We know that one organization or set of service providers will not be able to meet their every need.
We also know that youth from equity-denied communities will face more barriers, and we have a responsibility to make health and social services safe for Indigenous young people.
The Vision
Our Foundry builds on
A solid foundation of collaboration among community organizations in The Village Initiative.
The Village is a network of over 60 community social service organizations as well as school district, health, and municipal leaders.
The Village partners came together to write the successful Foundry application for the West Shore, Sooke and Port Renfrew region.
Thrive Social Services Society was selected by the application team to host Foundry.
Governance & Partnerships
- Capital & operational funding will support some aspects of integration (ie. physical space, select positions, documentation, etc.)
- Foundry centres rely on strong partnerships to be successful:
- Youth & Family Advisory: Amplifies youth and family voices to ensure they are at the centre of planning, service delivery, hiring, and centre priorities, provides youth with leadership opportunities.
- Leadership Advisory: Barrier busters. Foster cross system and intersectoral integration of supports for young people. Advise on community priorities, identifies shared solutions, and ensure appropriate linkages are being made in community.
- Working groups for space & service planning
- Funders table
Host Agency
- Foundry centres are operated by Lead Agencies that are connected to the community where centres are located.
- Each Lead Agency is responsible for the development and operations of their Foundry centre and for ensuring the community’s strengths and needs are reflected within.
- Lead Agencies lead local activities, including:
- Capital project development
- Fundraising
- Partnership development
- Youth and family engagement
- Communications
- Centre operations
Lead Agencies also participate in the provincial Foundry network, through knowledge exchange, training, working groups, communities of practice, etc.
Foundry Centre Development Funding
- $200k Start-Up Funding – first year to support early costs, salary for project lead, soft capital, etc.
- $1.5M One-Time Capital Funding – year 2 to doors open (2+ years) to support the Capital Project, FCO to release funds on a quarterly basis
- Annual $1M Operating Funding – after doors open to support centre operating costs
- Note: Start-up and operational funding is provided by the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions to Foundry central office and is allocated to lead agencies by Foundry.
Project Priorities
- Leadership Advisory membership includes a seat for each municipality.
- 30,000 sq ft space needed for the Youth Services Hub in West Shore to co-locate Foundry with service providers. Village partners have a high level of interest and some ability to invest in co-locating.
- Fundraising and partnerships are essential to sustainability.
Thank You & Questions
Kathy Easton, Director of Implementation keaston@thrivevictoria.org thrivevictoria.org/foundry/
September 2024
Additional videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MleDwOVYKH4
