It’s August – if you have been paying even the slightest attention to the calendar, the weather, or your vacation schedule, or if you are more than 4 years old, then you already know this. BC teachers are still on strike. You probably know this too.
Here are some things that perhaps you don’t know or perhaps you forgot in the excitement of summer:
- Victoria and Esquimalt Police departments stopped processing criminal record checks in July. (Both the Ministry of Justice and the Victoria and Esquimalt Police will continue to process CRC for individuals requiring a Vulnerable Sector Check). The Commissionaires Victoria will provide criminal record check services for volunteers living in Victoria or Esquimalt for the greatly reduced fee of $12. They will even come to your office to help process CRC applications.
- United Way recently announced a change to its funding cycle. Look for applications to appear this Fall for funding that begins in April 2015.
- The deadline for social service organizations to apply for Gaming Grants is November 30th. You can track all application approvals online.
- Grant application deadlines for Victoria Foundation and Telus are quickly approaching.
- 2014 looks to be a big summer in terms of staff changes at our funding partner organizations. Thanks to Catherine Schissel (United Way) and Gina Pecorelli (Telus) for your care and support and good luck in your new adventures.
- Just when organizations got logic models and theories of change vocabulary and practice under control, along comes Collective Impact. If you have a little time to invest in learning more about Collective Impact visit http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact. Volunteer Victoria will host a Collective Impact Webinar in partnership with the McConnell Foundation in September.
- Norm Smookler is offering free Exceptional Leader evaluations to anyone in the non-profit sector. This is great tool to help you figure out your leadership strengths and preferences. Visit www.normsmookler.com/360-leader-feedback-tool.php for more information.
- Did you know that Service Canada has a program called Work-sharing? Work-Sharing is an adjustment program designed to help employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer. The program provides income support to employees eligible for Employment Insurance benefits who work a temporarily reduced work week while their employer recovers. Work-Sharing is a three-party agreement involving employers, employees and Service Canada. Employees on a Work-Sharing agreement must agree to a reduced schedule of work and to share the available work over a specified period of time. The goal of the Work-Sharing program is to avoid layoffs and for all participating employees to return to normal working hours by the end of the agreement. Visit www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/work_sharing/ws_applicantguide.pdf for more information. And,
- If your organization is like Volunteer Victoria you are currently working on strategies to ensure that youth client needs will be met in the fall. We are working with three possible scenarios – no school, some school, or a complete return to school.
Who said August would be quiet?