{"id":3180,"date":"2025-09-22T19:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T19:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/?p=3180"},"modified":"2025-10-02T18:11:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T18:11:16","slug":"indigenous-communities-help-drive-record-planh-grant-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/2025\/09\/22\/indigenous-communities-help-drive-record-planh-grant-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous communities help drive record PlanH grant applications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/happypeople-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/happypeople-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/happypeople-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/happypeople-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/happypeople.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A record number of applications poured in for the 2025 PlanH Healthy Communities Grant Program, with more Indigenous communities than ever before among the successful recipients. This year, a total of $250,000 in funding will be allocated to support projects that strengthen healthy communities across the province.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is so wonderful to see so many people working together to build healthier communities,\u201d said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health. \u201cThe projects that the PlanH grants support are doing great work promoting preventative health, helping people connect with traditional wellness models and ensuring that health and wellness are prioritized in ways that serve local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BC Healthy Communities received over 70 applications this year from across all health authority regions, representing First Nations governments, M\u00e9tis Chartered Communities, municipalities and regional districts. From those, 31 projects were selected through two streams: <strong>Community Connectedness<\/strong> and <strong>Healthy Public Policy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Community Connectedness stream will support 16 projects with $5,000 each, helping communities strengthen social ties and create a greater sense of belonging. The Healthy Public Policy stream will provide 16 grants of up to $15,000 each, supporting policies that improve well-being and foster healthier public environments. Four of these Healthy Public Policy projects will be supported by Vancouver Coastal Health Authority for communities in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indigenous participation was particularly strong this year. Of the 31 successful projects, 11 are led by First Nations governments and three by M\u00e9tis Chartered Communities. Nearly two-thirds of the funded projects (18) are located in rural areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCommunities across BC are showing incredible leadership in tackling the challenges of connection, inclusion, and health through innovative projects,\u201d said BC Healthy Communities Executive Director Vanessa Manuel. \u201cWe are especially encouraged to see so many First Nations and M\u00e9tis communities bringing forward initiatives that reflect local priorities and strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Grant funding was distributed widely across the province:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Interior Health<\/strong> led with eight successful grants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Island Health<\/strong> communities received seven grants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fraser Health<\/strong> and <strong>Vancouver Coastal Health<\/strong> regions each received six grants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Northern Health<\/strong> received four grants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>First Nations Health Authority communities<\/strong> received eight grants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Projects supported in this round will range from initiatives that build inclusive gathering spaces to those that embed health equity into local planning and policy. Examples include initiatives to improve community food security, ensure equitable access to recreation services and involve, train and empower youth for community-connectedness grants. Examples specific to Healthy Public Policy grants include reviews or updates of local policies and practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The PlanH program also provides tools, resources and capacity-building support to communities, such as workshops, webinars and action guides. These resources support engagement and partnerships across sectors to support healthier communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The PlanH program is funded by the BC Ministry of Health and administered by BC Healthy Communities. The PlanH program supports local and Indigenous governments to create healthier communities through resources, practices and learning opportunities that focus on people, society and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">PlanH 2025 successful applicants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-palette-2-color\">Community Connectedness Grants<\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Island Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Uchucklesaht Tribe Government:<\/strong> Uchucklesaht Community Picnic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Town of Comox:<\/strong> Early Years Parent Speaker Series 2025\/2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vancouver Coastal Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Kitasoo Xai&#8217;xais Nation:<\/strong> Connecting Through Climate: Community Engagement on Health, Heat, and Resilience<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>City of Vancouver<\/strong>: Community Connect &#8211; Balmoral Program<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interior Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>City of Williams Lake<\/strong>: Empower and Prevent \u2013 Youth Resiliency Project<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>City of Penticton<\/strong>: Cycling Without Age<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Okanagan Indian Band:<\/strong> i sqilx\u02b7cawt\u0259t \u2013 our indian ways<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>M\u00e9tis Nation Columbia River Society:<\/strong> W\u00eeya Ohpisk\u00e2w (she rises) \u2013 Heartbeat of the Land<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rocky Mountain M\u00e9tis Association:<\/strong> Walking with the Medicines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fraser Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>City of Pitt Meadows:<\/strong> Grow Together Program<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>City of White Rock:<\/strong> Family Community Connections<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shxw&#8217;\u014dwh\u00e1m\u00e9l First Nation:<\/strong> Shxw&#8217;\u014dwh\u00e1m\u00e9l Summer and Fall Gathering<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Northern Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Village of Granisle:<\/strong> Granisle &amp; Tachet Elder Tea<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prince George M\u00e9tis Community Association:<\/strong> Metis Yoga, Healing Circles and Elders gatherings for 2025\/2026<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kispiox Band Council:<\/strong> Gitxsan Cultural Connections<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-theme-palette-2-color\">Healthy Public Policy Grants<\/mark><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Island Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tofino:<\/strong> Towards a Healthier Tofino: Planning for a Community Alcohol Strategy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Capital Regional District:<\/strong> Salt Spring Island Community Health Needs Assessment 2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>K&#8217;omoks First Nation and Comox Valley Emergency Management:<\/strong> Community Critical Incident Stress Management and Recovery Team<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Comox Valley Regional District:<\/strong> A Peer-Informed Path to Implementing the Comox Valley Community Homelessness Plan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>City of Victoria:<\/strong> Age-friendly Victoria Evaluation Study<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iStock-834900464-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iStock-834900464-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iStock-834900464-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iStock-834900464-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iStock-834900464-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iStock-834900464-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tofino was awarded a PlanH grant for a project titled &#8216;Towards a Healthier Tofino: Planning for a Community Alcohol Strategy&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Vancouver Coastal Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tla&#8217;amin Nation:<\/strong> \u019bas\u0259m t \u0313im\u0269x\u02b7 &#8211; tiw\u0161amstaw\u026c\u0161t (Strong Medicine \u2013 We Will Teach Each Other)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Squamish Nation:<\/strong> Squamish Nation Policy Framework Revision Phase 3: Prepare Materials and Draft Framework<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nuxalk Nation:<\/strong> Culturally Safe Transitions Home from Treatment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>City of Vancouver:<\/strong> The TGD2S+ Housing &amp; Services Roundtable &amp; Working Groups: TGD2S+ Health Equity Report<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interior Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Village of Chase:<\/strong> Chase Accessibility Plan and Committee Framework<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>City of Salmon Arm:<\/strong> Embracing Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity:&nbsp; A Collaborative Anti-Racism Strategy (Phase II: Implementation)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shackan Indian Band:<\/strong> Sacred Circle of Care: Building Wellness from the Start<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fraser Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>City of Burnaby:<\/strong> Building Social Connections: New Policy Implementation with Cities of Burnaby and New Westminster<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Village of Harrison Hot Springs:<\/strong> Building Belonging: Harrison Hot Springs DEI Action Plan<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Langley City:<\/strong> Planning for a resilient food system in Langley City<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Northern Health<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Kelly Lake Cree Nation:<\/strong> Kelly Lake Cree Nation; Healthy food with a community-based greenhouse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A record number of applications poured in for the 2025 PlanH Healthy Communities Grant Program, with more Indigenous communities than ever before among the successful recipients. This year, a total of $250,000 in funding will be allocated to support projects that strengthen healthy communities across the province. \u201cIt is so wonderful to see so many&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[54,45,57],"class_list":["post-3180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-planh-grants","tag-bchc","tag-planh","tag-planh-grants"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":56,"label":"PlanH Grants"}],"post_tag":[{"value":54,"label":"BCHC"},{"value":45,"label":"planh"},{"value":57,"label":"PlanH Grants"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/happypeople-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick Dunne","author_link":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/author\/bchc_admin\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":56,"name":"PlanH Grants","slug":"planh-grants","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":56,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":56,"category_count":14,"category_description":"","cat_name":"PlanH Grants","category_nicename":"planh-grants","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":54,"name":"BCHC","slug":"bchc","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":54,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":17,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":45,"name":"planh","slug":"planh","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":34,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":57,"name":"PlanH Grants","slug":"planh-grants","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":57,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":16,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3180"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3214,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3180\/revisions\/3214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bchealthycommunities.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}