Our first ever Participatory Grantmaking Initiative received 142 applications this spring, highlighting the meaningful work underway as well as the need for more funding for community-based, grassroots projects supporting migrant and refugee communities. Thank you to WES Mariam Assefa Fund for making this collaborative initiative possible, in addition to supporting our grantees’ projects.
Much gratitude goes to our incredible community-led decision making group as well, who spent countless hours on this project. We are pleased to announce that 16 grantees are being awarded $500,000 worth of funding. The grantees represent a vast range of commitments in frontline, neighbourhood mutual aid, legal, health and wellness support for migrants and refugees in BC. We will also share reflections on the decision-making process in a follow-up blogpost this summer.
We are grateful for the commitment, and courage expended by dedicated community members to create community-based solutions. We see this grant as a partnership rooted in mutual care, trust, and shared purpose. Over the course of next nine months (July 2025 to March 2026), our goal is to be present in this journey with our grantees, and where possible, find additional ways to support their work, beyond this funding.
Please join us in celebrating their efforts and care for community.
Listed alphabetically: Afiya Care Collective, Baobab Black Seniors Health & Social Care Services Society, Black Youth Initiative Society, Canadian Centre for Gender-Based Analysis Plus (CCGBA+), Chinatown Organizing & Solidarity Language School, Damayan Society for Migrant Education and Resources (Damayan BC), Earthseed Collective Society, Healing Together: A Group Counselling Initiative for Racialized Women International Students in Higher Education, Iyé Creative, Justice 48 , Marpole Mutual Aid Network, Migrant Students United Vancouver (MSU), Migrant Workers Centre, Supporting Women’s Alternatives Network (SWAN Vancouver) Society, SWANA Meetup + Podcast series, UPAABC (University of Philippines Alumni Association of BC
Find out more about each initiative and their important work in the community below.
Afiya Care Collective
Photos (from left to right): Mahado Hassan, Ashley Dornan, and Nafiisa Nur, Directors of Afiya Care Collective
Afiya Care Collective (ACC) is a non-profit co-operative founded by three Black women, Mahado Mohamed Hassan (MPH graduate), Ashley Dornan (NP candidate), and Nafiisa Nur (RN). Afiya Care Collective aims to address the deep-rooted inequities Black, African, and Caribbean (BAC) communities —especially those with migration backgrounds— face in Canada’s healthcare system.
These communities often encounter racial discrimination, cultural insensitivity, and a lack of representation, leading to poorer health outcomes and widespread mistrust in health institutions. Led by Black women healthcare professionals with lived experience, Afiya Care is laying the foundation for a community-led, culturally safe health centre in Surrey.
In the short term, the team is focused on data collection, community engagement, and advocacy to better understand the needs of the BAC population and push for systemic change. Long-term, they envision a holistic health hub that centers culturally rooted care and mental health support. Their aim is to build community power and create a healthcare system that truly reflects and serves the people it aims to support.
Website: https://www.afiyacarecollective.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afiyacarecollective/
Contact: info@afiyacarecollective.ca
Baobab Black Seniors Health & Social Care Services Society
Baobab Black Seniors Health & Social Care Services Society is addressing the urgent need for culturally appropriate, dignified care for Black seniors in BC—-many of whom face racism, misdiagnosis, and neglect in the current health and social care system.
Led by Black migrant women with frontline healthcare experience, the initiative centers the voices of Black seniors through decolonial, trauma-informed research and advocacy. Baobab Society seeks to address gaps in care, push for policy change, and build systemic awareness by collecting disaggregated data and engaging directly with elders.
Through focus groups, partnerships, and community engagement, Baobab Society aims to influence decision-makers and healthcare providers to recognize and respond to the unique needs of Black seniors. Ultimately, their long-term vision is to establish dedicated, culturally rooted care homes and centers that uphold dignity, compassion, and collective well-being for Black seniors across the province.
Website: https://baobabseniorscare.ca/
Contact: info@baobabseniorscare.ca
Black Youth Initiative Society
The Black Youth Initiative (BYI) is tackling systemic anti-Blackness in philanthropy by centering Black and Indigenous youth—especially those with migrant and refugee experiences—in grantmaking across BC.
Despite leading vital community work, Black-led initiatives often face major funding barriers, including exclusion from decision-making and inaccessible funding processes. BYI seeks to shift those dynamics.
BYI is currently focusing on evaluating its microgrant program and hosting the Seeds of Solidarity event, which will bring together Black and Indigenous youth grantees to share their work and thoughts on strategies to influence funders. Through these efforts, the initiative aims to amplify youth leadership, reshape funding structures to reflect lived experience and joy – not just survival – and promote a more equitable, inclusive philanthropic landscape.
Website: https://www.blackyouthinitiative.ca/
Canadian Centre for Gender-Based Analysis Plus (CCGBA+)
The Canadian Centre for GBA+ (CCGBA+) is a national nonprofit that promotes equity by supporting inclusive decision-making. It works with diverse organizations to make sure the voices and knowledge of communities most impacted are included in policies and programs. Through this initiative, CCGBA+ will support three small immigrant-serving nonprofits, giving them tools to strengthen their programs, meet funder requirements, and better serve their communities.
Website: https://gbaplus.ca/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ccgba/
Contact: team@gbaplus.ca
Chinatown Organizing & Solidarity Language School
Please stay tuned for some project information about the Chinatown Organizing & Solidarity Language School.
Damayan Society for Migrant Education and Resources (Damayan BC)
Damayan Society for Migrant Education and Resources focuses on supporting migrant workers and international students who have been pushed into precarity due to harsh immigration policy reversals, most notably in 2024.
The initiative seeks to build migrant-led, community-based supports that provide legal assistance for labour trafficking victims, political education, and organizing tools to inform policies and advocate for change. Damayan Society’s work will include the launch of a migrant help desk, the creation of a community-led Migrants’ School for rights-based education and leadership development, and a media and advocacy campaign to amplify worker voices and influence policy reform.
The ultimate aim is to strengthen grassroots migrant leadership, build solidarity across migrant communities, and challenge anti-migrant narratives and systems through migrant-led organizing.
Website: damayanbc.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DamayanBC
Contact: damayan.bc@gmail.com
Earthseed Collective Society
Earthseed Collective Society is bringing to life a new 3-year residency at Moberly Fieldhouse in Vancouver’s Sunset neighborhood. Led by racialized migrants, the project addresses overlapping community challenges, including food insecurity, social isolation, lack of culturally rooted and green spaces, and limited programming for youth, newcomers, older adults, LGBTQ+ community, and Indigenous peoples.
Through culturally grounded, land-based, and arts-based programming, the team hopes to build climate resilience and belonging in the neighborhood. Their work centers migrant experiences and ancestral knowledge around plants, food, and land, while also engaging Indigenous protocols and practices. This will include archiving plant histories and relationships with the community, a seed library and plant nursery, resources to share food sovereignty knowledge, and preparedness for climate emergencies.
Website: https://earthseedcollectivemst.my.canva.site/
Social: https://www.instagram.com/earthseedcollective.mst?igsh=c3g1eHo1cGZzMzhs
Get involved with us: https://bit.ly/40CwPYZ
Healing Together: A Group Counselling Initiative for Racialized Women International Students in Higher Education
This initiative is a pilot project to address the mental health needs of
racialized, self-identified women international students in BC. It is grounded in anti-oppressive, trauma-informed values and centers lived experience, aiming to shift institutional practices, amplify migrant women’s voices in mental health systems, and increase access to culturally relevant mental health services for women. It aims to provide free group counselling sessions, co-facilitated by racialized counsellors with lived experience, to support participants in processing racial trauma, reclaiming identity, and building resilience.
In addition to direct support, the project will document learnings from the pilot to develop clinician training for student counsellors, helping them more effectively support this population. The initiative envisions creating future spaces for collective healing and building capacity among BIPOC counsellors to challenge racism within the profession itself.
Email: healingtogethergroup@outlook.
Get Involved: https://forms.office.com/r/k2nVEd1EYv
Iyé Creative
Iyé Creative is addressing the erasure of cultural food knowledge within migrant and diasporic communities—especially among children growing up disconnected from their ancestral lands. Mainstream educational materials often overlook the foodways and agricultural traditions of equity-denied groups, contributing to cultural loss and barriers to land access.
This initiative will create a children’s book and documentary that highlight culturally significant crops, food stories, and the deep relationship between land and identity. By using storytelling as a tool for education and empowerment, the project seeks to strengthen intergenerational knowledge, promote food literacy, and foster a sense of belonging. It also creates space for migrants to see their experiences reflected in public discourse while advocating for food sovereignty and cultural resilience.
Website: https://www.iyeherstories.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iye.herstories/
Contact: creativecollective@iyeherstories.com
Justice 48
Justice 48 is tackling the erasure of Palestinian legal advocacy by creating accessible tools and educational platforms that highlight justice efforts led by Palestinians and their allies worldwide. Justice 48 does this by spotlighting legal action, human rights cases, and advocacy work through a searchable online Justice Tracker, educational videos, and interactive webinars.
This initiative is helping create space for cross-border learning and deeper collaboration. Justice 48 grounds its work in lived experience, collective liberation, and anti-racist values.
With this funding, the group will expand its outreach, improve the accessibility of its digital tools, and grow its global network. The goal is to equip communities with the legal knowledge and connections they need to advocate effectively and ensure Palestinian voices remain front and center in the global movement for justice.
Website: justice48.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justice48org?igsh=a3JjajU0ZmhreHBv
Marpole Mutual Aid Network (MMAN)
Marpole Mutual Aid Network (MMAN) is a grassroots initiative that addresses urgent systemic challenges including food and housing insecurity, climate change induced emergencies and other issues in the Marpole South of 70th neighbourhood.
Marpole South of 70th is a majority low-income community comprised primarily of racialized, elderly, newcomer, disabled and other tenants living in older low-rise buildings. MMAN operates a 24/7 accessible community pantry with multilingual signage and provides culturally relevant groceries, frontline support for unhoused neighbors and other community care. The network offers educational resources on building communities of care through policing alternatives.
MMAN’s work is deeply rooted in lived experience and is guided by principles of solidarity, radical trust, and mutual aid. In the coming year, MMAN aims to strengthen its existing programs, expand language justice efforts, facilitate community embedded art projects and deepen our community-based response to the multiple crises being faced by our communities.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freepantrymarpole/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marpolepantry
Email: marpolemutualaid@gmail.com
Migrant Students United
In response to rising xenophobia, policy reversals, and increased precarity for international students, Migrant Students United Vancouver organizes mutual aid while also building the organizing capacity of students through workshops, town halls, and collaborative events with partner organizations.
MSU will support monthly community events that combine mutual aid, political education, and relationship-building for precarious migrant students and workers in so-called British Columbia. Their goal is to foster community resilience, deepen political consciousness, and strengthen long-term migrant justice organizing, led by and for those directly impacted, while recognizing that no one is illegal on stolen lands.
Website: https://msuatsfu.mozellosite.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msu_van/
Migrant Workers Centre
Migrant Workers Centre (MWC) is launching its first dedicated program for migrant workers with undocumented or precarious immigration status (UMWs)—a group facing heightened risk of exploitation, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and deportation, especially in light of recent changes to Canada’s immigration policies. These workers, often employed in sectors like caregiving, construction, and agriculture, are excluded from most legal and social supports, leaving them isolated and vulnerable.
MWC’s initiative seeks to address this urgent gap by providing free legal support for Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) applications, along with education sessions on rights, resources, and safer pathways to legal status. The program will be guided by a paid Advisory Committee of UMWs and supported by trusted community organizations across BC. Led by a legal advocate and supervised by experienced lawyers, this initiative will build migrant worker capacity, reduce vulnerability to abuse, and offer hope for a safer, more stable life in Canada at no cost to workers.
Website: www.mwcbc.ca
Twitter/X: https://x.com/MWC_BC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MWCBC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mwc.bc/
Contact: info@mwcbc.ca or 604-669-4482
SWANA Meetup + Short film series
This is a storytelling and community-building initiative in the Nelson region of BC, led by two SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) community members, Zaynab and nikta. The initiative aims to create regular events and a series of short films to uplift the voices of SWANA diaspora individuals, offering them a platform to share personal stories and build meaningful relationships. In a predominantly white, rural area where SWANA perspectives are underrepresented, this initiative addresses isolation and cultural invisibility by fostering connection, belonging, and public understanding.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/8ig8rown3yes/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poemsbyzaynab/
Supporting Women's Alternatives Network (SWAN Vancouver) Society
Supporting Women’s Alternatives Network (SWAN Vancouver) Society supports newcomer and migrant women engaged in sex work, many of whom face systemic racism, criminalization, language barriers, and deep social stigma. These overlapping challenges often prevent them from accessing mainstream services and lead to isolation.
The initiative, “Around the Table: Recipes for Solidarity,” will use food and cooking as a culturally meaningful and low-barrier way to build connection, community, and healing. Through shared meals, storytelling, and collaborative recipe development, participants will strengthen relationships and a sense of belonging.
The initiative also aims to challenge harmful narratives about migrant sex workers by highlighting their agency, cultural knowledge, and multidimensional lives. It will culminate in a community-created recipe book that serves both as a cultural artifact and a public education tool that will challenge dominant, saviorism narratives surrounding migrant sex workers, and invite the broader public to view them with more dignity, complexity, and humanity.
Website: https://swanvancouver.ca
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swan_vancouver
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/swan-vancouver.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwanVancouver
UPAABC (University of Philippines Alumni Association of BC)
This initiative responds to the urgent and growing insecurity facing Filipino migrants in Canada, especially in light of the Canadian government’s sudden and sharp reductions to immigration levels and changes to caregiver and temporary worker programs. Many Filipinos, especially international students, caregivers, seasonal workers, and other temporary residents, are at risk of becoming undocumented or being deported due to shifting immigration policies.
UPAABC, a volunteer-led alumni association with strong roots in community organizing, aims to bring together the community through a year-long, community-driven project involving a series of community gatherings that will inform policy advocacy. The initiative centers care, solidarity, and collective action, creating spaces where Filipino migrants across BC can connect, access resources and share strategies to push for policy changes at provincial and federal levels.
Website: https://upaabc.weebly.com/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/upaabc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upaabc