Download information about the 2010 awards and an application formAPPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY NOVEMBER 12th
Making A Difference with Youth
Eva's Initiatives - Award for Innovation (En Français)
September 2009
Eva’s Initiatives and CIBC have teamed up for a fifth year to offer three awards of $5,000 each for organizations working with homeless and at-risk youth. Award winners will:
- Demonstrate innovation in delivering services to homeless youth;
- Successfully use partnerships to develop, implement or operate services;
- Deliver services that help youth who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless achieve greater self-sufficiency and reduce their chances of experiencing homelessness in the future;
- Offer services that integrate two or more of the following: housing, education, vocational training, employment, health and addictions supports, life skills, or other interventions aimed at assisting homeless and at risk youth to become self-sufficient.
About Eva's Initiatives
Eva's Initiatives works with homeless and at-risk youth ages 16 to 24 to get them off the streets permanently. We operate three shelters in Toronto that house 122 youth each night. Each year we help over 2,300 homeless and at-risk youth through our emergency and transitional housing, harm reduction services, counselling, employment and training programs, social enterprise, housing support, and services to reconnect youth with their families.
Eva's wins awards for partnerships model and innovative youth programs
- 2007 Shared Interest Award, Citizens Bank of Canada
- Chosen by Raising the Roof for sponsorship through Youthworks
- 2005 Promising Approach, National Secretariat on Homelessness
- 2004 Best Practice in Affordable Housing from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
- Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario
- Leonard Frost Award from the Ontario Association of Hostels.
- Harry Jerome Award for Community Service from the Black Business and Professionals Association
- City Liveability Award from the Canadian Urban Institute.
In 2000, Eva’s Initiatives opened Eva’s Phoenix, a transitional housing and employment training facility where 50 youth, ages 16-24, may live for up to one year. Eva’s Phoenix is the home of our innovative partnership-based employment programs and social enterprise Print Shop. These programs are supported by a variety of mentorship initiatives that help our youth to succeed in developing long-term self-sufficiency in their housing and employment.
Eva’s Initiatives assists interested groups in communities across Canada in developing their own Eva’s Phoenix type models of integrated support for homeless youth. For more information about how we can help, contact Rachel Gray (rachel@evas.ca) or check out our web site (www.evasinitiatives.com).
Why offer an Award for Innovation?
The goal of the award is to recognize other organizations that are doing innovative work with youth who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.
What does Eva's mean by 'youth'?
Definitions of ‘youth’ vary across the country. For the purposes of this award, youth are defined as between 15 and 30. Organizations who define youth more narrowly are indeed welcome to apply.
What does Eva's mean by 'homeless or at-risk of homelessness'?
Homeless youth are those without physical shelter. They may be living on the street, sleeping outdoors, staying in shelters and emergency hostels or temporarily staying with friends or ‘couch surfing.’
Youth at-risk of homelessness are those who are living in a household where there is family conflict or violence, a household that is overcrowded, or one that is paying so much for housing that there is no money left over for other necessities. Youth at-risk of homelessness also includes those who are at-risk of eviction for economic, behavioural or health reasons, and those living in illegal or physically unsafe dwellings.
What does Eva's mean by 'innovation'?
Innovation means different things to different people. For these awards, innovation means:
- New methods for addressing a community need are established, resulting in improved services aimed at helping homeless youth develop self-sufficiency.
- Something new develops in the community as a result of an initiative. (Some examples are: new partners or sectors in your community become involved in addressing homelessness; services that were previously unavailable now are available; or an initiative results in increased public awareness and understanding of youth homelessness.)
- Partnerships develop between services for homeless youth and other sectors such as business, labour, industry, financial services, education and training, government, and faith communities.
- New ways to more effectively manage services for young homeless individuals are identified and implemented.
What is the nature of the award?
Three awards of $5000 each will be announced in February 2009. Eva's Initiatives will provide assistance to the three winning organizations to organize an awards ceremony in their communities.
Who can apply for an Innovation Award?
The three awards are open to organizations providing services to youth who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless. The organization applying for an award must be a registered charity in Canada or be sponsored by, or affiliated with, a registered charity in Canada.
Organizations working with homeless youth in large, medium, and smaller urban areas are encouraged to apply. Organizations working with homeless or at risk Aboriginal youth on- or off-reserve, as well as organizations operating in rural or northern communities are especially encouraged to apply.
How do we apply?
Download information about the 2010 awards and an application form or email us at awards@evas.ca to request an application.
Complete the application and submit it by email to awards@evas.ca no later than 9 pm EST on Friday November 12, 2009. Applications received after this date will not be considered. Your application should describe an initiative or program that you feel is innovative. To be considered, the initiative must be one that is already operational with evidence of some results or successes to date.
Accompanying documentation, such as financial statements or annual report, may be sent by email or letter mail, postmarked no later than November 12, 2009. Our mailing address is: Eva's Initiatives, 215 Spadina Ave., Suite 370, Toronto, ON M5T 2C7
Attention: Award for Innovation
How will the winners be chosen?
A 7 member panel will review the submissions and select the winners. This review panel is made up of individuals from across Canada who are knowledgeable about services for homeless individuals.
For more information...
Contact:
Deborah Hierlihy
Project Coordinator
Eva's Innovation Awards
awards@evas.ca
or (613) 471-1348
Our Sponsor
Eva's Initiatives Award for Innovation is generously sponsored by CIBC.
