After suspending our popular Built Together healthy communities grant program in 2020 to enable us to reallocate funds to priority needs areas related to the pandemic, we were pleased to bring this program back in 2021 to promote wellness and active living across the province.
The Built Together program provides grants of $50,000 to support healthy living infrastructure projects across Alberta, ranging from outdoor adult gyms and playgrounds to skate and bike parks, walking paths and outdoor rinks. Over the last nine years, this program has supported more than 35 initiatives across the province with funding exceeding $1.8 million from our community foundation.
We had a tremendous response to the Built Together program in 2021, receiving more than 100 applications from across Alberta. We awarded grants to five very deserving projects as follows:
- In Calgary, we are providing a grant to the Forest Lawn Community Association for a collaborative outdoor park space/multi-use community hub development that includes a reconciliation component. This is one of the most innovative projects we have seen apply for the Built Together program.
- In Edmonton, we are providing a grant to St. Anne School in north-central Edmonton. As you may be aware, playgrounds must be financed through fundraising activities and this school is in a lower income area where they have struggled to raise funds. As such, in the 50 years that this school has been operating, they have never had a proper playground.
- Our grant for secondary cities is going to the Prescott Learning Centre in Spruce Grove to build an inclusive playground. This is a K to 9 school with over 800 students in a rapidly growing community whose students currently utilize an undeveloped green space during recess.
- Our grant for Indigenous communities is going to the Elizabeth Metis Settlement in northeastern Alberta, who will be using the funds to build a skate park for their youth. The community elders see a skate park as an important opportunity for connection and bonding for the community’s youth, especially as deaths in the community continue as a result of drug overdoses and alcohol abuse.
- Finally, our grant for rural communities is going to the community of Ryley in eastern Alberta, where the local school that was formerly a junior and senior high school has been changed to a K to 9 school for the region and does not have any playground equipment for the younger kids.
Applications for the 2022 Built Together program grants will be accepted starting in June.
Find more information about program from the Built Together healthy communities grant program
For inquiries about the grant program, contact BuiltTogether@ab.bluecross.ca.
