Recipients of the Anti-Racism Microgrants
Twelve Island community organizations and individuals will receive funding from the provincial government through the Anti-Racism Microgrant initiative.
The funding will be used to help address racism on Prince Edward Island through programs, projects and workshops including art, written word, photos, videos and more to showcase the diversity and experiences of racialized people. The 2023 recipients include:
- ACPEFIPE
- Adedotun Adedoyin
- Atlantic Student Development Alliance
- Conseil Scolaire-Communautaire Évangéline
- Family East Resource Centre
- IRSA
- La Voix acadienne
- Milton Hall
- Pride PEI
- Recreation PEI
- River Clyde Arts
- This town is small
“We are overjoyed to see the continued interest of Islanders to do anti-racism work through their projects. As a community, we need to address racism together,” said Prince Edward Island’s Anti-Racism Table chair Stephanie Arnold. “The funding amount was increased this year and we were able to allocate bigger amounts to each recipient. We hope these amazing projects will inspire more individuals and community organizations to apply in the future.”
A review panel consisting of members of the Anti-Racism Table used a standardized evaluation process to review the applications by looking at the project description, timeline, budget and objectives, as well as focusing on a variety of projects that would impact the BIPOC community and ensured alignment with the mandate and goals of the Government of PEI’s Ant- Racism Office.
The Anti-Racism Microgrant initiative was first offered in 2022. Since this program started, 27 micro-projects have been funded across the province with a total investment to date of $70,000 being used to address racism in the province. In 2023, the province also launched an Anti-Racism Grant program that funds projects that help address racism. Applications for the next round of Anti-Racism Microgrants will re-open in the Spring of 2024.
Media contact:
Nicole Yeba
Executive Council Office
902-218-1682
ntyeba@gov.pe.ca
Backgrounder:
ACPEFIPE - $5,000
Tout le monde est inclus
A French anti-racism and inclusion program including child friendly resources, books, events and posters to ensure that every child has access to an educational program against racism. Training all educators to provide an anti-racism curriculum. Diversity in the centre will be represented in all aspects of the environment. The theme ‘every one is equal and every one is included’ at these ages is what form conscious and caring adults, and it’s very important.
Adedotun Adedoyin- $2,000
Our Shared Humanity: A Video Series on Challenging Racism and Celebrating Diversity
A 3-5-episode video series to raise awareness and educate people on the issue of anti-racism. The series will explore the meaning and history of racism, and how it has impacted different communities throughout the world. It will also delve into the consequences of racism, such as discrimination, prejudice, and inequality. The video series will be available for free online and will be promoted through social media and other channels.
Atlantic Student Development Alliance - $5,000
Racism in PEI’s Job Market
The goal of this project is to gather firsthand accounts of experiences of racism and discrimination faced by BIPOC students and graduates in PEI’s job market. The project will recruit international students and graduates across PEI to participate in video interviews or podcasts. This project will give a voice to those who have been marginalized and help to raise awareness of the challenges faced by BIPOC individuals in PEI’s job market.
Conseil Scolaire-Communautaire Évangéline - $5,000
Art pour l’inclusion
The CSCÉ, through its Bienvenue Évangéline initiative, will establish a fight against racism, notably through the arts. They plan to create a rallying event around the visual arts, including painting, drawing and writing. They will invite guest speakers (one related to art, the other to inclusivity) and prepare a buffet with international dishes. This will be an opportunity to discuss specific themes in a convivial and instructive activity.
Family East Resource Center - $4,986
All are Welcome
An 8-week program designed to combat racism and introduce children ages 2-6 to a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse environment. The program will introduce and expose children to racial differences in an age appropriate way in a positive learning environment. The Centre will invite two guest speakers to provide information and teaching about their ethnicity. Each week children and caregivers will be offered the chance to experience the world through taste by offering a variety of multicultural snacks.
Immigration & Refugee Service Association PEI - $5,000
Colorful Lives
The campaign will consist of showcasing photographs of people of color (POC) from diverse ethnicities, in a variety of different, normal situations everyone has been in. The Association will illustrate through the image or caption, how POC face challenges as a result of their appearance/ethnicity, including micro-aggressions and assumptions, that create challenges that cannot be fathomed by people unrelated to their community.
La Voix acadienne - $5,000
Sensibilisation et éducation sur le racisme
LVA will write and publish four columns to help educate and raise awareness about racism. The goal is to produce columns that will ultimately promote integration and create links between the immigrant and the community. The columns will raise awareness and educate the host community about immigration issues and the value of cultural diversity. The columns will act as a kind of liaison between newcomers and the public. Newspaper articles can provide a portrait of people who have already settled in Prince Edward Island, or simply offer useful information for those who want to integrate.
Milton Hall - $3,333
Fly the Flag and Make the Change
This project will include the purchase of two flags, hold a workshop on unconscious bias and present two Indigenous led drumming circles at the Milton Community Hall. The workshop will be open to all, with no registration fee. An indigenous drumming group will be invited to meet twice at the hall and will be open to anyone who has an interest in indigenous drumming and culture. Participants will drum and sing to stories and songs and/or prayer, strength and resilience. This will help to encourage anti-racism through the arts.
Pride PEI - 5,000
No Room for Racism
The No Room for Racism series will use the power of art and conversation to challenge the unconscious biases and prejudices that exist in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community towards racialized people. Using the framework of Connect, Educate, and Celebrate, this project will see the delivery of three activities as part of this summer’s PEI Pride Festival (July 21-30, 2023) that align with the goals of the grant. This project has the potential to empower a racialized population that is overlooked all too frequently, while also building capacity in our community to have the uncomfortable conversations we must have if we hope to eliminate racism.
Recreation PEI - $5,000
Anti-Racism Charter in Recreation
Recreation PEI will follow the lead of Recreation NS to create an Anti-Racism Charter for Recreation. The charter will be a tool that could be adopted and initiated by any or all Recreation PEI members, primarily recreation facilities/operators. The Anti-Racism Charter hopes to provide opportunities for dialogue, education, and actions which together would create a more welcoming and inclusive sector. Offering organizations/facilities a foundation to build upon to identify actions that focus on anti-racism, equity and inclusion.
River Clyde Arts - $5,000
Anti-Racism Education and Policy Development for River Clyde Arts
This project will offer Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression training for community and staff; and conduct an audit of the organization’s current policies and strategic planning documents. This will enable the group to create a new Anti-Racism Policy to address gaps and opportunities identified by the audit. This project has two components: one focused on policy and one on education. These activities are intimately linked as components of a unified approach to addressing anti-racism. This funding will allow training to the community while addressing the more systemic issues built into policy and governance framework. This holistic approach will amplify the impact of each project component and accelerate the outcomes we desire, namely an increase in meaningful representation of BIPOC, Mi’kmaq, and other racialized community members in productions, governance and administration.
this town is small - $5,000
Promoting Anti-Racism in Arts Programming: Strategies for this town is small
The goal of the proposed project is to assist this town is small (TTIS) in promoting anti-racism throughout our operations and public engagements as an artist-run centre based in Prince Edward Island. For this project, Evelyn Bradley, a local Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultant, will be hired to provide two consultation sessions to TTIS’s staff and Board of Directors focused on developing inclusive and anti-racist practices within our organization. The group will also hire Carmel Farahbakhsh, a Halifax-based anti-oppression consultant and community educator working through an anti-racist and trauma-informed framework to present their virtual workshop, “Dreaming Inventive Futures: Anti-Oppression in the Creative Sector” and extend invitations to this workshop to the wider arts sector on PEI.