Fundraising for non-profits can be an uphill battle at the best of times. But emerging out of a pandemic and into a period of rising costs across the board? The challenge is even greater.
“It’s been a big shift this year. Through the pandemic, and after the pandemic, there was so much investment privately and publicly in non-profit work and social programs,” said Lizi McLoughlin, co-executive director of Whistler’s Zero Ceiling. “Between that, interest rates rising earlier in the year, inflation, and then coming into a provincial election cycle this year and a federal election cycle next year, we’ve seen the change on all fronts.”
For the Whistler-based organization dedicated to ending youth homelessness, it has meant thinking strategically about where to invest its funding most efficiently. It has also meant leaning on the ample support it has received locally over the past quarter century to aim for an ambitious fundraising goal in 2024: hitting the $350,000 mark by the end of the year.
Nearly 30 per cent of the way there, Zero Ceiling will match donations up to $10,000 until Dec. 1.
Along with individual, one-time contributions, Zero Ceiling is also eager to develop lasting relationships with partners that could “provide core funding for some of those core programs we offer,” McLoughlin said. “We would love to partner with individuals, foundations and organizations that want to make more significant, longer-term investments in this kind of work.”
Thanks in part to the community, as well as the partnerships Zero Ceiling has inked with organizations like Whistler Blackcomb, the Whistler Housing Authority (WHA), and the Whistler Valley Housing Society, the non-profit has expanded the supportive housing it provides to young adults facing homelessness from eight to 11 beds in 2024.
“That’s the big headline story of the year for us,” McLoughlin said.
A fundamental shift in how Whistler tackles housing also meant Zero Ceiling was able to secure five units in the Whistler Valley Housing Society’s new building in Cheakamus Crossing, which opened in July. Called The Nest, it is the resort’s first affordable rental project that earmarked a portion of its units based on social need, with half of its 30 units allocated to social service providers, and the other half for eligible Whistler-based workers. Eight participants of Zero Ceiling’s Work 2 Live program, which provides young adults at risk of homelessness subsidized housing and employment locally, now reside in The Nest, with the other three in WHA housing.
“We’ve been able to create a continuum of housing so when the youth first move in, they move into The Nest, which has onsite staff, staff space, a common area and office space for counselling and things like that,” McLoughlin explained. “When they’re ready to graduate from the program, we can offer them an opportunity to move into WHA units, so they’re paying higher rent, but they also have more independence.”
The other essential component of the Work 2 Live program is the supportive employment Zero Ceiling, working with local businesses, can match participants to. Whistler Blackcomb is a longstanding employment partner and has, over nearly three decades, hired participants across a diversity of departments at the ski resort.
“We’re very lucky to have had a number of participants in a variety of roles, including retail, rental, product sales and services, life operations,” said Ellody Spike-Porter, senior manager of special projects at WB, who added participants have also moved into leadership roles after their initial time at the ski resort.
“It’s a great growth opportunity for both the departments and the Work 2 Live participants to end their season with some new skills and relationships. That’s the biggest thing that comes out of it. It’s not just about coming to work; it’s developing those relationships with their peers and others.”
Zero Ceiling has also grown its twice-yearly Adventure Sessions, which introduce at-risk youth to the outdoors and the range of recreation Whistler has to offer, in both the winter and summer. Its winter sessions, which take place this month, will host more than 200 participants.
"For some people, it’s a one-off, and for some it's something they pursue or maybe they join the Work 2 Live program the next year and it sparks a lifelong love," said McLoughlin.
Donate at zeroceiling.org/donate.
