Initiative

Category

Description

Art in the 21st Century

Full archives of the Peabody Award-winning PBS show Art in the 21st Century are now available to stream online. From nonprofit organization Art21, there are more than two decades of documentaries to select from, including in-depth features on artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

Room of One’s Own

Affordable therapy and consultation services that centers intersectionality and narrative inquiry, currently free for Black and Indigenous people. Prioritizing non-judgement while focusing on agency amplification, Katherine will help you explore “the room within you where agency is alive”.

VIFF AMP Talent Accelerator

Creative Community

Emerging musicians, composers, managers, & aspiring music supervisors are invited to apply for the Talent Accelerator. Dedicated to providing free, low-barrier access to the VIFF AMP summit (Oct 3-4, 2020), plus mentorship & networking for creators from underrepresented communities looking to expand their careers. Applications close Aug 14, 2020 at 5pm.

Window Swap

For a moment of zen, visit a window somewhere else in the world. Anyone is welcome to submit video (and audio) of their window view. With the click of a button, you can travel without moving.

Liberate Counselling Collective

Liberate Counselling Collective (LCC) offers affordable counselling support online* with an intersectional feminist, narrative and somatic approach. In our collective and sessions, we engage with feminist and anti-oppressive values, and prioritize curiosity, inclusion, and non-judgement by taking on the therapist’s role as a co-researcher.

IM4 XR Knowledge Gathering

In collaboration with the Vancouver International Film Festival, IM4 Lab is hosting a free live XR webinar & online workshop series prioritising Indigenous peoples. This series features conversations among XR media creators, artists, and storytellers from Indigenous & culturally diverse communities.

Rememory Directory

Creative Community

A growing directory which highlights the work and experiences of Black women and non-binary people of the African Diaspora. These creatives are doing the work needed to claim their narratives, gazes and legacies in the global media.

VANJAM 2020

A virtual battle-of-the-bands style competition for emerging musicians in Vancouver, and it’s the first competition to have an all-international judging panel from France to Japan. The mission is to put Vancouver on the map for its thriving independent music scene which will benefit artists and industry alike. Tune into the live-streamed awards show on August 7.

Blacks Who Design

Creative Community

A directory highlighting inspiring & accomplished Black designers in the industry. The goal is to inspire new designers, encourage people to diversify their feeds, and discover amazing individuals to join your team.

GoFundMe: Black Lives Matter Vancouver

The Black Lives Matter Vancouver chapter is a cause that supports the organizing work of black folks and allies in undoing systemic racialized violence. Black Lives Matter is a cause cognizant of the ongoing struggles of all marginalized folks and we strive to honour that in the work we do.

GoFundMe: Black in BC Community Support Fund for COVID-19

This Black community support initiative is a fundraiser for a low-barrier, emergency, micro-grant program for Black people in British Columbia, Canada, who are experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inside Journal

A beautiful communal journalling platform created to promote mental wellness in the COVID-19 quarantine era. Share your thoughts and reflections to create a dialogue with yourself, as well as draw points of connection to different COVID experiences from around the globe. Add to a growing archive of over 100 entries from 8 countries.

VSO School of Music Online Classes

VSOSoM Virtual Classrooms are ready and waiting to welcome you and/or your little ones! Browse the full suite of online music classes and courses for all ages and register now.

B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers

B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers, a tax-free, one time $1,000 payment for B.C. residents whose ability to work has been affected due to COVID-19.

London Drugs: Local Central

London Drugs is offering some shelf space in select stores to give eligible local small businesses (in western Canada) impacted by COVID-19 the chance to sell their goods.

Colouring Sheet by Joy Kim

Creative Community

Illustrator and artist Joy Kim (@hye.joy) has created a free work-from-home inspired colouring sheet that’s enjoyable for all ages. You can print the JPG file at home, or use it with drawing software like Procreate!

Urban Source: Art Materials

Creative Community

Urban Source offers alternative art materials collected from over 100 different local industries, diverting safe, useable off-cuts, discards, misprints and over-stock from the land fill. Call 604-875-1611 with your order, and they will pack it up for pick-up or deliver locally for free.

Heritage Vancouver: Small Business Map

An interactive map and list of Vancouver-based neighbourhood businesses that are still open, with information on how these businesses are operating and how the public can support them. Primarily restaurants, grocers, and small retail stores/service providers.

Staying at Home for You

Creative Community

A platform where we can encourage and send love to the essential workers staying at work for us, while we stay at home for them. We hope that they can read our encouraging messages to help boost their day and to help give them strength. Thank someone or share your story on the site.

I Miss the Office

Creative Community

I Miss the Office is an office noise generator—providing you with the soothing tones of modern office life to help you focus when working from home. A #WFH project by Kids Creative Agency.

Neptoon Records

Neptoon Records are now doing vinyl deliveries, curbside pickup, and mail order! DM, call, or email what you’re looking for, we’ll shop for you! Deliveries are currently bound between Fraser and Cambie and 2nd Ave – 33rd Ave.

House of Love: Social Distancing Edition

Main Street Dance Authority presents: House of Love: Social Distance Edition. A virtual fundraiser for AIDS Vancouver on Saturday, April 4th. All welcome to join for free — streaming live — 8pm onward: twitch.tv/mainstreetdanceauthority

Financial Support List

A summary of financial supports that are available to support Canadian people and businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. New information is also issued as a bulletin when new public health orders are issued.

Live!

Creative Community

Live! is a series of live talks on Instagram with a focus on the creative industry. The coronavirus outbreak has many people, designers and non-designers, working remotely and housebound. The idea is to fight quarantine, boredom, and most importantly, to instill hope.

Mailchimp Presents: SXSW 2020 Shorts

Creative Community

75 shorts that were supposed to screen at SXSW are now available free online. While we can’t replace the camaraderie of the SXSW festival, watching these films is a way to support the artists you love and connect to the world around you, during a time when we could all use a little more connection.

Quarantunes: Weekly Side Door Concert

Creative Community

Weekly #Quarantunes virtual concert at Side Door by local artist, Dan Mangan. Taking requests & playing tunes, streaming for an hour every Saturday at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 7pm GMT! You’ll get a private Zoom link via email before the show. Tickets are $6 with 100% of proceeds going to a new charity each week.

Victory Gardens

A series of affordable webinars and live Q&A’s to help folks grow food in their spaces.

Co Make Do

Creative Community

Each week, Co Make Do will share a range of virtual experiences to connect neurodiverse folks with self, community, and the wider world. These experiences will take place online, using YouTube, Facebook Live, Zoom and over the phone, for those without Internet access.

Songkick Live Stream Concert

Live stream performances coming up around the globe. Show love, solidarity and support for your favourite artists.

Save Canadian Small Businesses: Petition

A petition for Canadian small business owners to call upon federal government to pause rent payments, increase the wage subsidy, and defer debt obligations. 13,508 and counting small businesses have already signed.

Vancouver Food & Beverage Community Relief Fund

All money raised will be distributed to food & beverage workers impacted by COVID-19 who require urgent financial relief. There is also a slack group for community support.

Still Hiring

Creative Community

A place to connect job seekers with employers amid today’s global crisis.

Free Activity Pages by Adam J. Kurtz

Creative Community

42 pages of guided journal prompts by @adamjk—They are silly, introspective, and maybe a little existential, but appropriate for all ages. You can print the PDF file at home, or use the individual JPG files with drawing software like Procreate or Adobe Fresco.

Oyster & King Home Delivery

Home delivery for cultivated and wild mushrooms from local distributor O&K and farms in the Fraser Valley. Nourishing our community while supporting our small producers. Visit oysterandking.com/shop to order now. Deliveries Monday & Thursday.

Asian Unification Project

This is to specifically support seniors, immunocompromised folks, and disabled folks in the Asian community with grocery delivery and errands. The website is in English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Korean, and Vietnamese, with more languages to come.

Share the Goods

Share the goods is connecting people to get goods into the hands of those who need them. We’re all in it together.

Haru @ Home (Haru Korean Kitchen)

Prepackaged meal program from Haru Korean Kitchen (Gastown) starting March 18th

Staff Meal by Say Mercy

Affordable meals to go, with $2 added to every order going to the Vancouver food bank. You can also purchase a ‘suspended stew,’ which will be given to someone in need or to a hospitality staff member.

Breaking Bread

Local restaurants offering set menus for take-out and/or deliver at $20, $30, $40 price points.

Homebody Club by OCIN

Instagram driven community platform to listen, move, share and learn from each other. #HomeTogether #TheHomebodyClub

Massy Books

Indigenous-owned Vancouver book store offering free delivery within Metro Vancouver (reasonable rates across BC and Canada).

Vancouver Aquarium: Sea Otter Cam

A live cam of the sea otters at the Vancouver Aquarium.

Heron Camera, City of Vancouver

The Pacific Great Blue Herons have returned to the colony at the Park Board office at 2099 Beach Avenue. The high-definition Heron Cam takes you inside the nests of one of North America’s largest urban great blue heron colonies from March until the end of the summer breeding season.

Vancouver Quarantine Performance Project

Creative Community

A call for actors, filmmakers, musicians and stand up comedians to participate in an online variety show and competition.

A Better Life Foundation

Produces 850+ healthy and nutritious meals feeding women & children fleeing violence, street-entrenched youth and folks living well below the poverty line every single day.

COVID-19 Come Together (Vancouver)

Facebook Group to connect community members needing or offering help.

Union Gospel Mission Shelter

DTES shelter and meal plan provider for at risk individuals.

Daily Quarantine Drawing by Carson Ellis

Creative Community

Instagram hosted daily drawing challenge and tutorial.

Netflix Party

A Chrome extension for watching Netflix remotely with friends. Synchronizes video playback and adds group chat.

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