Urban Spirit Foundation is dedicated to securing the long term prosperity, self-sufficiency and sustainability of the Indigenous community in Metro Vancouver. We believe that investing in our urban Indigenous people is one of the most powerful ways to create a thriving community.
Our goals are to narrow the education gap between urban Indigenous people and to build more and better employment opportunities for our community.
We believe that our three most important actions are:
1. Develop and deliver job and career enhancement programs and services that provide education and training for urban Indigenous people.
2. Provide secondary and post-secondary scholarships based on need and ability, to persons of Indigenous descent who are pursuing post-secondary studies in fields that will help meet the specific needs of First Nations, Inuit, or Métis peoples and communities.
3. Provide grants to urban Indigenous organizations for community-based projects and programs that provide short-term assistance to urban Indigenous individuals and families to enable them to get back on track in times of need.
Our mission furthers and expands on the history and accomplishments of ACCESS in establishing programs like BladeRunners - creative and effective trades and employment training programs for urban Indigenous people. We continue to support these activities in partnership with ACCESS.
Our Scholarship program gives important financial assistance and perhaps more importantly recognition of the tremendous effort and ability of our urban Indigenous people.
Please note that USF disburses scholarship funds to selected School Districts, colleges and universities around the Metro Vancouver area. Students must apply directly to their schools, colleges or universities for a scholarship.
Our grant making for scholarships, employment and career education and short-term assistance provides resources to the community from our endowment funds which we are actively building for the long term.