West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation and Deaf Children’s Society of BC

As you’ve most likely heard over the past few months, we’re so pleased to be working with five new Investees this year! Here’s a closer look at two of our new Investees: what they do, what they are working on with SVP, and what they are excited about in the coming months.

West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation

West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation (WCK) provides timely, practical support to respond to the needs of B.C. kids and their families as they navigate childhood cancer and blood disorders. They offer meaningful care to families: a nourishing meal; a human connection; significant acts of support. They are a relatively new organization, founded in 2017. They’ve grown in recent years and are now looking to optimize their organizational structure to support the current team and plan for future growth. Their  vision is to become the central hub of support for families navigating childhood cancer and blood disorders in all of  British Columbia.

How SVP Plans to Help: Strategy and Fundraising

After undergoing their OCAT with SVP, some capacity-building areas emerged as clear priorities. First up: strategy. SVP’s Strategy and Social Impact Coach Karen Gelb has begun working with WCK on overall strategy, including organizational structure. Another focus area is fundraising, and WCK has been provided a budget to attend New School of Fundraising workshops in the upcoming months. Other capacity-building areas to work on in the future include HR and Board development. 

They are working with Lead Partners Sam Hasty and Susan Aitchison, who have both expressed what a pleasure it is to work with WCK, and how important WCK’s work is. 

Susan says, “I have found it so easy to engage with WCK. Their management and board team work together in a strong holistic way, with strong management skills and ideas of where they want to go. They welcomed Sam Hasty and me into the fold like family and after only a few months they are already on the way towards achieving their goals with SVP.”

Sam adds, “West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation is doing such pivotal work for families in grave need, at a time when it matters most. More importantly, they’re doing that work well. From my first interaction with Shannon and the team as a lead partner, I’ve been impressed with the systems and processes they have in place to optimize their operation and ensure every dollar flows to what matters most: serving families in need.”

Shannon Hartwig, WCK’s Executive Director, says, “This is a game-changer for WCK. We are so excited to have SVP’s support when it comes to scaling our organization and developing systems to create long term, sustainable growth. Being an SVP Investee will mean we can do more to provide much-needed, practical support to families navigating childhood cancer and blood disorders.”

Deaf Children’s Society of BC

Deaf Children’s Society of BC (DCS) provides life-affirming services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, from birth to age five, and their families. Their services include bilingual early language and literacy programs, ASL language enrichment, and speech & language support, throughout B.C. DCS is a longtime organization in the Vancouver area, in operation since 1981. In addition to providing excellent support to families across B.C., they are looking to reach more families throughout B.C.

How SVP Plans to Help: Leadership Search, Staffing and Retention, and Fundraising

Deaf Children’s Society of BC has specific capacity-building needs: a search for a new Executive Director is underway, and they require an Executive Director who is fluent in ASL, who has teaching experience, and who of course will make a suitable Executive Director for their organization. Given the current labour shortage and budget constraints, this search has been challenging. They are working with Isabelle Godsey, Co-Chair of the Lead Partner Committee, who has extensive experience with human resources and recruitment.

Other priority areas include staffing and staff training; and fundraising. Lead Partner Nicole Geyer and SVP Vancouver’s Executive Director, Helen Stortini, are working with them on these areas. The SVP team’s focus in the upcoming months is helping Deaf Children’s Society of BC with recruitment, onboarding and staff retention by sharing expertise and through peer support. 

Janene Seabrook, Interim Executive Director at DCS, says, “Having Isabelle, Helen, and Nicole on board means we can prioritize staffing, retention and fundraising in the upcoming months, which will give us more solid capacity to continue the life-affirming work we are doing with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children and their families across B.C., both in the short- and long term.”

“It’s been great working with the team at DCS,” says Helen. “The staff and board are keen to access and lean into SVP’s capacity building offerings despite navigating the often time-consuming challenge of finding a new Executive Director. We are looking forward to continuing our work with them as they provide crucial supports to Deaf and Hard of Hearing children in B.C.” 

We’re so pleased to be working with WCK and DCS, and we look forward to sharing their progress over the upcoming months and years.