York Regional Council has approved the disbursement of $1,058,170 to community agencies under its Community Development and Investment Funding (CDIF) Strategy for 17 human community services projects.

Projects range from $20,000 for counselling services for low-income families to address the effects of abuse and violence to $225,000 for basic needs, counselling, employment services and community resource referrals for at-risk and homeless youth.

"The planned purchase of these services using funds from municipal, provincial and federal funding sources will have a positive impact across York Region, in all of our local municipalities," said Regional Chair and CEO Bill Fisch.

Under its CDIF Strategy, York Region manages a number of community funding initiatives. These include the National Child Benefit, the Ontario Works Performance Bonus, the Municipal Purchase of Service fund and the Homelessness Initiatives Fund.

Earlier this fall, York Region held a Request for Proposals for the purchase of community-based services for the 2004 year. Proposals were reviewed by an evaluation team comprised of staff from York Region and three external York Region funding bodies: Human Resources Development Canada, the Trillium Foundation and the United Way of York Region.

A total of 42 proposals from 37 agencies were submitted. Seventeen community services that will be purchased were chosen. Selection was based on criteria set by Regional Council and the following priority areas:
• Employment and Financial Supports
• Family and Children's Services
• Homelessness
• Sustainability and Capacity Building

All 17 projects selected also support the Region's Vision 2026 goal of supporting a safe, caring and healthy community, and maintaining and promoting a high quality of life.