Foundry Is Expanding!

Foundry’s Community Development Workbook is intended to support anyone who is a leader in youth services — whether non‑profit, health, wellness, social services or government — who is interested in building stronger partnerships to improve care for youth in their communities. By sharing our experiences and offering processes, templates and reflective questions, we hope to inspire and guide you as you work towards a more integrated system of care for youth.

Templates and Resources – the tools and resources mentioned at the end of each section of the Community Development Workbook are provided here for you to reference and adapt for your community.

Template: Planning Committee Membership

Template: Planning Committee Terms of Reference 

Template: Environmental Scan

Template: Mapping Youth Spaces

Template: Community Partnership Agreement

Foundry’s Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

Foundry’s Indigenous Wellness Framework

Supporting Youth and Families on Leadership Tables

If you would like a word version of the templates, please send an email to expansion@foundrybc.ca.

Since our beginning in 2015, Foundry has become a leader in the Integrated Youth Services (IYS) sector in Canada. As interest in IYS increases — largely in response to the fragmentation and ongoing challenges in the youth and young adult health sector — more and more people are wanting to understand Foundry’s model.

We developed resources to support a greater understanding of Foundry’s model of care as well encourage the ongoing learning and development of the IYS sector in British Columbia and across Canada.  

This Service Model Guide is designed to assist Lead Agencies in providing the information needed to develop and deliver Foundry services and to support fidelity to the Foundry service model. This guide provides descriptions of the core service streams and outlines guidelines and standards to support the operationalization of Foundry’s service model.  

To learn more, visit https://foundrybc.ca/centre-servicemodelguide/.

We encourage you to reach out to community partners as you begin to pull together your application. As you consider your engagement strategy, think about who is already providing services within your community that align with Foundry’s five core service streams: mental health, substance use, physical and sexual health services, peer support and social services. Every community looks different but could include the following: Primary Care Network, EPI teams, substance use or concurrent disorder programs, public health, CYMH, health authorities, Indigenous health & wellness services, and more! 

We recognize there is a significant need to support youth all across BC, and want to hear from all communities who are interested. We welcome applications from organizations and/or agencies who are developing centres current or operate an open Foundry centre – in addition to any non-profit, health and social service organization.

We appreciate there is keen interest to learn more about the Foundry model, operations, budgets, staffing models, etc. We recommend referencing Foundry’s Service Model Guide to learn more about these topics. Be sure to also check out the Appendixes where we share examples and templates.

Foundry centres are purpose built in collaboration with youth and caregivers in each centre community. Virtual centre tours are available to view. If you are interested in visiting a Foundry centre in person, please contact expansion@foundrybc.ca.

We acknowledge the varying fundraising capabilities within different communities, and therefore, an agency’s fundraising capacity will not disqualify them from the application process. 

Creativity and partnerships play a crucial role here. Some lead agencies employ dedicated fundraising staff, while others establish partnerships with local community foundations. For instance, Foundry BC collaborates with St. Paul’s Foundation as its registered charitable partner for provincial fundraising. Some centres have partnered with local hospital foundations to support their capital campaigns.  

Foundry’s central office provides support in this regard and facilitates a Community of Practice dedicated to fundraising, where best practices and opportunities are shared. 

We believe you know your community and/or region best! We encourage applicants to define the region of support for your application as well, the different types of service modalities that would support your community best. We encourage all applications be created collaboratively with partner organizations and young people & families the centre will be supporting!

Foundry aims to remove barriers and increase access to health and wellness resources for youth in BC. In support of this goal, all Foundry services  welcome youth of all backgrounds and identities who are looking for support. Applicants are encouraged to engage with all youth in their community to ensure the space feels welcoming and safe to access services. We especially encourage applications from agencies that serve and are led by equity-denied groups!

We recognize and appreciate the time and effort communities put into previous expansion processes! And we are so grateful for those who are interested in participating again in this year’s Foundry’s expansion process. Since our 2019 expansion process, we have learned so much from youth and families across BC as well as from our Foundry network. To support this learning, we shifted our expansion process and application form to reflect feedback we heard. To ensure all applications are reviewed fairly and equitably, we request all communities submit an updated application form.

To support with identifying the next ten Foundry centre communities, we are excited to invite all communities across British Columbia interested in joining the Foundry network to participate in the expansion process.   

We encourage all communities interested in bringing a Foundry centre to their community, catchment or region to express their interest by attending an information session and consider completing an application. 

If you have questions, please reach out to Foundry central office at expansion@foundrybc.ca. 

We encourage all communities interested in bringing a Foundry centre to their community, catchment or region to participate in our expansion process by attending an information session and completing an application. To learn more and register for an information session, please see the above section. 

If you have questions, please reach out to Foundry central office at expansion@foundrybc.ca. 

The goal of this expansion process is to identify the next ten Foundry centre communities.

Thank you for your interest in bringing Foundry to your community, catchment area or region! We are excited to grow our network of partners and to learn about the remarkable work happening across BC.  

If you have questions, please reach out to Foundry central office at expansion@foundrybc.ca. 

Foundry centres bring together mental health services, substance use supports, physical and sexual health care, youth and family peer support and other social services to provide care in an integrated and individualized approach for BC young people aged 12-24 and their caregivers. 

Currently, there are 16 Foundry centres open across BC, with an additional seven new Foundry centres in development. 

For young people are caregivers who experience barriers accessing service, Foundry’s provincial virtual services are available. Youth can utilize the Foundry BC app to access drop-in counselling, scheduling a virtual counselling appointment, find peer support, access physical & sexual healthcare, get support with employment or join a youth or caregiver group.

For those with limited access to the Internet, the above services are also available by phone.  

With all Foundry services, Foundry Virtual BC services are free and confidential. To learn more, visit foundrybc.ca/virtual. 

At Foundry, we aim to remove barriers for young people to access the support they need. All services at Foundry are free of charge and information kept confidential.

BC youth aged 12-24, and their families, are welcome at Foundry – no appointment is necessary and young people can self-refer to a Foundry centre or Foundry’s provincial virtual service.

Budget 2023 provides $74.9 million over three years for the enhancement of Foundry services, including new Foundry centres, increased operating support to deliver services at existing centres, and enhancements to the Foundry BC App. Specifics of how this funding will be allocated for Foundry services over the next three years are still being determined. We’ll have more to say about this in the coming months.

• In 2022, the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions (MMHA) announced Fort St. John, Tri-Cities, Kamloops and Sunshine Coast will join the growing network of Foundry centres across the Province! This expansion was part of the 2021/2022 Ministry of Mental Health & Addictions (MMHA) budget announcement.These Foundry centres will be opened and operated by local, community-based lead agencies: 

• • Fort St. John – Fort St. John Friendship Society 
  • Tri-Cities – Share Family and Community Services Society (Share) 
  • Kamloops – Interior Community Services 
  • Sunshine Coast – Sunshine Coast Community Services 

This phase of Foundry’s growth was built upon its thorough 2019-2020 EOI and Convening process, which started with an open call to all communities across BC. Forty communities responded to our EOI, of which 19 were shortlisted and eight selected.

There were many strong applications that did not move forward at that time. Knowing this, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on communities and front-line employees, we are reviewing the evaluations from our 2019-2020 process to help identify the next four communities.

More information about the 2019-2020 EOI and Convening progress can be found in the “2020 Expansion” expander below. 

When will these four new Foundry centres be open and operational?

On average, it takes up to two years to open a Foundry centre, though this can vary especially in recent years, with supply chain challenges. This time is spent engaging with youth, families and partners in planning, as well as finding and establishing the physical space. The greatest variable impacting how long it takes to open a Foundry centre is securing the location, which proves challenging in some communities. 

How were these communities selected?

The fourth phase of Foundry’s growth was built upon its thorough 2019-2020 EOI and Convening process, which started with an open call to all communities across BC. Forty communities responded to our EOI, of which 19 were shortlisted and eight selected. At that time, there were many strong applications that did not move forward. Knowing this, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on communities and front-line employees, evaluations from our 2019-2020 process helped to identify the four communities in this phase of expansion.   

What funding will be provided to each new Foundry location?

These Phase 4 communties will receive a $1,000,000 in one-time grant for centre establishment, and annual operations funding. Lead agencies will also run local fundraising campaigns to complete the one-time establishment costs of centres, add innovative programming, or meet other needs.   

The annual funding provided by Foundry is not enough to operate a centre. The Foundry service model relies upon the contribution of existing resources provided by the lead agency and its partners. These existing services and resources are integrated into the full service Foundry model. These contributions are significant – in urban settings, the value of these contributions ranges from $1M-2.5M. 

Who will be operating the additional four Foundry centres?

The new Foundry centres will be opened and operated by local, community-based lead agencies: 

• Fort St. John – Fort St. John Friendship Society 
• Tri-Cities – Share Family and Community Services Society (Share) 
• Kamloops – Interior Community Services 
• Sunshine Coast – Sunshine Coast Community Services 

On June 15, 2020, the Province of BC announced eight new Foundry centre locations joining the Foundry network, which will significantly improve access to health and wellness resources, services and supports for young people ages 12 to 24 and their families across British Columbia.

We will be working with the following eight communities and lead agencies to bring integrated mental health, substance use, primary care, youth and family peer supports, and social services to their communities:

• Burns Lake: Carrier Sekani Family Services
• Comox Valley: John Howard Society of North Island
• East Kootenay: Ktunaxa-Kinbasket Child and Family Service Society
• Langley: Encompass Support Services Society
• Port Hardy: North Island Crisis and Counselling Centre Society
• Sea to Sky: Sea to Sky Community Services Society
• Surrey: Pacific Community Resources Society
• Cariboo Chilcotin: Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre Association

View a recording of the expansion announcement and read the press release, which both detail the expansion of Foundry’s network to a total of 19 centres province-wide by 2023.

Welcome from Foundry’s Eight New Communities: