The City of Vancouver receives no shortage of funding requests from various nonprofit organizations.

This year, 14 projects were recommended by staff and approved by city council on Wednesday at the city finances and services committee meeting.

This added up to $550,000 from the 2020 affordable housing operating budget.

"The new Renter Services Grants program enhances opportunities for Vancouver renters and the organizations that support them to educate on and advocate for renter rights and directly support renters at risk of displacement from their homes and communities," city manager Sadhu Johnston wrote in a report to council. "This significant new investment focussed specifically on renter needs amplifies existing City investments in renter serving organizations through Direct Social Services (DSS Grants".

This initiative was approved last June.

The following groups were approved with a brief description or the project name in parentheses:

Access Pro Bono Society of B.C.: $40,000 (legal services to low- and modest-income Vancouver renters, including advancing cases at the Residential Tenancy Branch and in B.C. Supreme Court)

Atira Women's Resources Society: $40,000 (legal advocacy to improve housing incomes for low-income women, including trans women, in the Downtown Eastside)

Aunt Leah's Society: $24,500 ("Friendly Landlord Network" to help youths and families transitioning from government care to private market housing)

Battered Women's Support Services: $24,182 (weekly educational workshops and one-to-one support and advocacy for those who are experienced or have survived gender-based violence)

Disability Alliance B.C.: $70,000 ("The Right Fit" to support people dealing with crisis in wheelchair-accessible housing)

First United Church Community Ministry Society: $14,236 (legal advocacy)

Helping Spirit Lodge Society: $35,580 ("Journey Home" project to support homeless families and individuals with special focus on urban Indigenous residents)

Seniors Services Society of B.C.: $59,425 (navigation services for seniors housing)

Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre: $40,000 (legal representation for renters in nonprofit housing)

Vancouver Tenants Union: $40,000 (neighbourhood-based infrastructure for renter education, advocacy, and mutual support)

Watari Research Association: $68,343 (transition to independence program for pregnant and parenting youths)

Westside Anglicans Neighbourhood Ministry: $26,600 (equipping volunteers for service to homeless and vulnerable people)

West End Seniors Network: $50,000 (rooming pairing service for older adults)

Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice: $17,134 (renter services for Chinese seniors)

Another $75,000 was approved in the form of an SRO revitalization grant to the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society.

Seven other groups' funding requests were denied even though they met the eligibility criteria: Carnegie Community Centre Association, Collingwood Neighbourhood House Society, Community Legal Assistance Society, Embers, McLaren House Society, and Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.

In all of these instances, city staff stated that the grants budet is limited and other applications were rated higher in addressing the city's priorities.

Atira Women's Resources Society was rejected for the same reason on a second grant application to assist women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the Downtown Eastside.