Victoria Cool Aid Society is a 4-star charity. It has an above-average results reporting grade, low overhead spending, and is financially transparent.  

Founded in 1976, Victoria Cool Aid Society provides housing and support services to people impacted by homelessness or poverty. The charity started when the Cool Aid hotline, free medical clinic, and dental clinic decided to combine. Victoria Cool Aid Society works to help people with affordable housing, covid-19, and the opioid epidemic. It runs emergency shelters, supportive/affordable housing units, and community programs. 

Victoria Cool Aid Society works through three main programs: Housing, Health & Support Services, and Shelters.  

In F2022, the Housing program received 49% of program spending ($16.0m by Ci calculations). Victoria Cool Aid Society has 15 apartment buildings: seven for supportive housing, five for supportive senior housing, and three for affordable housing. In F2022, the charity had 569 units available between these buildings. The average tenant is 55 years old and 22% of supportive housing clients are Indigenous.   

In F2022, 30% of program spending ($9.8m) went toward the Health and Support Services program. Victoria Cool Aid Society runs a Community Health Centre to provide affordable primary care. It also runs a Mobile Health Clinic, Dental Clinic, and pharmacy. In F2022, the charity’s health services had 45,574 patient encounters. There were an additional 1,664 encounters through the mobile clinic. The charity provided over 1,100 HIV tests and 1,200 Hepatitis C tests. It then started 211 clients on HIV medications and 104 clients on Hepatitis C treatment. Victoria Cool Aid Society also runs Resources, Education, Employment, and Support (REES) services. The charity provided 350,000 meals in F2022. It met with 321 people to help them find jobs. Victoria Cool Aid Society runs a Downtown Community Centre which had about 12,000 visitors in F2020. 

In F2022, the Shelters program received the final 21% of program spending ($6.9m). Victoria Cool Aid Society runs four shelters with 149 available beds. In F2018, the charity sheltered 1,550 adults. No more recent measurements for shelter capacity were available. The average shelter guest is 42 years old.

Victoria Cool Aid Society received $20.6m in donations in F2022. It also received $27.0m in government funding, representing 49% of total revenues. The charity received $6.2m in business activities (pharmacy revenue and rental income), representing 11% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 5% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 3% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 8%. For every dollar donated, 92 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Victoria Cool Aid Society has ($4.9m) in reserve funds. In these reserve funds, $307k are endowed by donors. The charity cannot cover program costs using its reserve funds. This shows a need for funding. While Victoria Cool Aid Society’s reserves are negative, they have increased from ($13.5m) in F2020. 

Victoria Cool Aid Society also spends money on mortgage and construction financing, but this is not reflected in its Statement of Operations. This would affect revenues by ($1.9m) in F2022, ($868k) in F2021, and $3.0m in F2020. 

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Victoria Cool Aid Society for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.  

Updated on July 14, 2023 by Clive Stevens.