Founded in 1996, the Educational Program Innovations Charity (EPIC) Society aims to “advance marginalized learners through innovation, empathy, volunteerism, diversity and partnership.” The charity’s head office is in Sydney, Nova Scotia. EPIC focuses on the learning needs of Aboriginal, African-Canadian, and other Nova Scotia youth who lack the resources or support system needed for a quality education. Its programs include the Youth Peer program, Breakthrough program, Parents PEACE program, and scholarships and volunteerism awards.

A Charity Intelligence 2020 Top 10 Canadian Impact Charity

EPIC’s Youth Peer program is an after-school one-on-one mentoring and tutoring program for youth ages 8 to 18 in Cape Breton. Mentors help youth overcome personal obstacles, guiding them through social activities and academic achievements. In addition to the Peer program running 5 days per week in Sydney, the charity introduced the Youth Peer Outreach program in F2018. Offering similar services to the Youth Peer program, Outreach ran one session per week in each of Glace Bay, Northside and New Waterford in F2019. Across the two programs, the total number of tutor-mentor matches over the 2018-2019 school year was 1,668. The two programs collectively engaged 107 high-risk youth participants over 7,974 hours in F2019, which is a 32% increase in youth participants compared to F2018.

The charity’s Breakthrough program runs for 2 hours each week for youth ages 15 to 30 who are current or former Youth Peer participants. The program aims to reduce personal and interpersonal risks and promote ongoing social adaptiveness in marginalized youth. Guest presenters are invited monthly to provide additional insights related to mental health, addictions, and other issues arising from group discussion. In F2019, the program served 10 youth, averaging 6 participants each week.

EPIC Society’s Parents PEACE program is a weekly parenting workshop for caregivers with school-aged children. In F2019, an average of 6 caregivers attended each week. During the year, guest speakers covered topics such as adolescent mental health, bullying, addictions, anger management and teen sexuality.

The charity also helps underprivileged youth by providing scholarships and volunteer awards. In F2019, EPIC society awarded 9 graduating high school students $500 each. The charity also provided 6 volunteerism awards worth $500 each to graduating post-secondary students.

EPIC Society is a Small charity with donations of $88k in F2019. It also received $114k of funding from the Province of Nova Scotia in F2019, representing 56% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 4% of total revenues. The charity does not report fundraising costs in its audited financial statements or in its T3010 filing. For every dollar donated to the charity, 96 cents go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending, but the charity reports that its low overhead costs are heavily attributable to its CEO, who performs his work pro bono.

EPIC Society’s funding reserves of $111k can cover six months of annual program costs, indicating a need for donations.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to the Educational Program Innovations Charity Society for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 22, 2020 by Eric Jose.