British Columbia and Yukon Regional Council
British Columbia and Yukon Regional Council
1738 East Hastings
Vancouver, BC V5L 1S5
Email: pres.bc@ssvp.ca
Our region has one central council, 4 particular councils and 5 isolated conferences made up of about 500 adult members, 16 young adult members and 2 youth members. There are about 200 other volunteers that help in our various programs: serving at thrift stores, making and delivering hampers, making soup and sandwiches, serving breakfasts, lunches and dinners, delivering vouchers and various service programs. Province wide, we visited about 2900 homes, serving almost 5900 adults and over 3000 children.
This region has 8 stores and 6 outlets, 3 soup kitchens, 6 food banks, 22 low cost housing units, a 19 bed rehab centre and housing for abused women and their families. The Society also operates Mary’s place which helps people with disabilities. In addition to these, our members, especially those living outside of large urban centres, collaborate with others in their communities for a host of other initiatives.
There have been some notable events this past year, particularly on Vancouver Island. The two particular councils on the island (Victoria and Northern Vancouver Island Particular Councils) merged and were renamed Vancouver Island Particular Council. After working two years to bring Vancouver Island constitution in line with the Rule, our new bylaws were adopted in June 2019.
The Social Concerns Office in Victoria has come up with an innovative way of adding dignity to the grocery hampers: by displaying foodstuffs like in a store, people are allowed a more standard experience and choice of what to put in their baskets.
In the same office, the walls are being used as a gallery space for the artists among those we serve to display their work for sale!
The conferences in the northern part of the island are involved in a new initiative called the “Tahsis Project”. Tahsis was a prosperous pulp mill town that was devastated after the mill closed. A few families stayed by relying on seasonal work like fishing and guiding. However, people have started moving into the area due to the availability of cheap housing. With high unemployment and only seasonal work available, residents are happy when our conference members take the two hour trek to the town with a monthly truckload of food. As an unexpected bonus, the Society now has new auxiliary members of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Conference.This conference and Christ the King do most of the hands on work for this North Island initiative–a project started by the now defunct Northern Vancouver Island Particular Council. The program may be expanded to other “abandoned” mill towns.
The Okanagan Valley Particular Council also has a new program that is noteworthy. It is called “Invincible Housing”. Up to $450 once a year is provided for rent assistance to people in danger of becoming homeless. In collaboration with the municipality and other charities, many people are helped. Renters can access this fund twice in a 12-month period. This program is in high demand, using up most of the annual $48,000 budget in the first half of the year.
The Vancouver Archdiocesan Central Council has 3 particular councils, 20 conferences, 2 stores and a 3 times weekly sandwich truck program for the downtown eastside. There is also an emergency food program operating out of their Main Street store. One of our conferences has an indigenous outreach with the Suwalkh First Nation. The conferences in the Lower Mainland area visited almost 900 homes, and served 2200 persons.
We are blessed by being able to serve.
Minette Gomez, President, British Columbia & Yukon Regional Council