Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

News stories from the Renfrew-Collingwood community in East Vancouver

Category Archives: Health & Wellness


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Homeless program raising funds and donations in Renfrew-Collingwood

Windermere Girls Group Homeless Program Donations

The Girls Group from Windermere Secondary ran a successful socks and underwear drive to support the participants of the homeless program at Collingwood Neighbourhood House. Photo by Suzanne Liddle

BY ANA MATEESCU

The Collingwood Neighbourhood House Morning Star breakfast program has been running since 2004 and serves between 60 and 80 people every Saturday morning! Here homeless and tentatively housed people, from the Collingwood neighbourhood and beyond, are able to have a hot shower and get some clean underwear and clothes before a hot breakfast.

This program relies on the generous help of dedicated volunteers and donations from the local community.

Recently, the program partnered with the Girls Group from Windermere Secondary. The girls ran a very successful socks and underwear drive to support the participants of our homeless program! For two to three weeks they spent every lunch break promoting the drive at school and encouraging pupils and teachers to donate.

A regular attendee at the breakfast program, Michael Desbiens, went along to meet the girls to say thank you.

Michael has been coming to the Morning Star breakfast program for a number of years. For a long time, Michael was homeless and living on the street; he connected with the outreach workers at Collingwood and they helped him to apply for housing and eventually he got a roof over his head. He is healthier and happier now but he knows how important it is for someone who is homeless to have basic needs met such as having clean, dry socks and underwear.

On May 30 Michael visited Windermere Secondary and had lunch with the girls who participated at the drive. It was an amazing afternoon with interesting discussions and Michael said he felt again “young and full of hope” by listening and witnessing how these girls are making plans how they want to change the world.

Michael talked about his experiences and the girls plan to come and volunteer for the breakfast program every Saturday and engage other secondary schools from the Collingwood Renfrew area to raise awareness of homelessness.

A video story about May 30 Windermere Secondary girls group action is on the Collingwood Neighbourhood House website and Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIALpiJmP8I

Donate and shop!

The Morning Star breakfast program is always accepting donations of clean socks and underwear. You can also drop off donations at Vancity on Joyce and Kingsway.

Would you like to shop and help the community at the same time? Come check out our Collingwood Summer Market! On Saturday, August 19 there will be a yard sale on the front lawn of CNH with a wide variety of interesting items sold, with plenty of bargains. All the money raised will support CNH’s homeless program.

Come every Tuesday and Thursday 11-2pm in August and September in front of Collingwood Neighbourhood House to shop and support people who are struggling with poverty and homelessness.

Ana Mateescu is the homeless programs coordinator at Collingwood Neighbourhood House.

Copyright (c) 2017 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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Study Buddy Mentors needed for Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland

Big-Sisters-Study-Buddy-Mentors

Big Sister Anna (right) attended Little Sister Olimpia’s high school graduation. The two were matched for four years and Olimpia credits her Big Sister for helping her attend post-secondary education. Photo courtesy of Big Sisters BCLM.

Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland (Big Sisters BCLM) is in need of Study Buddy volunteers throughout the Lower Mainland, especially in Burnaby and the Tri-Cities.

The Study Buddy program is a weekly one-to-one mentoring relationship that focuses on school work. Little Sisters in this program not only improve their academics but also report a higher level of self-esteem. Take for instance, Study Buddy Anna and Little Sister Olimpia, who were matched when Olimpia was in Grade 9 and was, as she describes it, a “rebellious teenager.”

“I dropped bombs on Anna, testing her to see if she would stick around,” said Olimpia about their first year as a match. Anna stayed by her side.

“At the end of the day, Olimpia had self-perceptions that weren’t true,” said Anna. “Olimpia’s teachers and some of the other adults in her life were not supportive, viewing Olimpia as a problem kid on her way to dropping out of high school. But as I got to know her, she began to see otherwise.”

Now, Olimpia is in her first year at Langara College and is hoping to complete her degree in psychology or social work at the University of British Columbia.

“Without Anna’s influence in my life, I probably wouldn’t be going to college,” said Olimpia.

A study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group supports Olimpia’s statement, showing that adults who had a mentor as a child are more likely to volunteer, donate, complete post-secondary education and feel confident.

“Mentoring has a powerful impact,” said Brenda Gershkovitch, executive director of Big Sisters BCLM. “Research shows that students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class. Plus, girls with a mentor are four times less likely than their peers to bully, fight, lie or lose their temper.”

In 2016, Big Sisters BCLM matched 775 girls in the Lower Mainland. There are currently 141 girls ready to be matched.

“We expect the number of Little Sister referrals to grow once school starts up in September,” said Gershkovitch. “Get your application in now, so we can give these girls positive mentors when they need it most.”

For more information on how to become a Study Buddy volunteer, visit www.bigsister.bc.ca/study-buddy.

Copyright (c) 2017 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News


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Food Security Institute: Join summer gatherings at local gardens

BY BO DEL VALLE GARCIA AND EMMA WARNER CHEE

Food-security-event

Vanessa Richards (centre) of Woodword’s Community Choir leads a singing practice at the Norquay Orchard event last year. Photo by Dustin Ahjz

The Renfrew-Collingwood Food Security Institute (RCFSI) gathers neighbours around food. Together, we grow, we cook, we share and we build resilient communities. On the rooftop garden, at the Norquay Orchard and at our community gardens we aim to create a hub for our neighbours, both human and non, to share and increase knowledge around organic and regenerative food growing practices, soil systems, and wild and native plants.

This is an exciting time for us! This summer we will be joined by two new members of our team, Bo and Emma, who will be dedicating their time and expertise towards growing thriving communities both in the garden and out.

Bo is a creature of the cities and forests: a community organizer, activist and earth skills educator born to the traditional unceded lands of the Coast Salish – otherwise known as Vancouver, B.C. Bo identifies as genderqueer and uses They/Them/Theirs pronouns.

Bo is rooted deeply into their home and community, but never forgets that they are a visitor on this land. Their work operates in the intersections between earth, food, art and justice. They have spent countless hours learning from the natural world in academic settings, from elders and mentors, and from the living ecosystems themselves. They have worked on a number of projects concerning ecosystem repair, bioremediation, food forests design, biological pest management, rainwater harvesting and climate change resiliency and are so excited to be working with the RCFSI this summer!

Emma is a sociology student at Simon Fraser University and returning to RCFSI for a second year as a summer student. She loves growing, cooking, eating and talking about food. She is excited to spend time at the orchard and in the garden this summer, and to plant seeds for community growth and tasty veggies.

Summer events

This summer RCFSI will be working to foster a deeper connection with the land and each other, and are excited to invite everyone to our upcoming events:

Pruning Workshop at the Norquay Orchard (2732 Horley St.) – Saturday, June 17, 12 to 2 pm

Rooftop Garden Drop-ins at the Collingwood Neighbourhood House – Every Wednesday, 5 to 7 pm

Norquay Orchard Work Parties (2732 Horley St.) – Last Saturday of the month, 1 to 3 pm

There will be many more exciting opportunities to get involved. Keep an eye on the RCFSI Facebook page – Renfrew Collingwood Food Security Institute, or the website rcfood.wordpress.com.

If you are interested in volunteering contact collingwoodurbanag@gmail.com.

Copyright 2017 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News