This is an exciting time to join the Board of such a vibrant organization. We are looking for people who: •Live and/or work in Renfrew-Collingwood •Can commit to a three-year term, starting this October •Can commit 8-10 hours a month on Board-related work •Have a broad understanding of the neighbourhood •Have a strong commitment to becoming engaged in improving all aspects of ourneighbourhood •Are able to bring expertise and perspectives that increase our organization’s capacity to be equitable and inclusive
We have a very diverse Board to represent our neighbourhood. At this time, we have a few skills and assets we require to be filled on the Board: •Those who have experience in organizational change management. •Youth who are passionate about improving their community •Those who have experience in religious/spiritual associations. •Those who have experience in fundraising. •Those with relevant lived experience or who are representative of a historically marginalized group
The CNH Board of Directors is committed to an anti-oppressive, anti-racist approach to its work and welcomes those who thrive in a vibrant, welcoming environment.
Members of the Board’s Nominations Committee will be contacting applicants July 11-19. If you are interested, please contact Board President Leila Trickey at: president@cnh.bc.ca and include: •Your name •Contact information •Years in the Renfrew-Collingwood Neighbourhood •A few lines on why you are interested in joining the CNH Board of Directors
We are looking for Collingwood Neighbourhood House’s new Executive Director!
For the past 13 years, CNH has benefited from consistent leadership under our retiring Executive Director, Jennifer Gray-Grant. Throughout her successful tenure, CNH has expanded programs and services across 11 sites, employing 250 staff and contractors, and working with more than 200 volunteers. Additionally, CNH opened a new $5M community space in the fall of 2018, increased the annual budget from $4M to $12M, and established the RISE Community Health Centre in 2020. As she will be retiring this year, CNH is now recruiting a new Executive Director to guide and lead the organization through its next key chapters.
The Executive Director reports to an engaged and functional Board of Directors; a diverse blend of professionals and youth with varying tenures and rich experiences. Committed to service excellence, they foster a culture of inclusion and collaboration, ensuring an environment for confident leadership and innovation. The Executive Director is supported by 6 Directors on staff and an experienced management team of more than 30 individuals.
This Executive Director position is a senior strategic leadership role, and CNH will offer a salary budgeted between $148,000 to $156,000, in addition to extended benefits, vacation, and a pension plan.
The search process may include conventional longlist, shortlist, and committee interview stages. We will request for finalists to offer comprehensive recent references and to complete a background check.
Last month, a new set of banners lining Joyce Street were mounted, aiming to share stories of the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood.
Illustrated by Aaniya Asrani, the banners lean into past and present, taking inspiration from a series of community gatherings that took place earlier this year.
“It started with community members gathering to [share] what home and community means to them,” said Asrani, noting that sessions took place at St. Mary’s Elementary School, Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) and through a platform called Curiko.
In these sessions, participants collaborated with each other and the sun to capture their thoughts and the present moment using cyanotypes, a type of photographic process. Asrani and another artist named Annie Canto collaborated on some of the workshops, helping participants find materials in their local environment, such as leaves, rocks, grass and flowers. The pair also helped participants make drawings on acetate sheets to lay over top cyanotype paper and fabric, leaving a negative image of the form that was laid down.
Asrani then used these cyanotypes as a base to illustrate the history of the neighbourhood which would then be turned into the street banners along Joyce Street.
“The imagery I created in response was inspired by the history of Joyce-Collingwood, which used to be full of fields, apple orchards, and even a lake,” said Asrani. “As time went on, land was segregated and businesses and homes popped up, along with the road and railways that connected this place to others.”
“I’m super grateful to Loretta Houben’s hard work and research putting together the Collingwood Chronicles which goes into great detail about the history of this place from the perspective of someone who grew up here,” they added. “I was able to use direct references of maps and images of the actual trains to shape the artwork, share the story more accurately, and also develop the concepts around this specific context.”
Students from St. Mary’s participated in a short walk on Sept. 27 to see the banners and were very excited to recognize part of their work on the street, said staff at CNH. The banners are expected to stay up for the next two years.
The Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) Board of Directors is proud to provide a scholarship of $750.00 in honour of a long-term staff Nina Vacca.
Nina passed away in 2021. Nina arrived to Canada as a refugee and was a lifelong learner; she pursued her Early Childhood Education Certificate later in life.
Nina worked at CNH as a manager of the LINC Childcare Program; she was also a childcare worker in the Families Branching Out Program and Family Place. She always showed a lot of love and care in the work she did with children.
Her contributions and work did not stop with her caring for children at CNH: she volunteered in her community every year to organize events for the Chilean community.
At CNH we want to celebrate Nina’s legacy by offering this scholarship to refugee and immigrant women.
The All Genders Youth Group within the CNH Youth Services are excited to share the display of an inclusive pride flag and a safe space sticker to the front windows of the CNH Main building on 5288 Joyce Street.
What is the All Genders Youth Group? The All Genders Youth Group initiative is designed to provide 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and their allies with a safe, social, and supportive environment where they can deepen their understanding on relevant topics through conversations, workshops, and activities while making a tangible impact in their community through group-led community justice projects.
Why is this important to youth in the community? To date, there are people in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who are still being bullied and/or not accepted for showing who they truly are (e.g., parents of trans youth not supporting their children and their need for transition, youth not being able to share their feelings or their thoughts with friends/family who won’t understand, school not being a space where youth learn about the queer/nonbinary experience). In recognition of these challenges, the All Genders Youth Group came up with a unique design for a new safe space sticker and a window decal with the most current inclusive pride flag. This project is intended to be a visible and tangible show of solidarity to 2SLGBTQIA+ folks in the Renfrew-Collingwood area and will serve as a springboard towards further change and inclusivity within our organization and surrounding community.
A Very Brief History of Rainbow Flags Similar to how crosses indicate a church building, rainbow flags have been used to signal a gathering place for 2SLGBTQ+ peoples, and are now regarded as a symbol for the community. There are many versions of the flag that have come to fruition (the first being by Gilbert Baker in 1978) and like the many letters that will continue to be added to the acronym, the flag will likely be revised in the future. The flag on the window is called the Intersex-Inclusive Pride Flag, which was brought forward by Valentino Vecchietti in 2021. This flag is springboarded off the Inclusive Pride Flag designed in 2018 by Daniel Quasar (a non-binary artist) to include the intersex pride flag, which was created back in 2013 by Morgan Carpenter. This design was chosen by the All Genders Youth Group as it covers not only sexual orientation, gender identities, and BIPOC folks, but also recognizes more progress is needed.
A Breakdown of the Flag’s Colour and Meaning: The Rainbow • Red – life and passion • Orange -healing • Yellow – sunlight • Green – nature • Indigo – serenity • Violet – spirit
The Triangle Quasar spoke publicly about how work is still needed in terms of BIPOC and trans rights, and as such, the placement of the new colours in an arrow shape is meant to convey the progress still needed. • Yellow background with the Purple Circle – the newest addition by Valentino Vecchietti. Added to the white part of the triangle, it now includes the symbol of the intersex flag, acknowledging intersex peoples within the community. • White, Light Blue and Light Pink- the colours that are a part of the trans flag, encompassing anyone who identifies differently than the sex they were assigned at birth. Traditionally, the colours pink and baby blue were used to represent whether a baby is a boy or a girl. Here, the colors denote those genders and the use of white is to acknowledge folks who may be in the process of transitioning, do not identify with any specific gender, or those who have a neutral gender. • Black and Brown – represents BIPOC peoples and taken from the Philadelphia Pride Flag designed in 2017. BIPOC people have often been left out of the queer narrative despite being the driving force behind the movement–like Marsha P. Johnson, for example.
A Note on Safe(r) Space Stickers: This specific sticker was designed by one of the All Genders youth, which all participants supported in finalizing and creating a digital copy and getting it in sticker form.
Safe space stickers indicate a building or organization is accepting and inclusive to 2SLGBTQ+ folks. It should be recognized that these stickers indicate a space is safer, as there can never be a guarantee that someone else accessing a space is a safe person or has harmful views towards 2SLGBTQIA+ folks. This sticker does however indicate staff at CNH are expected to support the victim should those situations come up.
Final Note: There is still more progress to be made. Though laws change and the larger public tend to lean more towards acceptance, there is still a long way to go, much more to learn and safer spaces needed, especially for youth who do not have a supportive household or friend group. Providing a safer space makes a world of difference. On behalf of the All Genders youth, we thank you for your solidarity and support.
Nov. 29th is Giving Tuesday, a global movement for giving and volunteering, taking place after Black Friday.This year, we’re asking for your support! Make a donation or learn more about your contribution at: www.cnh.bc.ca/donate.
When Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH) reopened its doors, the need for face-to-face connections became clear. It wasn’t simply about what programs we provide, but how.
For Adora Escondo, returning to CNH was key in boosting her mental, physical and social health. Over the last 21 years, Adora has participated in dance and exercise classes at CNH. She even spent some time volunteering with our children’s programs.
So, when the pandemic hit, Adora was left with little activity in her day-to-day life.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I didn’t have Zumba, I didn’t have these classes.”
For Adora, classes like Zumba are about more than just moving. Since Adora first came across CNH those many years ago, she said it’s become a place where she is free to express herself with little judgment while unwinding from work. It’s also a place that’s become her second home. In fact, her early days at CNH started shortly after her family moved to Canada from Iran and previously, the Philippines. Now, she’s here anytime she’s free.
“I even come here on Sunday,” Adora said.
A local resident of the neighbourhood, Adora said our low fees allow her to continue coming back, noting “even ordinary people can afford it.”
This year, we’re asking for your support to help us maintain these fees so people like Adora can access programs at CNH worry-free. We know that this has been a financially challenging time for many. If, however, you are in the position to help, please direct a donation, of any amount, to Collingwood Neighbourhood House to support our programming. Please help us enhance the lives of those around us by generously considering a tax-receiptable donation today.
Children ages 7-12 can look forward to two weeks of gymnastics, soccer, and basketball in our Spring Break Camps, coming this March 2022! These camps provide a fun and safe learning environment where they can play and beef up their skills and techniques in those sports, while also meeting new friends. To sign up, please call 604-435-0323.
Gymnastics Spring Camp Instructor: Lucinda Donaldson Ages 7 to 12 Monday – Friday, 9-4pm Week 1: March 14-18 Week 2: March 21-25 Full day (9am-4pm): $150.00/week Half-day (9am-12pm): $75.00/week Maximum number of participants: 24
This camp, run by Gym Sense Gymnastics Education, will create an atmosphere of fun and excitement that encourages participants to safely learn new gymnastics skills and techniques. This program will educate, challenge, and entertain young children. Weather permitting, we will go outside to do fun and exciting field trips.
Please note: If your child is participating in full-day gymnastics camps, they must bring their own lunch/snacks. A supervisor will be present during lunch hour.
Click here to access the Gymnastics Spring Camp’s health and safety guidelines.
Spring Sports Camp Instructor: TBA Ages 8 to 12 Monday – Friday, 1-3pm Week 1: March 14-18 Week 2: March 21-25 $65.00/week Maximum number of participants: 15
A fun class for anyone who loves to play soccer and basketball. Learn to play the most beautiful game one week and learn how to improve your shooting and handles the next. This class will emphasize basic fundamentals and drills.
Click here to access the Spring Sports Camp’s health and safety guidelines.
We are reaching out to invite folks to collaborate in the creation of a new committee based in the Renfrew-Collingwood Neighbourhood representing 2SLGBTQA+ communities.
In 2019 and again in 2021, an informal group that included CNH staff, neighbourhood volunteers, and partner organizations worked together to organize successful Renfrew Collingwood Pride events. We acknowledge and thank Sterling James, who initiated the formation of this group. After organizing these events last summer, there was interest from community members to have a formal committee to support organizing in the neighbourhood. That is why we are looking to start a new committee!
In order to do this, we would like to come together as an interim planning group to create the terms of reference for the committee, including the community responsibilities, committee name, and process for new members to join. Once this work has been finalized, we hope that the official committee will be formed by April 2022.
We are inviting representatives from community organizations, residents and individuals connected to Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood, with priority given to BIPOC 2SLGBTQA+ individuals, to join 3 planning meetings starting in January 2022 to work together to create the committee structure.
Please email Emily Rees by January 10, 2022 if you are interested in being involved.
Do you believe everyone should have access to fresh foods? Do you want to support neighbours who face barriers to accessing healthy, culturally appropriate, and locally-grown food? Join CNH’s Mutual Aid CSA!
What is a CSA?
Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs are direct relationships between farmers and community members that involve a subscription to a farm’s harvests. They are an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution whose overarching goal is to create a sense of community through local markets, quite different from shopping at big box grocery stores.
Your membership to CNH’s Mutual Aid CSA will support the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School (TFNFS), an integrated vegetable and livestock farm that centers regenerative agriculture and Indigenous food systems perspectives and is managed in partnership between Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPN) and the Tsawwassen First Nation. Through this CSA program, you’ll be receiving 8 weeks of fresh, local produce delivered directly from the farm school to Collingwood Neighbourhood House. You will also be subsidizing a box for a low-income community member!
How our program works
When you sign up, you will receive a box of fresh locally grown vegetables, and so will a family in the neighbourhood who is unable to afford healthy food options.
Not interested in joining but still want to support a low-income neighbour to access fresh foods? You can make a donation to the program. 100% of these funds will go towards subsidizing a CSA for a neighbour in Renfrew Collingwood.
What is Mutual Aid?
Mutual aid systems involve cooperative networks of care between people in a community and involve the core principle that everyone has something to contribute as well as something they need. Mutual aid systems are long-term and grassroots responses to a common struggle and ultimately work toward justice and equity for all.
What is in our CSA
We will be working with the farmers at The Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School (TFNFS) to include a variety of fresh produce in your CSA box. The exact types of produce will vary according to the seasons and harvesting environment but we are working to focus on providing culturally appropriate vegetables that will be familiar to residents of Renfrew-Collingwood. See the graphic below for some of the produce TFNFS has been growing:
Membership details
Members pick up their CSA weekly on Friday evenings between 5–7pm at Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH). CNH is conveniently located 2 blocks away from the Joyce Skytrain station and includes parking access, wheelchair accessible front entrance, and elevator from the underground parking.
Our first pilot season is expected to run from September 10 to October 29, 2021 for a total of 8 weeks.
Stay connected as we will be working to run a second season for the 2022 growing season.
Suggested donation $30 to buy a box for a neighbour
Who is eligible to receive a subsidized CSA?
Subsidized CSA boxes are intended to support community members facing food insecurity to access healthy, culturally appropriate, and locally harvested produce. In general, CSA subsidy recipients are referred to the program through a CNH program or service.
Subsidized CSA cost $20/month = $40 total
Specific criteria are as follows:
Are interested in receiving and utilizing fresh produce weekly
Lives in the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood
Experiences food insecurity
Referred to the program through a CNH service (ie. Settlement Services, RISE, Seniors Services)
Systemic racism, a global pandemic, poverty, homelessness, gentrification, social isolation, limited funding models, overstretched service models. These are just some of the big issues facing the neighbourhood of Renfrew-Collingwood and beyond. They are big complex issues that require creative and innovative responses that get at the root of the issues. They require a new form of leadership and collaboration that can transform the mindsets, culture, and systems that keep these problems in place. As a neighbourhood with a thriving nonprofit sector, creative arts community, and mobilized residents, Renfrew-Collingwood is uniquely positioned to demonstrate a new way to create lasting change.
Scale Your Impact: Community Systems Change Certificate is a community-based certificate that draws on the strengths of the neighbourhood by bringing together community partners, leaders, artists, and others who are working to make this a thriving neighbourhood.
Through this 9-month certificate, participants have the opportunity to learn with a cohort about how to get at the root issues of the problems they are working on to create lasting change, while increasing their leadership and facilitation capacities. Through the curriculum, participants develop a toolbox of innovative methods and collaborate with other inspiring leaders to impact change.
Through Scale your Impact, you will: •Understand the big systems you are working in and where the leverage points for change are •Get at the root causes of big issues such as systemic racism, homelessness, climate change, and more •Use human-centred design tools and other innovative methods to increase creativity and idea generation •Understand why self-awareness is a necessary part of effective social innovation •Engage creative and adaptive leadership to leverage change in the issues you care about •Increase your capacity to communicate and collaborate, in particular across difference •Build bridges and create safe spaces across diverse people, communities, cultures, sectors, and silos.
When? September 2021 to June 2022 (8 half-day sessions monthly on Fridays from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm) What?
8 half-day workshops
Monthly Community of Practice online gathering
Peer learning opportunities
1-1 coaching session
Applied learning projects, supported by a Systems Change Small Grant
Who?
Connectors and leaders in Renfrew Collingwood
Community partners and non-profit staff
Artists
Business people
Students and educators
Anyone interested in amplifying systems change
Where? CNH Annex (3690 Vanness Ave) and online
About the program
Over the 8 sessions, we will cover a broad curriculum that will allow you to better tackle the big complex problems you are working on. Your learning will be supported by a monthly online meeting of a Community of Practice where you can deepen your learning and bring forward questions you are working with. You will also have the opportunity to workshop the big problems you are working on, and will have the opportunity to work in peer learning groups and with a 1-1 with a coach who can support you to deepen your impact. There will also be small grants available to support a project or intervention to make change around a problem you are working on.
All workshop sessions take place on Fridays from 8:30am-12:30pm on the following dates: Session 1 (Oct 1): Intro to social innovation and systems thinking Session 2 (Nov 5): Collaboration and communication Session 3 (Dec 3): Creatively intervening in a system Session 4 (Jan 28): Self in the system – adaptive leadership for impact Session 5 (Mar 4): Diversity, equity, and power in systems Session 6 (Apr 8): Resilience, anti-fragility, and care of the self Session 7 (May 13): Increasing, scaling, and evaluating impact Session 8 (Jun 17): Reflection, integration, and celebration
**Please note that the program is planned for in-person but may need to move online depending on the context.**
**The time commitment for this program is approximately 8 hours per month. You must attend all sessions in order to be eligible for the certificate.**
Application
Scale your Impact is a free program with the generous support of the Vancouver Foundation. There is a maximum of 24 participants in this program, and seats in the program are secured through a simple application process. To apply for the program, please go HERE to submit your application.
Given the limited spots in the program, we encourage you to apply early to save your seat. Please note that we are only able to accept a maximum of 4 people per organization due to size limits.
Lisa Gibson (she/her) is a facilitator, coach and systems change consultant. She specializes in helping people and groups bring their whole hearts forward in creating a more just, caring, and sustainable world. With over 20 years experience in local and international work at multiple scales, she specializes in working with individuals, organizations, and communities to embed systemic change, transform belief systems, and construct alliances across diversity. Lisa is a founding instructor of the Scale Your Impact Certificate and of Simon Fraser University’s Social Innovation Certificate program. She lives with her family on the unceded ancestral Coast Salish lands of the əsəlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), & Sḵwx̱wú7meshsi (Squamish) Nations.
Maria dela Cruz (siya/she/they) is a Systems Change Community Developer with CNH; a trauma informed decolonizing anti-oppression certified executive coach and facilitator; a peacemaking circle practitioner; and a founding member of the Fierce Filipinx Femmes Ancestral Circle (FFFAC), on the unceded sacred ancestral territories of the Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nations. Maria is the Vice President of the board of directors of WAVAW as well as her co-operative housing board. She also provides sliding scale or pro bono coaching and leadership empowerment to women, femmes, and youth in transition.
