Covenant House Vancouver

This past February the world joined Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics and naturally, finding an affordable place to stay wasn't easy – this is where Home For The Games came in. Home For The Games came up with the idea that they could help people find an affordable place to stay as well as raise money for the homeless in Vancouver.

Vancouver hosts who were willing to share 50% of the income they received from their visitors got the opportunity to earn a modest income, share the Olympic experience, help the homeless and even receive a tax receipt for the amount they donated.

Home For The Games sponsored two charities, Covenant House Vancouver and the Streetohome Foundation, and they raised $26,000.00 for Covenant House. The Tyee published an article yesterday written by Deena Tokaryk about the Home For The Games project and how it is now being used as a model for the summer Olympics in London.

We thank Home For The Games for the work they are doing and for their support of Covenant House Vancouver. I encourage you to read the Tyee article as it is very interesting and even features a great picture of our very own Senior Development Officer Scott MacDonald. 

False Creek Design Group has won bronze in the Interior Designers Institute of BC Awards of Excellence in the Healthcare & Professional Services category. The design team of Jim Toy, William Chan, Dale Boute, and Jenna McBride from False Creek Designs created our new Drop-In space.

Last year the entire second floor of our Drake Street building which houses the Drop-In Centre and Community Support Services, Development & Communications and Finance departments, was reconfigured and renovated. The Drop-In Centre was expanded by 25% and re-decorated using recycled furniture, giving the space a "retro" look and converting it from a somewhat institutional feel into a warm, welcoming and more functional space.

We thank the False Creek Design Group and their suppliers for transforming our space into something wonderful for our young people.

Congratulations on your award win! 

Covenant House Vancouver works with youth from all different backgrounds and culture. If youth are interested in exploring their cultural heritage, we make every effort to support them on their journey.

The Tyee recently published a 6 part series created by Jacqueline Windh that focuses on native youth. The author interviewed 14 youth from all over the province of B.C. and spoke with them on a variety of topics including: family, culture, school and alcohol & drugs.

I am always excited when youth get the opportunity to speak out about their experiences and I found this series very interesting. If you get a chance please read the whole series or pick one or two articles that interest you.

Enjoy!

Following the death of Curtis Brick a homeless man that died last summer due to issues caused by heat, Vancouver has put in place an extreme-heat strategy. We talked about this issue in a recent blog posting.

Vancouver has started putting the strategy into effect by placing temporary water fountains around the city in key places. News 1130 has covered this story and The Province has also weighed in.

At Covenant House we are continuing to help our youth keep cool by providing lots of water, sunscreen and reminding youth to seek out shade.

We hope you and yours are having a fun, healthy and safe summer!

Do you have any thoughts about this strategy? Or ideas to keep cool?
If so please share them with us.

Christine has been with Covenant House Vancouver for the past 10 years and her contributions will be felt for years to come. Christine developed our planned giving program and our cornerstone group. She has been dedicated to not only our youth and donors but has also mentored and supported new staff. Christine's kind heart and hard work will be missed.

The staff, volunteers and youth wish you all the best of luck on your new adventures.

Happy Retirement Christine!

Good news for BC's children in foster care.  Click here for the story.