1. The BC government is offering emergency grants of $1,500 for eligible small businesses, Indigenous communities, and non-profits affected by wildfires in the BC Interior.

2. Fraser Health is rolling out a new health grant worth $25,000 of seed money that can be used to leverage further grants for projects addressing physical activity, community connections, food security, or transportation.

3. BC’s new Minister of Justice and Attorney General David Eby (a former lawyer at Pivot Legal Society and past director of the BC Civil Liberties Association) was interviewed by the Vancouver Sun where he answered questions about his portfolio, legal aid funding, and BC\’s justice system.

4. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls is making “community visits” in Nova Scotia this week, as it seeks to put a crisis of confidence behind it.

5. Maple Ridge tenants and landlords addressed the region\’s rental squeeze in a packed meeting with MLAs; the main topic was the urgent need to close loopholes in legislation around renovation-based evictions.

6. BC churches and service clubs are learning that they can help ease the province\’s housing crunch by partnering on property redevelopments that meet their needs while filling gaps in the housing market.

7. Two engineers at UBC Okanagan have partnered to create a solution to help ease the housing crisis in BC\’s interior—their social renting website matches renters with landlords as is being called the Airbnb for long-term renters.

8. A new Campbell River project is helping those struggling with unemployment and scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and feed their families.

9. Surrey Now takes a tour inside an Indigenous recovery home and sweat lodge in Whalley that is using cultural traditions to help community members heal and recover from addiction.

10. Vancouver\’s unsanctioned injection sites are offering examples and ideas for Toronto harm reduction workers who are scrambling to deal with the opioid crisis spreading through Ontario.

CVS is having another Pub Night so that the people we serve, families, and staff have the opportunity to enjoy each other\’s company and also a burger and a beverage. We hope to see you there!

September 14, 2017

5:30 to 8:30pm

At the Burrard Public House

2414 St Johns Street, Port Moody

$10 per person which includes Burger and a Beer

For tickets please contact Alison

604-939-8070 ex 2013 or [email protected]

We have just received our CARF survey report that outlines the strengths of CVS and provides a number of suggestions on how CVS can improve. You can read the CVS CARF Survey Report here…

When: Thursdays from 6:00pm-8:00pm

Schedule: 

September 7th  & 21st
October 5th & 19th
November 2nd, 16th & 30th
December 14th

Where: 2322 St. Johns Street, Port Moody

Details: Enter off of Spring Street, light snacks- cost is $5, people who need support should bring a support person. For more information call Dawne at 604.838.6381 or go to communityventures.ca

Join a group discussion about CLBC’s web site

When: Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Time: 6:30 – 8 p.m. (Pizza provided)

Location: FSI offices, 227 6^th Street, New West

Community Living BC (CLBC) has asked the Family Support Institute (FS) to organize an evening with up to 15 family members to discuss family information needs for CLBC’s web site: www.communitylivingbc.ca .

We are gathering this information in advance of a project to build a new and improved CLBC web site that better serves individual and family needs. In this focus group, participants will be asked about how and when they use the CLBC web site, the information they need to find about CLBC programs and services, and how CLBC can make its web site more user-friendly.

CLBC is interested in hearing from transitioning families who are looking for information for the first time, and from those who already receive supports and need new information from time to time.

If you are familiar with the web site or would like to share how a web site would be of most help to you, please join us. (Contact Franceska Grantzidis at [email protected].) We would be grateful for your input. If you cannot join us but have feedback, you are welcome to send it to CLBC Director of Communications Randy Schmidt at [email protected]  . Thank you.

News Clippings

June 26, 2017

1. British Columbia\’s New Democrats say they will introduce an amended motion to today\’s Throne Speech debate that aims to defeat Premier Christy Clark\’s minority Liberal government with a vote likely to take place on Thursday.

2. Many people—Liberal MLA\’s included—were stunned at the avalanche of promises and spending that tumbled out of the Throne Speech last week and many people feel the abrupt about-face has \”torched\” the credibility of Christy Clark and Mike de Jong.

3. Canada has a new tool to help solve the youth homelessness puzzle, which assesses youths’ risk of homelessness and identifies needed supports through a strengths-based approach.

4. Provincial statistics reveal that one in five youth in BC need mental health or substance use services, and less than 25 percent are getting the help they need.

5. As legalization nears and access becomes easier, mental-health experts are reiterating and underscoring the dangers of cannabis use for teens and youth.

6. The province of BC is launching a new Aboriginal family court program that it says will keep families together and reduce the number of Indigenous children in government care.

7. The third annual Aboriginal Cultural Festival drew more than 30,000 visitors and featured more than 30 performances from artists before wrapped up last weekend at the Royal BC Museum grounds.

8. A widow talks to CBC News about the guilt and shame that took her husband\’s life and reflects on what’s missing from drug treatment and prevention approaches in Canada.

9. A Vancouver woman says she was forced to buy drugs from the Downtown Eastside when her doctor stopped prescribing opioids (for pain following knee surgery) in response to new standards aimed at preventing fatal overdoses.

10. An op-ed in the Vancouver Sun checks in on changes to sexual violence and misconduct policies on university campuses and argues that monitoring sexual abuse goes a long way in helping to prevent it.

11. A refugee settled in Langley is thankful for his second chance at life and gives credit to a BC settlement worker with shared heritage who helped him adjust to Canadian culture.

12. By spring 2018, downtown Terrace, BC will have its first aboriginal-centred daycare, and if all goes according to plan, the new facility will cost less than other care providers in town.

Scott Bewley, our CVS Finance Director is a member and Treasurer of the Coquitlam Rotary Club. Scott has definitely been an asset to his club and in turn to the community. He demonstrates leadership and dedication not only in organizing the finances but also in the amount of effort that he puts into the Rotary fundraising events.

I just learned that Scott has just been awarded a Rotary Paul Harris Fellowship Award for his exemplary service to the Coquitlam Rotary Club. Please join me in congratulating Scott for his achievement.

Minister Stilwell held a news conference today announcing a pledged increase in welfare rates and annualized increases to disability rates tied to the rate of inflation. The announcement comes days before the BC Government is expected to lose confidence in the Legislature.

Faith Bodnar, Inclusion BC Executive Director, has been speaking with radio, tv and newspaper media.

From the Vancouver Sun:

Advocate groups, who’ve spent years unsuccessfully trying to convince the Liberals to raise assistance rates, reacted with cautious suspicion Monday.
Faith Bodnar, executive director of the advocacy group Inclusion B.C., said her organization sent a list of questions to the three major parties before the election, which included queries about whether they supported boosting welfare and PWD (persons with disabilities) rates.

Bodnar said she has been meeting with ministers Stilwell and Children’s Minister Stephanie Cadieux for at least seven years, but has been unable to get buy-in on a “substantial increase” to disability rates or a longterm plan about addressing poverty in B.C. 

BC Liberals pledging to raise welfare rates, ban big money in Throne Speech
June 19, 2017 By Charmaine de Silva and Simon Little CKNW
The BC Liberals say they are listening to the message from voters, but some will interpret it as a desperate bid to hold onto power.

Christy Clark to focus on social reforms in B.C. throne speech
ROB SHAW LORI CULBERT
Vancouver Sun Published on: June 19, 2017 | Last Updated: June 19, 2017 12:42 PM PDT

B.C. Liberals plan to restrict donations, raise welfare rates
Throne speech set for Thursday, government would fall on opposition vote
TOM FLETCHER Mon Jun 19th, 2017 10:30am

1. Two new housing units for children transitioning out of foster care have opened in Surrey, but advocates say there\’s still a lot of work to be done to help the hundreds of vulnerable young adults who age out of the system.

2. BC\’s Provincial Health Officer says a separate Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions could face funding, staffing, and information-sharing challenges thus creating a distraction (rather than a solution) in the province’s growing response to the overdose crisis.

3. Meanwhile, a board member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users says the war on drugs has failed and believes drug users themselves are the solution to addressing overdose deaths and providing services to vulnerable people.

4. The BC Liberals are pledging to raise welfare rates and ban big money donations in the upcoming Throne Speech, saying they are listening to the message from voters—but others are interpreting the move as a desperate bid to hold onto power.

5. A housing forum in Vancouver last week shifted from issues of density and affordability to homelessness after a long-time activist took the stage and explained that, \”not having housing is life-threatening.\”

6. An Okanagan-based, Indigenous-led, collaborative project is unsettling the celebratory narrative of Canada\’s 150the birthday and refocusing attention onto Indigenous perspectives about past and present colonial relations with Canada\’s First Nations.

7. Elsewhere, artists and activists are using social media to highlight 150 years of Indigenous resistance, resilience, and reclamation in response to #Canada150 celebrations.

8. A Human Rights Watch submission to the federal government has highlighted numerous complaints about police abuse against Indigenous women in Canada and is calling for increased accountability.

9. More than a decade after First Nations along northern BC\’s so-called Highway of Tears began pleading for reliable public transportation, two new bus routes have started regular service along Highway 16.

10. Canada\’s Liberal government has unveiled its strategy on gender-based violence, proposing to spend the bulk of the promised cash to create a centre of excellence to study and try to solve the problem; however, the announcement means that those who have been calling for a comprehensive plan involving the provinces and territories will have to keep waiting.