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W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 E D I T I O N

IN THIS ISSUE: WINTER HIGHLIGHTS

AND THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO

IN 2015!

COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR WALK 2015

Put on your scarves and toques and come out to walk on Saturday February 21, 2015!

The Coldest Night of the Year Walk is an annual fundraiser for SOURCES’ Homeless Prevention Services and Rent Bank, which provides loans to help low-income families and individuals find or keep stable housing. Gather a walking team of family and friends and join us on a cold winter’s night to share in the experience of what life is like for people without a home. After the walk you may be cold and wet but you have a warm place called home to go to, while many people do not. Let’s raise funds to help keep more people in our community housed!

For more event information, check our website: Sourcesbc.ca

Employment and Social Development Canada has ceased funding the Homeless Prevention Services delivered through the SOURCES Newton Resource Centre. Since 2005, the program has helped over 11,000 people from Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Delta to stay in their home. This program is the only one of its kind in the Lower Mainland that focuses on preventing the problem of homelessness before it happens. SOURCES will continue to fund the program over the next three months out of its society reserve funds. After that, we need to secure $200,000 per year in long term and sustainable funding. For more information and how to help, please see the Information Bulletin attached. For more information, check our website: www.Sourcesbc.ca

A GREAT END TO 2014…

On Dec. 10th, seventeen beautiful trees sponsored and decorated by the local community were auctioned to an audience of generous bidders. Close to $10,000 was fundraised for SOURCES’ Early Childhood Development Programs! The Surrey RCMP tree won People’s Choice Award. Thank you all for your amazing support!

FACTSIn 2014,

the Coldest Night of the Year Walk fundraised

$2,213,208in 63 locations across Canada

from 1,673 teamswith 10,902 walkersand 46,263 donorsacross 60,420 km

Happy New Year

URGENT: FUNDING NEEDED STEP FORWARD WITH US TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS!

3RD ANNUAL SEASON OF TREES HOLIDAY FUNDRAISER

SOURCES’ HOMELESS

PREVENTIONFUNDRAISING

GOAL$200,000

WE NEED YOUR HELP

REACHING OUR

FUNDRAISING GOAL:

$80,000Saturday, February 21, 2015 in White Rock!

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W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 I S S U E W I N T E R 2 0 1 5 I S S U E

about his journey from shame to self-acceptance in his book that’s part memoir and part inspirational handbook, titled, The Church of 80% Sincerity.

It was indeed a night of celebration for SOURCES as our agency continues to grow with the helping hands of staff, volunteers, generous donors and community supporters committed to social wellness.

The Peace Arch Community Services Foundation and Gateway Autism Foundation held their AGMs in July.

Randy Taylor has been a lawyer in a private firm in White Rock since 1978. His charitable activities on the peninsula began in 1980 with Semiahmoo House Society. He joined Rotary in 1985, is a past president of White Rock Rotary Club, is currently on the committee for Service Above Self Surrey Youth Awards by the Semiahmoo Rotary Club and continues to be active in his own club. He is married to Joanne and has three adult sons.

Jay Minhas is the CEO and President of Elegant Development Inc. Last year, Jay won the GVHBA Award of Excellence for Community Service and Times of Canada Award for Excellence in the Business Category. He is Co-Chair of Canada India Foundation, Past President of Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society, Past President of Rotary Club Vancouver Fraserview, and Past Chair of The Heart & Stroke Foundation. Jay came to Canada in 1983, is married and has two daughters.

SOURCES held its 9th Annual Homelessness Awareness March on October 17th. Homelessness is a dire issue for Surrey, which has 15 per cent of the region’s homeless people in its communities.

“That’s not something to be proud of, but it is something to challenge us and for us to focus on as we move forward in trying to eradicate this very, very challenging social issue in our community,” said SOURCES’ CEO David Young.

Clients of SOURCES’ Homeless Prevention Services spoke, including Adam Van Den Brink. “Without the continued selfless acts of kindness demonstrated on a daily basis by the staff of these organizations, I would not be in a position to speak to you today as a graduate of their efforts.”

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s march and to event sponsors Envision Financial, The Tent Guys and Bear Creek Market.

SOURCES held its AGM on September 23, 2014 at the Newton Cultural Centre in Surrey. The 2014-2015 Board of Directors were elected, including current board members Gary Hollick, Harry White, Judy Forster, Steve Jackson, Lynne Morgan, Steve Dumouchelle, Marlyn Graziano and Bruce Hayne. Newly elected board members include Randy Taylor and Jay Minhas (bios below).

Lifetime Membership to Sources Community Resources Society was conferred on Bob Dominato for his exceptional thirty years of volunteer service with SOURCES. Bob served on SOURCES’ Board of Directors including as Past President, Vice President and Treasurer.

A keynote was delivered by motivational speaker, humorist and author David Roche, who was born with a facial disfigurement. Roche writes

Jay Minhas Randy Taylor

Bob Dominato

SOURCES’ 2014 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

WELCOME NEW DIRECTORS

SOURCES’ 2014 HOMELESSNESS AWARENESS MARCH

“We have to look at homelessness amongst our youth and a growing number of seniors, who are telling me they are having to choose between paying rent and taking their medications.” – MP Jinny Sims

“We had no place to go, we were living cheque by cheque. [SOURCES] put us in contact with the people we needed…and now that I’ve come full circle, I’m here to help the people who don’t know how, to ask for help.” – Client Debbie Abdul-Ghani

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On Nov. 7, the Surrey City Hall council chambers were converted into a theatre and filled to near capacity with people watching the premiere screening of a SOURCES/Fraser Health co-production, a project two years in the making.

The video, titled “Moments to Milestones: First Responders Engaging with People who Use Substances,” is intended as an educational resource to be utilized in training first responders across the country and to increase compassion for people who are struggling with substance abuse.

SOURCES manager George Passmore played a critical role conducting all the interviews in the video. He said that if substance users could be responded to with compassion, engagement and inclusion, we could shift their trajectories in a positive direction, one interaction at a time.

Just in the Semiahmoo peninsula alone, SOURCES receives 300 new clients every year. Those are only the people who actively come for help—there are possibly many more who want help but can’t reach out or aren’t yet ready for help.

Thank you to Anthony Intas for his generous donation of $10,000 to SOURCES’ White Rock/South Surrey Food Bank, which will be used to operate a renovated kitchen space named “Uncle Tony’s Kitchen.” Anthony is a retired Sources employee and worked as a Community Relations Coordinator. His donation is made in honour of his “Uncle Tony” Vaupshas.

SOURCES thanks Norm Attridge, Assistant Vice President of Business Services for Envision Financial’s Langley office and Ryan Visscher, Continuous Improvement Business Partner, for delivering a professional LEAN training session to 30 of SOURCES staff in November.

The video can be viewed on Sources’ YouTube channel, and hard copies can be obtained by emailing suservices@sourcesbc.ca.

The video was made possible through a financial contribution from Health Canada’s Drug Treatment Funding Program.

Thank you to Vancity Semiahmoo Community Branch for supporting Sources’ Coldest Night of the Year Walk fundraiser! SOURCES CEO David Young accepted a cheque of $500 from branch managers Luc Hilderman and Holly Kovach in December. This is the first donation towards the 2015 fundraiser.

SOURCES hosted its first Ride for Refuge fundraiser in the Surrey/Langley area on Oct. 4th. With the help of 21 partners and 272 riders, over $69,000 was raised for the partner agencies. This money will support services that help displaced and vulnerable persons in the community.

LEAN TrainingRide for Refuge

Vancity

MOMENTS TO MILESTONES

* THANK YOU * THANK YOU * THANK YOU *

Uncle Tony’s Kitchen

ENTERTAINMENT BY PENINSULA PRODUCTIONS

DINNER, MUSIC, SILENT AND LIVE AUCTION

TICKETS $125

SAVE THE DATEAPRIL 11, 2015

Hazelmere golf & country club

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SEEK HELP | VOLUNTEER | DONATE

SOURCES COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRES: #208 - 1461 Johnston Rd., White Rock, BC V4B 3Z4 | www. sourcesbc.ca

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

GET SET FOR

WE NEED YOUR HELP

to reach this year’s fundraising goal:

$100,000to keep our Homeless Prevention Services

in operation!

PR E S E N T E D BY

#208c – 1461 Johnston Road, White Rock, B.C., V4B 3Z4

INFORMATION BULLETIN: JANUARY 2015

Stepping Forward to Prevent Homelessness

ISSUE

Employment and Social Development Canada has ceased funding the Homeless Prevention Services delivered through the SOURCES Newton Community Resource Centre.

IMPACT Residents of Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Delta will no longer get the help they need to keep their homes. They will lose access to support and advocacy services that help them to maintain secure and safe housing and will be at greater risk of becoming homeless.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Since 2005, the Homeless Prevention Services have helped more than 11,000 clients stay in their home. Last year, over 1,000 people were able to keep a roof over their head because they received help with housing subsidies, income support, landlord mediation, loans for rent and utility payments, and more. The loss of these services places hundreds of people at higher risk of experiencing homelessness. In Surrey alone, where the second largest homeless population live in the Lower Mainland, we could see more people on the streets and without a place to live.

OUR RESPONSE

SOURCES will continue to fund the Homeless Prevention Services over the next three months out of its society reserve funds.

OUR FUTURE OBJECTIVE

To prevent homelessness in Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Delta. To do this, we need to secure $200,000/year in long term and sustainable funding.

IMMEDIATE ACTION

The White Rock/South Surrey Coldest Night of the Year walk has a fundraising target of $80,000 to support this program. It is scheduled for February 21, 2015.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Help us to identify and secure other sources of government and foundation funding for these services, and participate in the South Surrey/White Rock Coldest Night of the Year event by

leading a team and raising money or by being a sponsor or donor.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION?

Contact Soraya VanBuskirk, Advocacy Programs Manager, at 604-547-0107 or svanbuskirk@sourcesbc.ca

#208c – 1461 Johnston Road, White Rock, B.C., V4B 3Z4

FAST FACTS

SOURCES

SOURCES is an internationally accredited non-profit society and registered charity.

Our mission is to promote social wellness in our community.

We serve nearly 30,000 people each year. We have done this for over 35 years.

We deliver a range of essential community, social and health-related programs through seven community resource centres located in White Rock, Surrey, Delta, Langley and Prince George.

HOMELESS PREVENTION SERVICES

The Homeless Prevention Services, delivered through SOURCES, began in 2005 with funding from the Federal Government’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS).

Under the Federal Government’s new Housing First strategy, funds have been reallocated to target housing initiatives for people who are already homeless.

Without sustainable funding, the program will lose skilled, dedicated and knowledgeable community-based staff. The positions of intake worker, client resource support worker and manager will no longer be fully funded. This will negatively impact other community, advocacy and support services.

There are no other services in the region to fill this gap. SOURCES’ homeless prevention services prevent the problem of homelessness before it happens. This keeps people safe, secure and well in their own homes and in their own communities.

HOMELESSNESS IN THE COMMUNITY

In 2014, 514 people were homeless in Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Delta.

Surrey has the second largest homeless population in Metro Vancouver.

While progress has been made and more homeless people are being sheltered, the impact of losing prevention services will mean others will be at greater risk.

With the loss of these services, we expect we will see an increase in the homeless population in your community.

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874

94

Clients' Ages (Apr-Dec 2014)

18 and under

Adults 19-59

Seniors 60+786

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118 21 30

Clients From (Apr-Dec 2014)

Surrey

White Rock

Langley

Delta

Other