FIRST UNITED CHURCH COMMUNITY MINISTRY SOCIETY
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Mission Statement
Our vision is a neighbourhood where every person’s worth is celebrated, and all people thrive. Our mission is to seek a just society by nurturing each person's spirit through ministry, housing, advocacy and community service
About This Cause
First United Summary of Programs and Services 2023: Emergency Shelter First United has been a designated site for BC Housing’s emergency shelter program since 2008. We are a low-barrier trans-friendly shelter offering 49 beds year-round. Shelter residents are provided with three meals a day, a storage space for personal belongings, and access to one-on-one sessions with a case planner. The shelter generally operates at 100% capacity. Community Meals Our community meal program is supported by meal sponsors and funders including businesses, families, individuals, foundations, and churches. Our community meal program serves hot, nutritious and delicious meals from our Food Truck. As the building is undergoing demolition, community members can still find us in a familiar place–right across the street from our building at 320 East Hastings. We greet a waiting line of hungry folks when we pull up every weekday at noon. Serving over 250 meals per day, we know there are more community members whose food needs we don’t meet. We also serve three meals to our shelter residents every day, making sure no one in our shelter goes hungry. These delicious, nutritious and hearty meals are prepared in our commercial commissary kitchen located on Clarke Drive. This year, we’ve introduced “Fancy Fridays” where our community members enjoy a special meal not otherwise offered through food programs due to prohibitive costs. A fancy meal is typically a more complex meal like roasted chicken with veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy–a real treat that does more than simply meet basic needs, it provides dignity and joy. We also restarted our morning snack program serving soup, oatmeal and hot drinks from the Community Help Desk. One of our longest running programs, we’ve been serving food and promoting food security since the Great Depression. Building relationships and community connections through meals remains an important part of our work and provides in-roads to other services offered at FIRST. Our Food Truck also acts as an important fundraising opportunity for us. Businesses, Communities of Faith and other groups can sponsor a meal and join us to serve the community. This is one way we are working to change hearts and minds about homelessness in Vancouver. Legal Advocacy A prominent program in the neighbourhood since 1973, First United’s legal advocacy program is supported in large part by the Law Foundation of BC as well as several other foundations and individual donors. We serve approximately 1,500 clients each year, predominantly in the areas of legal support for eviction, other tenant issues, EI, and other advocacy needs as well as research and systems change work addressing up-stream solutions and law reform Taxes First United offers one of the only free, year-round tax filing service in the area that still files paper returns, which is necessary for those more than a couple years in arrears. We file for thousands of low-income and/or no income individuals each year which allows them to maintain eligibility for income assistance and unlocks refunds which can provide much-needed financial relief. The tax program has been providing key support to the community since the 1970’s. The 2022 tax season saw an increase of 11.5% in the number of tax returns filed for a total of 2243 tax returns, and over $430,000 was returned to the pockets of community members. Efforts to complete taxes can be complicated by low-literacy and life complexities associated with homelessness, unemployment, and/or mental and physical illness. We employ frontline staff with extensive experience serving people in crisis and with expertise in tax filing. This year, the Income Tax Program Coordinator worked with a young mother who was fleeing an abusive situation. By helping her untangle her taxes from her ex-husband, this young mother was able to begin receiving the Child Tax Benefit and child support. She is now living in her own apartment and on her healing journey. Staff also often work with young men coming out of remand—a highly controlled environment—who struggle to integrate and become contributing members of society. Serving the some of the poorest people in the country, the tax program can be a lifeline for many: access to affordable or supportive housing requires the most recent year’s tax filing, government benefits like EI, CPP, disability, or welfare payments also require filings, and much more. These benefits are essential to supporting individuals and families to have equal economic participation in society. In more complex cases, or when up-to-date tax filing might not secure their income, participants are referred to our Legal Advocacy Program for additional support. Our year-round, multi-year tax support helps secure the income of thousands. Without this no-cost program, the needs of many would go unmet and the burden on the DTES’ already strained network of services would increase with the addition of thousands of adults with complex needs in financial distress. Community Help Desk Through our community activities, we deliver wrap-around services to community members including essential items for health and wellness, life-saving services and referrals. We work hard to ensure community members have access to much needed personal items like fresh socks, toiletries, and harm reduction supplies. The help desk serves as a mailing address for over 300 community members and provide access to free local and long-distance phoning. This service helps community members remain in touch with service providers, family and friends. Having access to an address and telephone empowers folks to take care of important tasks like applying for supports, jobs and identification. Staff at the Community Help Desk are friendly, familiar faces who keep up to date with services in the area, providing frontline support, referrals, information, compassion and dignity. Community Activities provide opportunities for thousands of people–some of whom are in crisis–to develop relationships, build community and access supports from long-time staff and volunteers. In March 2023 we brought back our beloved Foot Care program where community members can enjoy a warm, cleansing soak followed by a fresh pair of socks. This attends to the physical needs of folks experiencing street life where constant movement is the norm. We distribute personal hygiene and harm-reduction supplies and offer referrals to other community organizations. Last year, we distributed over 14,000 pairs of socks, over 105,000 harm reduction supplies, and serviced more than 29,000 visits. Our staff and volunteers foster community and build strong relationships while providing lifesaving, low-barrier services to folks facing persistent challenges or crisis. Staff literally save lives through administration of naloxone which can reverse overdoses. Last year, more than 50 lives were saved by the administration of naloxone by our staff. In 2023 we’re exploring the piloting and evaluation of new initiatives, like the creation of an identification clinic, to respond to the most important needs as identified by community members. Our frontline community activities allow us to remain agile and help people with what they need, when they need it Community Ministry Programs Community ministry programs at First United acknowledge spiritual health is just as important as emotional and physical health in the total well-being of a person. Community ministry programs and support are available to anyone seeking these kinds of supports, regardless of their faith. Pastoral or Spiritual Care Offered by appointment, our trained ministers listen and guide individuals or families from a spiritual lens, offering spiritual support, a listening ear, respect, and sometimes ceremony or ritual. Memorial Services Offered by request, we help honour and respect the life and death of loved ones in our neighbourhood, while supporting survivors in their grief process. Memorial ceremony or ritual can include placement of loved ones’ belongings, smudge, or other ceremonial proceedings as requested. Partnership Circles We partner with local United Church congregations to teach and train around issues of importance and note in the Downtown Eastside and in communities across Canada. Topics include decolonization, truth and reconciliation, cultural safety, drug policy, housing and homelessness, power and oppression and more.