Neighbourhood House Week marks 121 years of Neighbours Growing Neighbourhoods
Originally from Eritrea, Adiam Haile arrived in Vancouver via Germany. Adiam did not find that her new home was very welcoming. She said that “where I grew up, there was a strong sense of community” but found it difficult to find the same sense of belonging and neighbourhood connections in Vancouver.
Luckily she found Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House.
Ever since the first BC neighbourhood house opened in Vancouver in 1938 (Alexandra House, which had been an orphanage since 1894 and is now called Kitsilano Neighbourhood House) a wide diversity of people have found a home in neighbourhood houses.
Now there are 15 neighbourhood houses in the Lower Mainland, offering programs, services and initiatives to more than 100,000 children, youth, adults and seniors annually. From May 3-9 Vancouver is celebrating Neighbourhood House Week.
For Adiam, finding Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House three years ago offered the lonely but eager-to-learn newcomer the opportunity to connect with friendly people from many cultures who lived in the neighbourhood. Adiam, now with an infant, attends other programs in the community, but is especially connected to Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House because of the early positive experiences she had in multicultural programs. Now with an eight-month old, she says “the neighbourhood house has helped me build a history, especially now that I have my child. I am so thankful the memories and connections I have made here.”
Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House Executive Director, Jocelyne Hamel said that
“Neighbourhood Houses have amazing capacity to help people discover their strengths and find ways to grow into leadership roles. Adiam came to us looking for and finding a community. Now she’s a parent leader for one of our parenting programs.” Adiam’s experience of finding a sense of belonging is typical for those who engage in neighbourhood houses. “That’s why, for Neighbourhood House Week this year we’re celebrating around the theme, ‘Neighbours Growing Neighbourhoods’. It’s people like Adiam who get engaged in neighbourhood houses and find a way to express their passions or follow a dream who help make neighbourhoods friendlier for all.”
Operated by not-for-profit societies, Lower Mainland neighbourhood houses have combined annual operational budgets of more than $50 million, engage more than 3,000 volunteers and employ close to 1,500 individuals.
For more information on Neighbourhood House Week, visit this site.
To find out more about the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, and how you can support them in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge, click here.
