For many years, First United has provided a place for individuals to rest and sleep during the daytime hours.  Oftentimes in the worst of the winter weather, there have been over 100 people sleeping on the pews and the floor of the church’s sanctuary.

In December 2008, City of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson asked First United if we could expand our hours of operation to 23/24 hours, 7 days week to provide a place of refuge for those who could not find a shelter bed or who felt uncomfortable in the shelter system but who had nowhere else to go.  With a week’s time to plan and get ready, we agreed to the Mayor’s request.  Given our previous experience we thought that we would be able to find space for 150 people maximum.  We agreed that we would not take names of those who wished to stay in the building, we would maintain an open door policy that would allow people to come and go as they wished and we would not turn anyone away.

Opening the end of the first week of December 2008, we were amazed by the response of the Downtown Eastside community to our decision to stay open.  Despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, the building filled up.  First United slept an average of 240 people every night of the winter of 2008/2009 with some night totals reaching as high as 350.  Based on the statistics kept for BC Housing, First United provided 55 percent of all the shelter bed space in the City of Vancouver.

Recognizing an ongoing need, funding for our Place of Refuge has been extended beyond the initial three months to the end of April 2010 and we have adapted our operation to meet the needs of the community.  The number of meals we serve has been increased dramatically.   With the support of BC Housing and our generous donors, we have purchased bunk beds and have removed the pews from the sanctuary to provide a more comfortable place for people to sleep.

Having a place to sleep and the assurance of regular meals is the first step forward for many members of this community who are working to put their lives back together.   Our Place of Refuge provides an important entry point into the continuum of housing options.

Other Social Housing

First United manages three buildings providing affordable housing for people in the Downtown Eastside and Mount Pleasant neighbourhoods.  Two buildings near the church provide a mixture of bachelor, one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom units with 70 units of housing being provided in Bill Hennessey Place and 86 units of housing provided in Jennie Pentland Place.  In Mount Pleasant, Ledingham Place provides 33 units of mostly family and seniors accommodation.

For information about rentals, please contact the Director of Housing and/or pick up an application at First United Church.

Drop-in Centre

Day to day life at First United is a beehive of activity ably managed by staff and volunteers.  Reception opens for business at 8:00 a.m. and staff  are met with a line of people needing assistance.

Services
Many come in search of basic toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, razors, deodorant, combs) either for use in First’s showers or to take home.

Others come in search of a blanket in order to curl up on the pews,  the floor or the bunk beds for some sleep.  With the help of Host Services, members of the community can access emergency clothing as needed.  Reception staff work hard to remember the names and know the stories of people in the community and are often the first to respond to a need for physical or emotional support.

The office receives and distributes mail for approximately 600 people who use 320 East Hastings as their mailing address.    People are able to pick up their mail between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm on weekdays.  Because the mailing address is 320 East Hastings, it can be used for job applications and all manner of mail. Many people also use this site as a mail drop and we affix a stamp and deliver the mail to the post box. GST, disability, child tax credit and old age pension cheques are among the large quantity of mail received daily at First. Christmas cards and presents are also sent and received.

Phone messages are taken for members of the community and there is a free public phone available for use in the hall.

Free income tax processing is available for low-income people with over 2000 tax returns being completed yearly with the assistance of trained volunteers.

Members of the DTES community also receive help with resumes, photocopying and faxing.  The window is a source of information about what is happening at First United and also what is happening in the DTES.

Meals

Meals are an important part of building community at First United.  With the support of BC Housing, members of the DTES community, and the physical support and donations of the wider community, First United is now offering four meals a day, seven days a week.  Homemade soup, bread, sweets and coffee are served at 8:30 a.m.; a hot lunch is served at 12 noon; dinner is at 6 p.m. and sandwiches are served at 9:30 p.m.

Opportunities to provide meals are available to those who share our vision of an inclusive community in which all are welcome and where those who provide food are encouraged to share table hospitality with those who receive.   Our meal providers include congregations and youth groups of the United Church of Canada, members of other faith traditions like the Goan community, the Sikh community, the Jewish community and a local Jewish-Muslim Peace group are among those who we count on to serve the community. We also have volunteers from agencies, schools and businesses who help us provide meals.

Organizations who wish to help us with meals can contact April Pringle, our Manager of Food Services.  April can be reached through the main office at extension.106.

Storage Facility

Prior to the opening of the storage facility in our community, homeless people had to carry their belongings in bags or push them in carts where ever they went. This burden denied people access to basic things such as using a toilet and going for a meal.

To meet this essential need, First United opened a storage facility in October 2009. Currently, over 250 people per day trust us and use this vital service.

Knowing their belongings are safely secured, homeless people are able to move more freely. Without this burden, they can attend appointments, access available services, work, socialize and even go to sleep without fear of losing everything.

This project enables people to shed the homeless stigma and encourages self-respect and dignity.

Thrift Store

First United Thrift Store, located at 340 East Hastings Street, (three doors east of the Church) opened for business at the beginning of July 2009.

Operated by staff member Leona Bentz with the help of DTES and wider community volunteers, the Thrift Store is a new social enterprise initiative of First United providing access to low- cost, gently used clothing and household items for low-income residents of the Downtown Eastside.

The store is open from Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number of the store is: 604-569-1117.

We are able to RECEIVE DONATIONS at the following times:

Monday to Saturday, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (these hours are determined by parking limitations on Hastings Street). Please call ahead to arrange for a drop-off at an appointed time.

All donations will be gratefully received through the front door of the store on Hastings. There is a drop off zone marked on Hastings and a sign on the sidewalk. Foodstuffs intended for the church can be dropped off at the store and will be moved by staff and volunteers to the kitchen.

Storage space and volunteer time at our disposal is limited and in order to make the best use of your donation we apreciate being able to control the volume and the type of clothing that is donated and to ensure that the store is well stocked throughout the year.

First United remains committed to providing emergency clothing for those who are in need and keeps a well-stocked emergency clothing room in the church to meet the needs of the community. Items for emergency clothing will be sorted at the store and then moved to the emergency clothing room.

Volunteers at the Thrift store are more than welcome.

Items always needed for the Thrift Store and for the First United Community

Clothing specific Men’s AND Women’s MARCH 1st-SEPT 1st

Casual pants and jeans
Sweatpants and jogging pants
PJ bottoms
Runners and sandals
Casual leather shoes
T-shirts-long and short sleeve
Tanks tops and Shorts
DOLLAR store RAIN ponchos
HOODIES/sweat shirts
We are a very casual community and our community members wear our west coast apparel
RAINCOATS (but not the London Fog kind)

Jewelry and Accessories

Household Wares

Bric-a-Brac and knicknacks

Vases, Dishware, Lamps

Linens & Blankets

Seasonal Items – Halloween, Christmas, Valentines etc.

Advocacy

First United has a team of 5 highly qualified and very experienced advocates. We see  x number of clients a day,   etc etc

Research &  Policy Development

The Centre for Research and Policy Development at First United help us to deepen the impact of our strategic advocacy. Its focus is on:

· research and analysis into needs and responses related to injustice, homelessness, poverty, addiction, mental illness, community development, social action, and other areas of concern typically evident at the margins of society

· development and/or articulation of the approach and policies that First United adopts in response to the above (including prophetic witness, public voice, advocacy in all its forms) and the consolidation of the information into formal models and methodologies for our day-to-day on-the-ground response.)

The Centre’s outputs are strongly informed by lessons learned by other Community Workers, Therapists, Advocates, etc.

The centre is led by Stephen Gray. He can be contacted at 604-681-8365, ext. 122 or via sgray@firstunited.ca

Alignment & Integration

First United formed the “Centre for Alignment and Integration” in order to help facilitate greater efficiency and effectiveness in all of the many initiatives in the DTES. Its task includes the following:

Build support from DTES leaders and agencies

Reduce waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness through integration of efforts and alignment of services

Build relationships, alignment and integration with the BC Government’s HIP team

Immediate Areas of Focus

Food delivery in DTES

Clothing distribution in DTES

Developing integrated plans, resources and processes for addressing the issues related to Hoarding

Building more integrated care plans for individuals in need

Building a core common vision for addressing the needs of the DTES (building off and consolidating the outputs from all the many previous studies and plans that have been proposed).

The Centre is led by Graham Bullen, who can be reached at graham.bullen@firstunited.ca

Sanctuary & Peace Building

The 34th General Council of The United Church of Canada (1992) endorsed “the moral right and responsibilities of congregations to provide sanctuary to legitimate refugee claimants who have been denied refugee status.”

Sanctuary should only be considered as a way to right a wrong or to uphold justice. As a public and prophetic witness of the church, it is to be considered only after all legal, administrative, and political appeals for justice have been tried. From this perspective, sanctuary is “moral obedience” and displays ultimate respect for the law and the justice it demands of it.

Rodney Watson, 31, after losing his job and being desperate for income, signed up as a cook for the U.S. army in Kansas City. He was subsequently sent to Iraq for 12 months. He found himself not working as a cook but as an armed soldier securing the kitchen and mess area. After his tour of duty ended in 2006 and a few months  before his 3-year contract would end, the US army informed him he would be sent back to Iraq where his contract would unilaterally be extended.

He fled to Vancouver, deeply convicted that his conscience would not permit him to continue to participate in a war that he believed was neither justified nor being conducted in ways he was willing to be a part of.  He sought refuge in Canada but Rodney was ordered to leave Canada by Friday September 11 2009, or face deportation. Rodney asked for Sanctuary at First United and came into this building on the evening of Friday September 18th, 2009.

In providing sanctuary for Rodney Watson, the Board of First United Church took the following into consideration:

1. Respect and support for the Law of the Land

The Church has consistently respected and supported the democratically established Law and processes of Justice. However, the Christian Church has also at times embraced actions that challenge and/or obstruct the Law when a law or its implementation is deemed unjust.

In Rodney’s case, with reference to his application for refugee status:

A) The Law allows for a process that includes opportunity for a review on humanitarian and compassionate grounds to be held after a deportation order has been issued – and it also allows for the deportation to be delayed until that hearing is held, but….
(i) Holding the Hearing after Rodney has been deported makes the process moot, since he will receive a prison sentence of at least a year and will have a criminal record that prevents re-entry into Canada
(ii) No indication has been given of a willingness to hold such a Hearing before deporting Rodney
(iii) The Hearing has been seriously prejudiced by the Minister of Immigration’s public statement that “Iraq war resisters are bogus refugee claimants”

B) The legal process has denied Rodney refugee status despite the fact that the democratically elected Parliament of Canada has voted in 2008 and in March 2009 to allow Iraq war resisters to be given refuge in Canada, with the result that…

(i) The intent of the Law (which, as reflected in the Parliamentary majority votes and in Canada’s history of providing refuge to Vietnam war resisters and others is clearly to offer refuge to war resisters) has been ignored or contradicted

The Board of First United considers the implementation and process of the Law as not being just – and believes it would be an injustice for him to be deported at this point. Justice requires that Rodney be given a fair hearing on Compassionate and Humanitarian grounds before being deported – and that the Hearing take into account the intent of the Law and the decisions of a democratically elected Parliament

2. Conscientious Objectors and Just Wars

The Church has over the ages been willing to accept the need for war as a last resort, carefully applying the Just War doctrine and criteria. When a war has been deemed not to meet the criteria of a Just War, the Church has opposed that war and refused to collaborate in its execution. Equally the Church has upheld (indeed often encouraged) Conscientious Objection by those who choose on the basis of conscience not to participate in a war (or to terminate their involvement in one.

In this context:

A) The war in Iraq is considered by many to be an illegitimate war.
(i) The grounds and justifications given for declaring that war have been proved to be invalid.
(ii) Canada itself chose not to participate in that war because the justification was suspect from the start.

B) The Church calls on secular society to join it in respecting the right to conscientious objection and Rodney is objecting to being sent back to a war in which he does not believe and cannot in conscience support  (In this case a war that most Canadians do not support).

C) Secular society holds individuals personally accountable for their decisions and actions in the context of war. We cannot hold people accountable if we do not give them the opportunity to choose not to participate. Denying Rodney the right to refuse to participate by seeking refuge in Canada, contradicts this basic principle.

Justice requires that Rodney be given the opportunity to make the choice of not participating in a war that in conscience he cannot support – by being allowed as per the will of Parliament to be given refuge in Canada.

3. Basic justice and solidarity with those treated unjustly.

The Church has consistently stood in solidarity with those who are being treated unjustly. It has also traditionally had strong theological bases for defending the rights of workers/employees in the context of workplace/employment imbalances of power.

In Rodney’s case:

A) There is a basic injustice in a unilateral extension of a contract (even when written into the small print of the document that has been signed by both parties. ). Rodney was not in breach of his 3-year contract in any way, when it was unilaterally extended 3 months before it was due to end.  The unilateral extension of a contract is an unfair labour practice and an abuse of power.

B) The consequence of deporting Rodney is that an 8-month old child will be deprived of any contact with his father for at least a year – and possibly longer.

Justice requires that Rodney not be forced to continue being employed against his wishes despite having met his mutually agreed contractual obligations – and equally that he not be imprisoned for being unwilling to meet unilaterally imposed requirements.

For the reasons outlined above and based on the theological principles and policies outlined in the attached documents, the Board of First United Church is providing refuge and Sanctuary for Rodney Watson.