Capital Campaign

Moving First Forward

Demand for our services has outgrown our space at 320 East Hastings. And the space itself is falling into disrepair. To respond to the direct and growing needs of our community, we need your help.

DONATE NOW

We’re redeveloping our site into an 11-storey building purpose-built to suit the needs and interests of the community. The first four floors, operated by FIRST, will provide safe and inclusive community amenities with three times more space for our low-barrier services and programming. The seven floors above will offer safe, secure homes for Indigenous peoples operated by the Lu’ma Native Housing Society. Regardless of circumstance, all people deserve the dignity and care that a safe, purpose-built space can provide.

Revitalizing the corner of Hastings and Gore is a community-informed neighbourhood rejuvenation that centres reconciliation and healing. We cannot do this important work without you.

Will you join us to move First Forward?

First Forward Campaign

GOAL

$37 million

Secured Funds: $33 million

Funds to Raise: $4 million

Secured Funds

Funds to Raise

Donate Cash

If you would like to make your gift by cheque, please make your cheque(s) payable to First United and write “First Forward” in the memo.

Mail cheques via Canada Post to:

FIRST UNITED
320 East Hastings Street,
Vancouver, BC, V6A 1P4

Mail cheques by courier (UPS, FedEX, etc.) to:

FIRST UNITED Administration
368 Powell Street
Vancouver, BC, V6A 1G4

Donate by E-Transfer

For gifts of $3,000 or less, you can e-transfer. Add FIRST UNITED as a recipient and send your e-transfer to:

[email protected]

Send us an email at [email protected] letting us know that you’ve made a donation by e-transfer and include your full name and address so we can issue your charitable tax receipt. For gifts of more than $3,000, please send a wire transfer.

Donate by Wire Transfer

Need to make a bank transfer for an amount larger than $3,000? No problem. You can make a wire transfer using the following information:

Our legal name: First United Church Community Ministry Society
Our address: 320 E Hastings St, Vancouver V6A 1P4
Institution number: 003
Transit number: 07120
Account number: 1009059

Swift Code (international): ROYCCAT2VIC
Routing/ABA (U.S.): 02100021

Then send us an email at [email protected] letting us know that you’ve made a donation by wire transfer and include your full name and address so we can issue your charitable tax receipt.

Donate by Phone

If you would like to make a donation by phone using a credit card, our campaign team is happy to help. Give us a call at 604.336.3047.

Donate Online

Donating online via credit card, direct debit, Apple Pay or PayPal is easy! Go to our First Forward donation page to make a one-time gift or pledge.

Donate Securities

Complete our First Forward Securities Donation Form and then email it to [email protected]. Please note that securities must be received in our accounts by the last business day of the calendar year in order to be eligible for a charitable tax receipt for the same year.

Make a Major or Leadership Gift

Interested in making a larger contribution to the art campaign and our redevelopment? Major and Leadership Gifts start at $10,000 and come with opportunities including space dedications, special events, recognitions, and more.

To make a Major and Leadership Gift, email [email protected].

Donations are tax deductible, and we welcome one-time donations or pledged gifts over a period of several years, with pledge payments completing in 2027. Interested in making a pledge?

Download our gift agreement and pledge form.

For information about corporate giving opportunities or our recognition program for gifts over $10,000, please contact us.

Check out these campaign resources

Case for Support

Recognition Program

Ways to Give Form

Why We Give

After years of planning, we now have an opportunity to build a space that can support our neighbours to find healing and connection for years to come. I believe deeply in this project and in our ability to create change together: That’s why I’ve personally committed to a major gift.

—The Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, 44th Moderator of the United Church of Canada and Former FIRST UNITED Executive Director

We need more essential services and supportive housing in Vancouver, not less. In light of recent news to pause life-saving supportive housing, our family is donating $1 million towards FIRST UNITED’s redevelopment project. Their project is creating space for desperately needed programs and services that help residents of the Downtown Eastside and is enabling affordable and supportive housing that is badly needed. There has never been a more urgent time for all sectors and communities to come together to respond to the complex crises in our city.

—The North Family Foundation

We’re so excited to contribute to this campaign, and move FIRST UNITED forward into a beautiful, purpose-built facility. Just because you’re going through a hard time doesn’t mean you have to put up with poor conditions. We believe this community deserves better.

—Rudy Kerklaan, Co-chair, First Forward Cabinet and Elizabeth Kerklaan, FIRST UNITED Board Member and Golf Committee Chair

—The Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, 44th Moderator of the United Church of Canada and Former FIRST UNITED Executive Director

—The North Family Foundation

—Rudy Kerklaan, Co-chair, First Forward Cabinet and Elizabeth Kerklaan, FIRST UNITED Board Member and Golf Committee Chair

—The Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, 44th Moderator of the United Church of Canada and Former FIRST UNITED Executive Director

Campaign Milestones

Enthusiastic support from both the public and private sectors has propelled First Forward. Check out some of our pivotal achievements.

Early

2020

FIRST receives pledge of a $10M leadership gift to kick-start the redevelopment project.

February

2021

The First Forward Cabinet is formed, and the fundraising campaign begins its quiet phase.

May

2021

United Church congregation St. Andrew’s-Wesley commits $1M to move First Forward.

June

2021

Wheaton Precious Metals makes a $1M corporate contribution to First Forward.

Reconciliation in Action

Safe, Secure Housing

We are excited to be partnering with Lu’ma Native Housing Society on this project to enable the development of over 100 below-market housing units for indigenous peoples in the DTES. Our facilities, meal program, and support services will be available and accessible to residents of the Lu’ma housing project as part of their tenancy.

A Welcoming Environment

To make the new FIRST safe and welcoming, and to honour the indigenous and spiritual roots of the land our building occupies, we’ve incorporated indigenous art and cultural elements into the design of the building in a respectful and appropriate way informed by direct consultation and input from Luugigyoo Dr. Patrick Stewart, Nisga’a architect, and Xalek/Sekyu Siyam Chief Ian Campbell. The building’s Sacred Space and outdoor gathering area will be interfaith spaces suitable for traditional indigenous ceremonies.

Naming Policy

All spaces in the building will be named after indigenous and spiritual roots of the land and indigenous leaders rather than after donors, who instead have the option of offering a dedication to these spaces—this is one of the most progressive naming policies undertaken in Vancouver that puts reconciliation front and centre in the fundraising and philanthropic space.

Campaign Video - Watch Now

Learn More about the redevelopment

Latest news

FIRST UNITED Statement: Supportive Housing Motion Passes

Date 27 Feb, 2025

Category Blog, First Forward, Redevelopment

Yesterday, Vancouver City Council voted to pass the motion to pause net-new supportive housing projects within Vancouver. After listening to over 80 speakers, including the FIRST UNITED Executive Director and Board Chair, overwhelmingly voice their opposition, Council chose to move forward with a damaging motion that will exacerbate homelessness and the affordable housing crisis and […]

FIRST UNITED’s Downtown Eastside Redevelopment Project Launches New Art Initiative and Confirms $1 Million in Support from Audain Foundation

Date 15 Nov, 2024

Category First Forward, Redevelopment

FIRST UNITED formally launches a new art initiative as part of its First Forward capital campaign at a reception hosted by Bruce Wright. Photo by Maxine Bulloch. xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory/Vancouver, B.C. – Construction of the FIRST UNITED redevelopment project at 320 East Hastings in the Downtown Eastside is approximately […]

Canada supports 103 new affordable homes in Vancouver at 320 E Hastings

Date 9 Nov, 2023

Category Blog, First Forward, Redevelopment

FIRST UNITED Executive Director Amanda Burrows (centre) pictured with Vancouver City Councillors Lenny Zhou, Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato, Mike Klassen, and Christine Boyle, Lu’ma Native Housing Society President Dave Baspaly, and Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Joan Phillip. Photo by Maxine Bulloch. Vancouver, British Columbia, November 6, 2023 Construction is underway on 103 units for Indigenous residents and […]

First Forward Capital Campaign Cabinet

We’re grateful for the dedication and support of our First Forward Cabinet members, who are as committed as we are to moving FIRST into its new home in 2025.

Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes, Co-Chair

Rudy Kerklaan, Co-Chair

Mike Harcourt, Honorary Chair

Amanda Burrows, Executive Director and Campaign Director

Katie Koncan, Director of Development and Communications

Trista Baldwin, Campaign Manager

Dr. Heather F. Clarke

Don Evans

Jim Fletcher (through 2023)

Mark Paetkau

Randy Smallwood

Rev. Nancy Talbot

Nancy Trott

Community Endorsements

It is exactly 100 years since First Presbyterian Church in Vancouver received mission support from the national church. Its special ministry to low-income individuals and family has never wavered through the changing needs of the surrounding community required dramatic changes in program and service. We now have the opportunity to support the redevelopment paving the way for the next chapters in this amazing story.

—The Rev. Bob Burrows, former staff at FIRST UNITED

Congratulations to FIRST UNITED and Lu’ma Native Housing Society for successfully working together to bring new affordable and inclusive supportive housing to East Vancouver. I know the whole neighbourhood will benefit from this supportive space for people to live in community

—Niki Sharma, MLA Vancouver-Hastings, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits, B.C.

As a past volunteer and staff member at FIRST UNITED, I am excited about the potential for this new purpose-built space at 320 E Hastings, offering both services and housing for the neighbourhood. First United has been serving the Downtown Eastside since 1885 and consistently responds to the interests and needs of the community. I know this will continue to be a sanctuary in our city for those who access their services for years to come.

—Christine Boyle, MLA for Vancouver-Little Mountain, Former Vancouver City Councillor and United Church Minister

FIRST UNITED’s hugely important new four-floor service centre, combined with Lu’ma’s seven storeys of housing, gets underway in Spring 2022 and is slated to open in early 2024. Once again FIRST continues to lead the way, as it has for over 100 years, in providing kind and dignified service to the vulnerable Downtown Eastside people. As a big supporter of FIRST, I congratulate Carmen Landsdowne and her splendid team!

—Mike Harcourt, Honourary Chair - First Forward and former Mayor of Vancouver, Premier of BC, and FIRST UNITED volunteer in Legal Advocacy in 1969

FIRST UNITED has been serving low-income folks in the DTES, regardless of their religion, for as long as I can remember (and I’m 78 so that is a long time), providing advocacy, shelter, and housing. FIRST was the birthplace of the Downtown Eastside Residents Association. I hope this campaign is successful and we can get this amazing project built as soon as possible.

—Jean Swanson, Former Vancouver City Councillor

—The Rev. Bob Burrows, former staff at FIRST UNITED

—Niki Sharma, MLA Vancouver-Hastings, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits, B.C.

—Christine Boyle, MLA for Vancouver-Little Mountain, Former Vancouver City Councillor and United Church Minister

—Mike Harcourt, Honourary Chair - First Forward and former Mayor of Vancouver, Premier of BC, and FIRST UNITED volunteer in Legal Advocacy in 1969

—Jean Swanson, Former Vancouver City Councillor

—The Rev. Bob Burrows, former staff at FIRST UNITED

Thank you for supporting First Forward!

Our corporate donors, media, and in-kind sponsors

Our Contributors

We’re grateful for the generous contributions of the 1,200+ individuals, organizations, and foundations to this project. Thank you for helping us to move First Forward!

Join us to move First Forward.

You can’t put a price on dignity. But you can help us build a space that embodies it.

DONATE NOW