Annual Report

September 15, 2010

 Kitsilano Neighbourhood House is a non-profit organization dedicated to meeting
community needs, cultivating a sense of belonging and connection to community for residents of
Vancouver’s Westside.

Our Vision
Vancouver’s Westside is a safe, healthy and vibrant community where everyone thrives.

Our Mission
We are dedicated to strengthening our community through leadership, collaboration and opportunity.

Statement of Diversity
We are children, youth, adults and seniors of all races, all religions, all cultures, all abilities and all
economic levels
We speak many languages
We are men and women of all sexual orientations
We value diversity
We endeavor to reflect the diversity of our neighbourhoods in our membership, our Boards of Man-
agement, our volunteers and our staff
We respect all neighbours

We expect that all who come to our House, all those who provide or receive services, will extend
the same respect to all those they meet here.

Message from the Executive Director, Catherine Leach

Dear Neighbours, Friends and Colleagues,
Communities thrive when its members have ample opportunities to come together in com-
mon space for fun activities or to deal with serious issues. We also know that a community
who knows it’s neighbours is perceived as a safer community and one where neighbours
look out for one another and show compassion and caring.
Staff and volunteers had the privilege of creating opportunities for over 5500 people to
come together, meet one another, find common ground and work, learn and play. This cul-
minated in over 30,000 visits to Kits House programs last year. Community members
came to Kits House for many reasons including to access childcare, socialize with friends over hot
soup, work with other neighbours to address food security, provide input and expertise into our redevel-
opment project, teach others how to use the computer, give their time to meet with homebound seniors,
grow food, share food with friends, build our website, seek legal advise, get help with income tax, at-
tend a support group, learn school readiness skills, find housing, meditate, learn tai chi, get support and
information during times of crisis, learn new skills and teach new skills.
Key highlights of 2009 include the progress of our redevelopment project. Information gathered from
two open houses and 4 focus groups helped us gather suggestions, concerns and input that was instru-
mental in guiding the redevelopment. We also successfully completed our 3 year strategic plan. This
year we will see the building of partnerships as we seek space to relocate our programs as we move
into the construction phase of the redevelopment. The board and staff will engage in a visioning proc-
ess as we create a new 3 year strategic plan. This plan will see us through to a new facility that is bet-
ter able to meet the changing needs of our community.
No directors report would be complete without a huge thank you to all of our staff and volunteers. Each
and everyone of them, and there are over 350, put their heart and soul into their work and they all
helped Kits House reach its vision of “Vancouver’s Westside is a safe, healthy and vibrant community
where everyone thrives.”
 Message from the Board Chair, Andrew Lyons
Another year of achievements and successes! Once again it has been a pleasure and an
honour to serve on Kitsilano Neighbourhood House (KNH) Community Board. Seeing the
continued growth and quality of the programs and services offered at KNH is a delight and
provides all the motivation one needs to remain committed to our goals of serving the com-
munity. We are grateful for the ongoing support that we receive from the community, our
partners and corporate neighbours. Looking ahead, we are energized about the potential
for our relationship to grow with our corporate neighbours and to establish new ones as we
connect with the Westside business community.

Our flagship event ,the Autumn Fair, was again a highlight of the past year. Fantastic weather, laughing
children (of all ages) and the Queen of Leaves all helped to make the event a huge success. But that
would not have been possible without the contributions of staff and volunteers. Again, many, many
thanks and we hope to see you again this October. All of our programs continue to thrive: the commu-
nity pot luck, knitting group, seniors drop-in, meditation group, summer camps, childminding, pocket
markets, community gardens and youth leadership. Information on these and many other programs can
be explored at http://www.kitshouse.org/programs/.

KNH is rapidly approaching a major milestone that will change the face of KNH and the Westside com-
munity. We are close to achieving final approval on the redevelopment of KNH. Pre-construction activ-
ity will start this Fall with full construction soon to follow. Many staff and volunteer hours have been
spent to work tirelessly in ensuring that a rejuvenated facility will be one for which we can all be proud.

I would like to welcome our new board members who have joined over the past year and thank them
along with our current members who will continue to serve on the Board. The Community Board re-
mains committed to serving the patrons of KNH and supporting the KNH staff.

Working with the dedicated staff and the passionate volunteers are the rewards of sitting on the board.
It is your efforts which motivate us and we are proud to serve you.

Finally, we look forward to continuing our work together in supporting our neighbourhood and ensuring it
remains a thriving, healthy, safe and vibrant community for everyone.

Message from the Board Treasurer, Roger Foster

This last year has been a very busy and exciting year for Kitsilano Neighborhood House
(KNH) and the City of Vancouver. The Olympics was a huge success and it showed that
Vancouver is a world class city by hosting a world class event. One particular highlight of
mine was the fact that the Olympics were considered to be the greenest Olympics ever
held. KNH has made it a key proponent of its redevelopment plans to make KNH the
greenest Neighborhood House. Very exciting.
As the treasurer I continue to monitor and report on the financial position and financial
performance of KNH. For the twelve month period ending March 31, 2010 KNH had
revenues in excess of expenses of $58,602 as opposed to expenses in excess of revenues of $5,847
for the year ended March 31, 2009. This improvement is due to the improving financial performance of
our child care programs which have the most financial impact on the financial well being of KNH. KNH
also continues to make significant improvements in its financial reporting process. The motto being you
must be able to monitor and measure your financial performance before you can improve upon it. The
staff at KNH are responsible for making it a priority to meet regularly and to review the financial perform-
ance of its various programs; they should be congratulated.
I am looking forward to the up coming year and building upon the successes we have built to date.
Communities thrive when its members have ample opportunities to come together in
common space for fun activities or to deal with serious issues. We also know that a community who
knows it’s neighbours is perceived as a safer community and one where neighbours look out for one
another and show compassion and caring. Kitsilano Neighbourhood House worked with community to
provide many opportunities for people to come together in 2009 2010 including:

Finding Home Workshops

Kitsilano Neighbourhood House – Mandarin Speaking Grandparents

Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Strengthening Connections project

identified a gap in communication and services for a large group of
Chinese grandparents who attend our Family Resource Program with
their grandchildren.
The Finding Home Workshop series focused on learning what cre-
ates a sense of home and what are some key priorities for this group
of Chinese grandparents. The sessions were facilitated with the help
of Mandarin speaking volunteers to assist with translation.
During a dialogue discussion “I feel that I am making contri-
butions to Canada by coming
on ‘Why Home Matters’, par- here and looking after my
ticipants expressed that their grandchildren”
concept of home is in transi-
tion. “We are no longer the masters of our home. We are
helpers to our children and grandchildren”. Many felt isolated
due to their language barrier, “Since I don’t speak English,
I’m scared to go outside and get lost”.
Top priorities for discussion included ‘Understanding each
other’ and ‘Creating Home in Canada’. This exploratory dia-
logue gave participants an opportunity to express their feel-
ings, share knowledge, identify ways to create a sense of
home in Canada,
and gain a
stronger connec- TIPS FOR HELPING US FEEL AT
“We hope our grandchildren will have a
tion with each HOME…
better life”
other and their
new community. • Smile, feel close to us and be
warmhearted
“Playing Mahjong is the best because it helps us feel at • Be very polite by opening the
home.” Many Chinese grandparents enjoy playing Mah- door for us and say ‘thank you’
jong, and were willing to teach a group of English speaking when we open the door for you
seniors from Kits House how to play. At the first gathering, • Share with each other how we
Finding Home participants shared their stories, and sug- live and solve everyday prob-
gested a reunion for Chinese New Year. Over 20 Chinese lems
grandparents attended the Chinese New Year lunch at Kits • Teach each other our favourite
House. Through celebration and sharing of cultures, par- games
ticipants were engaged and created stronger connections
with their new community.
 Kitsilano and Area Literacy Plan Service providers, residents and literacy
advocates came together from January 2009 to December 2009, to focus on community literacy. A
literacy task force was established with participation from the Vancouver School Board, Vancouver
Library, Vancouver Coastal health, Kits House, Westside Family place, volunteers and other literacy
stakeholders. Throughout the planning process, relationship building and community capacity building
were emphasised. In addition to working within the community, we were also supported by the Van-
couver Literacy Support Committee and the online community of literacy practice developed by Lega-
cies Now.
As a result of over two hundred and twenty people providing feedback and ideas, four goals were
identified as priorities for our community. The action plan for the Kits/Westside area includes engaging
residents to support literacy work through volunteering, supporting newcomer English as a second lan-
guage (ESL), literacy and working to sustain literacy work in the community. The action areas work on
the strengths and opportunities within our community while addressing community needs. These
goals are currently guiding the community literacy implementation stage.
Our community’s plan is part of a provincial wide initiative to look at literacy needs at the community
level; with over 80 communities throughout British Columbia participating. Our Community Literacy
Plan can be found at kitshouse.org.tp://www.kitshouse.org/2010/05/06/kitswestsiditeracy-plan/.
“Literacy is made of a
person’s skills and abili-
ties that come from life-
long learning: reading,
writing, numbers, com-
puting, and other forms
of knowledge. Literacy
helps people share
ideas, find information
and learn new things so
that they can function
well in their community
and reach their per-
sonal goals.” -
Westside Literacy Task
Force 2009

Kits House Garden Brings Community Together

Growing relationships through growing food: that has been
what this year’s garden collaborative has been all
about. The group is made up of community members,
neighbours, friends of friends, Village Vancouver members
and Westside Food Security Collaborative volunteers. Eve-
ryone comes together each week with the vision to encour-
age the connections between people, plants and food while
learning from each other and with each other to grow food
for ourselves and our community.

Last year, the garden grew beautifully and abundantly, sup-

plying the garden volunteers with a weekly harvest. This
year, we wanted to take that one step further by nurturing
relationships between the garden, the volunteers and the
community. Just watching the connections that have been
made each week by donating to community organizations, involving other Kits House program areas and the
pride that has developed within the gardeners has been amazing and inspiring. These connections will last
through the winter and spill into other opportunities outside of the garden.
 Good Neighbour Award Recipient 2009, Sally Speers
For many years Sally Speers has impressed us with her ongoing dedica-
tion to her community via her tireless volunteering. Sally coordinates the
Fruit and Veggie Deal program which offers and delivers fresh fruit and
vegetables for a reasonable price to those living at Steeves Manor and in
the community. Sally has also given her time to keep Steeves Manor
tenants updated with current H1N1 information and helped to dissemi-
nate flu shot information as well as organizing and coordinating the flu
shot clinic. Sally sits on the Westside Food Security Collaborative work-
ing group and works with other members of the community to create a
food secure community. Sally always is ready to smile and her sense of
humour is always appreciated!

Good Neighbour Youth Award Recipient,

Alfred Sin
Kits House children's program depends on young volunteers such as Al-
fred Sin who bring their energy and enthusiasm to the many kids who visit
the House every week. Alfred, a 10th grader from Prince of Wales Secon-
dary School has been a volunteer for the Kits House Out-Of-School Care
program for close to two years. What started as a school requirement to
complete 10 hours of volunteer work a term, turned into a regular volunteer
gig for Alfred who found the energetic kids in the program an enjoyable
change from homework and studying. At the Out-Of-School Care program,
Alfred looks after the children, helps with activities, resolves conflicts and
supervises play time. An undoubted friend and mentor, Alfred is an integral
part of the children's program providing leadership and friendship to the
kids every week. He has also volunteered at Kits House's annual Autumn
Fair, a yearly celebration of the harvest season. He has also connected
many of his classmates to the volunteer opportunities at Kits House. This
year Alfred joined the Autumn Fair Planning Committee. As an integral part of the planning, Alfred
has helped with mapping the fair, assisting with a volunteer orientation and is a co-lead for the carni-
val games subcommittee. His energy, dependability and dedication has made him a valued volunteer
here at Kits House.

Each year The Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC hosts the Good Neighbour
Awards. Kits House volunteers are nominated by staff, volunteers and community members.
If you would like to nominate a good neighbour please contact Emily at
emily@kitshouse.org.
The Westside Seniors Peer Counseling Program provides free, confidential peer counseling and sup-
port to seniors in our community who are feeling depressed, anxious or isolated. With the dedication
of all our volunteer peer counselors, the program is able to reach people who may not otherwise be
able to get the support they need to cope with significant life changes. The following article was writ-
ten by Kits House volunteer Keith Brown about his role as a Seniors Peer Counsellor.

The peer counselor/client relationship is the hinge upon which the counselor is able to help the client
consider a different perspective from his/her previous scenarios. This relationship is definitely thera-
peutic in nature and must be seen as such by the peer counselor. It is this relationship which intro-
duces the element of “hope” for the client. Hope means the client will not have to endure, in the same
way, the pain he/she has been experiencing.

The client was referred to the Senior Peer Counseling program by his son. Reasons for referral: lone-
liness, health changes, and depression. The client was also trying to cope with loss of eyesight, di-
gestive problems, and was on numerous medications including one for balance problems stemming
from Parkinson.

By using the senior peer counselling skills of paraphrasing, reflecting, summarizing and confronting I
was able to use what the client said to me to help him reflect on his present life situation. We also ex-
plored some relaxation methods, which helped put some responsibility on the client for finding some
solutions to his difficulties rather
than just expecting an “outside
fix”. Upon entering the room for
my ninth visit, before I could say
anything the client said to me,
“Things have changed. I’ve de-
cided to change my attitude. I
realize my attitude toward my
problems could make a differ-
ence.” Just when I had been
expecting another visit of recy-
cling all of the difficulties we had
been discussing I was surprised
and pleased to witness the al-
ways available resiliency of the
human spirit. This change was
due to a number of factors but
was helped along by the rela-
tionship with a senior peer coun-
sellor and the training they bring
to each situation. It was reward-
ing to see a person take charge
of making a change for the posi-
tive in their life. Such is the role
of the senior peer counsellor.

Seniors Peer Support Volunteers

 Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Programs, 09/10

Childcare
Licensed Childminding (Highbury and 4th location)
Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Community Preschool (Highbury and 4th location)
Dunbar Kids Club: Kindercare and Out of School Care (Dunbar location)
Kitsilano Kids Club: Kindercare and Out of School Care
Kitsilano Kids Club Summer Program
Westside ECD Network 4 Community Table

Family Programs
Parents & Tots Drop-In
Kids Up Front
Strengthening Connections Newcomer Parents & Tots Program (UBC partnership)
Mama and Papa Goose
Nobody’s Perfect Parenting Workshop

Youth Programs
Pre-Teen Artistic Adventure Camp
Youth Volunteer Skills Program
Youth Advisory Committee
Youth Networking Table

Seniors Programs
Osteofit
Westside Senior’s Links Program
Westside Seniors Peer Support Program
Westside Fall Prevention Network – Steady Feet
Tuesday Seniors Drop In
Out trips
Knitting Circle
Steeves Manor Community Resource Centre (3rd and Alma location)
Westside Seniors Empowerment Coalition

Community
Autumn Fair
Information and Referral
West Coast Childcare Resource Center Caregivers Drop In
Income Tax Clinic for those on a low income
UBC Law Students Legal Advice Program
Westside Food Security Collaboration
Gamblers Anonymous
Alanon
Single Mom’s Group
Women’s Support Group
Fruit Tree Project

Classes
T’ai Chi Ch’uan
Karate
Tesshinkan Kobudo
Karate for Kids
Laughter Yoga
 Foundations, Revenue
Grants,
Membership, Donations and
and Interest Fundraising
$68,801 $39,943
6% 4%
United Way
$103,773
10% Government
Contracts
$402,320
39%

Earned Income
$426,947
41%

Use of Funds
Community Youth Services
Programs $28,016
$72,216 3%
7%
Family Services
$117,721
12%
Childcare Services
$440,461
45%
Seniors Services
$151,229
15%
Infrastructure,
Administration,
Training, and
Development
$172,127
18%
 2009-2010 Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Staff Listing
Catherine Leach, Executive Director
Julia de Winter, Operations Manager
Jennifer Longson, Building Welcoming Communities Program Coordinator
Emily Palmer, Literacy, Communications & Volunteer Coordinator
Sandra Petrozzi, Family Programs Coordinator
Lisa Paul, Childcare Coordinator
Julie Wall, Seniors Coordinator
Allison Reynolds, Front Desk Support Worker
Megan Raschig, Front Desk Support Worker
Michael Petrachenko, Accounting Clerk
Babara Kendall, Community Support Worker
Megan Harrott, Community Support Worker
Alejandra Lopez Bravo, Community Support Worker
Raewyn Tudor, Community Support Worker
Chelsea Calder, Community Youth Engager & Garden Collaborative Lead
Brigette Bouchard, Family Program Assistant
Jackie Boutsarakis, LCM Assistant
Pierrette Cournoyer, LCM Assistant
Deanna Canning, OSC Assistant
Lindsay Kesler, OSC Assistant
Angelo Moroni, OSC Assistant
Katherine Mosley, OSC Assistant
Nicolas Narvaez, OSC Assistant
Melis Garipoglu, OSC Assistant
Elsa Kim, OSC assistant
Joanna Lye, OSC Assistant
Aubrey Medwid, OSC Assistant
Megan Schmidt, OSC Assistant
Sarah Kraus, OSC Assistant -on call
Beverlyn Guinto, OSC Assistant -on call
Adrianne Poulos, OSC Assistant -on call
Colter Wish, OSC Assistant -on call
Amrit Aujlay, OSC Assistant -on call
Selina Chew, Peer Support Worker & Program Leader
Marie-Claire Bergman, Preschool & LCM Assistant
Catherene Bankz, Preschool Assistant
Kathleen Carbert, Preschool Assistant
Sung Sook Woo, Preschool Assistant
Ann Mcqueen, Preschool Teacher
Kira Froese, Program Lead
Diana Liatiras, Program Lead
Vinyse Barber, Program Lead & Peer
Support Worker
Patricia Paz, Strengthening Connections
Assistant
Erin Franklin, Summer Student
Courtney Shrumm, Summer Student
Erin Taylor, Summer Student
Leanne Bird, Youth Engager
 Kitsilano Neighbourhood House Community Board 2009-2010
Andrew Lyons Roger Foster
Chair Person – Board of Governors Representative Board Member – Treasurer
Christy Clarke Margaret McGann
Vice Chair Person – Board Development Lead Board Member – Marketing Lead
Kataneh Sherkat Rebecca Scott
Board Member – Community Liaison Board Member – Events
John Bader Brita Cloghesy-Devereux
Board Member – Building Committee Representative Board Member – Community Liaison

Donations 2009-2010
Individual Donations Corporate Donations

M. Kagan Marty Pospischil

Cook Family Ruby’s Foods
Bourque Family Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co.
Linke Family Whole Foods
Lai Family BC Hydro
Susie O’Reilly Lau Chiropractic
Stepnoski Family Ecomarine
de Winter Family Bard on the Beach
Lee Gallagher Ten Thousand Villages
Steeves Family Toy Box
Anonymous Kidsbooks
Estelli Reyes Orb Clothing
Ms. Brereton Fast Forward Productions
Scott Miller Vancouver Canucks
Andrew Grant Ride on Again
Christy Clark Loonie King
Ruth de Winter Heart Attack & Vine
Starbucks
Government Funding CKNW Radio
Semperviva
BC Housing Yogacara
City of Vancouver Thomas Haas
Government of Canada Purdy’s Chocolates
Human Resources Development Canada Windsor Lumbar
Ministry of Children and Family Development Bond Repo
Ministry of Citizens Services Women’s Mental Health Group
Embrace BC Duthie Books
Ministry of Housing & Social Development
Vancouver Coastal Health Foundations
Vancouver Community Network
Vancouver School Board 2010 Legacies Now
Welcome BC CanWest Global Foundation
Coast Capital Savings
Real Estate Foundation of BC
United Way
Community Partners
Pacific Spirit, Westside Family Place, UBC Acadia Block, Local Schools, Jericho Garrison, Kitsilano Community
Centre, Kitsilano Public Library, Kiwassa Neighbourhood House, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, Set-
tlement Workers in Schools, UBC Legal Aid, Village Vancouver, United Way, Kits House Staff and Participants,
Vancouver School Board, City of Vancouver, Success, Westside Food Security Collaborative, Steeves Manor,
South Granville Senioirs Centre, Musqueam First Nations, Westside Youth Networking Table, Check Your Head,
Me to We, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Katimavik, Justice Institute of BC, Royal Bank, Environmental Youth Alli-
ance, Jewish Family Services, Association of Neighbourhood Houses, Vancouver Parks & Recreation, Vancou-
ver Coastal Health, Gab Youth Services, The Centre, Senior Service Providers, Westside Service Providers,
Welcoming Communities Steering Committee, UBC AMS Connect, KNH Programs – Childcare, Family, Youth,
Community and Seniors, Volunteer Vancouver, govolunteer.ca, ESL schools, Kits Mental Health Team, Choices
– program for disabled adults, Jobs West, UBC Internship Program, YWCA, Cook the Hood, 3H Craftworks,
Sprouting Chefs