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And more!

Coquitlam church shows love to refugees

» St. Clare’s of Assisi plans to support Iraqi and Syrian family

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reoorter

ast month, a Syrian family left

Lebanon with relief after a
local community supported their
journey to a better life in Canada.
St. Clare’s of Assisi, a Coquitlam
parish, has taken the family
of four, the first of two, under
their wings to love and support,
providing $25,000 in funds
for one year. The Aleid family
landed in YVR on January 18, as
members of the congregation
waited outside the arrival doors,
eager to meet the people that had
so quickly made it onto Canadian
soil. Interestingly enough, the
events leading up to their arrival
dates back to January 2015.

Last year, Darrell McLeod,
chairman of the refugee
sponsorship group for St. Clare’s,
heard on the radio about fellow
churches working together to
support refugees. His interest
was sparked and he mentioned
the idea to a handful of people
in the congregation. By May,

: documents were being filled out
: and fundraising had begun.

By November, the Surrey

: apartment for the Iraqi family was :
: fully stocked with beds, dishes,

: furniture, and clothes. Then

: began the waiting game. Seeking
: an arrival date, conversations

: between the church and their

: MP escalated, but they provided

: no confirmation. Over the

: holiday season, donations kept

: pouring in from members of the

: community and those uninvolved
: with the parish. As Christmas

: came and went, it was truly the
gift that kept on giving.

By January u, the parish had

: received news about the arrival

: of the Syrian family, a surprise

: to many. Expected to arrive in

: YVR in one week, members of

: the congregation frantically

: assembled the second apartment.

“With only 6 days warning,

: St Clare’s Refugee Sponsorship
: program managed to rent an

: apartment, furnish it, buy food,
: and receive many donations to
: make Family #2 a cozy home

: to call their own,” states the St.
: Clare’s Facebook page.

“Never ending thanks to all
those who have supported this

: venture ... we never expected

: Family #2 to arrive before Family
: #1! A huge shout out to IKEA

: Canada for donating the queen

: bed, night tables, kitchen items,
: area carpet, and other items our

: refugee family required. We are

: so appreciative.”

“They were tired, but also

: thankful to be in Canada. They
: had Canadian flags, Canadian

: pins, they couldn’t be more

: excited to start life here,” said

: McLeod to Tri-City News.

The parish hopes to

: financially support the families
: with $50,000 ($25,000 each) in
: order to take off running. Their
: final fundraising push will be

: aconcert, featuring acapella

: choruses and a comedian, on

: February 6 at the Evergreen

: Cultural Centre in Coquitlam.

“We're very close to the full

: amount and we're hoping to
: close the gap with the upcoming

 

: concert,” explained Doug

: Matthews, one of the leaders of
: the promotion committee at St.
: Clare’s.

The Iranian family, resettled

: through the Blended Visa-Office
: Referred Program, arrived on

: the evening of January 27, and

: consists of three children and

Photo by Olaf Sztaba via stclare.com

: their parents.

: The arrival of the Aleids and
: further refugee families will be

: an ongoing story throughout the
: coming year as they settle into

: their homes away from home in

: Canada’s multicultural nation.

 

Big trouble in little Chinatown

al provokes public outcry

» Development propos

: housing units—in this case,

: 35-——must be owned by a non-

: profit organization and be

: rented at rates matching the

: shelter component of income

: assistance. These units are also
: to be reserved for occupants

: who qualify for Guaranteed

: Income Supplement or Old

: Age Security pension.

Adam Tatelman
a Staff Writer

n January 25, a council
meeting was held at
Vancouver City Hall to finalize

development permits for Wall
Financial’s proposal to build
a 12-story mixed-use building
on East Hastings. Just before
the meeting began, an anti-
gentrification protest rallied in
opposition to the proposal.
The protesters were mainly
members of the Chinatown
Concern Group of the CCAP
(Carnegie Community Action
Project). Most shared concerns

them out of their tenements
and force them to pay for
housing they cannot afford.
According to the executive
summary provided by the
City of Vancouver’s Planning
& Development Services, the
building is set to hold a total of
172 housing units. Sixty-eight of
these are to be secured market
rental, and 104 of these are to
be social housing units. As per
section 565.2 of the Vancouver
Charter, one third of the social

In order to accomodate

: seniors who may be displaced

: by the project, these reserved

: units will be rent valued at $400

: or less. However, the units are

: all single occupant housing,

: and the remaining units are too

: expensive for low-income seniors
: to afford. As such, advocates for

: the senior citizens of Chinatown

that the development could move :
: are opposed to the development.

Chanel Ly of the Youth

: for Chinese Seniors project

: expressed concerns to CBC News
: that the development would

: also displace local shops and

: other services that cater to senior
: clientele, potentially putting

: them further out of pocket.

In addition to a three-year

plan to stimulate economic

: growth in Chinatown, the City
: of Vancouver’s Chinatown

: revitalization initiative funds

: the preservation of historic

: buildings. Since 2011, the council
: has approved numerous grants

: toward this purpose, including

: the Chinese Society Legacy

: Program—a $36-million project
: dedicated to the rehabilitation

: of heritage buildings in need of

  

: repair. The council is expected

: to report on their program

: funding strategy by March 2016.
: On December 10 2015, the

: Council approved a third round
: of Chinese Society Buildings

: Matching grants. These grants

@_RachelSanders on twitter

: have supported various Chinese
: clans and societies. In addition to
: heritage building preservation,
: the applicants used the grants

: to fund a total of 714 low-cost

: housing units renting between

: $100 and $670. Twenty-five of

: the original 30 grants proposed
: in 2014 and 2015 are now in

: progress or complete, with the

: remaining 5 either incomplete

: or withdrawn by the applicants.
: As of the announcment, the

: council had approved $400,000
: towards the third round.

CCAP figurehead King-

mong Chan feels that more

: needs to be done. “The mayor

: cannot with one hand establish

: a fund to rehabilitate these

: buildings, while with the other

: create and approve policies and

: development applications that

: approve the market housing that
: breaks apart the community,‘

: said Chan ina CBC interview.

He was also concerned

> with the lack of communication

: between the Council and the

: CCAP regarding the revitalization
: plan. “Without such an

: assessment, the city should

: not be approving any further

: projects that affect Chinatown.”