Vote for Strathcona’s Community Garden Proposal

The Strathcona Neighbourhood The Strathcona neighbourhood is Vancouver’s oldest residential community and also has one of Canada’s lowest socioeconomic levels. 2006 statistics state the average household income is $27,139 compared to $63,889 for Vancouver overall.

Strathcona residents also have lower education levels than the average for all of Vancouver. 32% of residents have an education level less than Grade 9 as compared to 9% in Vancouver and only 40% of people 20 years of age or older have some form of post secondary education compared to 69% in Vancouver overall.

While the neighbourhood has beautiful heritage buildings and a rich artistic community, it is also characterized by homelessness, open drug use and dealing, prostitution and graffiti.

Our Idea We propose to create 20 to 30 community micro-gardens throughout Strathcona. The gardens would be installed on private properties adjacent to public spaces in highly visible, underutilized areas.

How it would work Depending on the nature and size of each location, the gardeners and the property owners would decide whether the plot should be a community garden, single-owner garden, or a living wall. Vegetation would consist of native perennials and edible plants.

The gardens would be installed by qualified landscapers of Mission Possible Enterprises, a local non-profit which provides employment opportunities for individuals with job readiness barriers and assists in breaking the cycles of poverty, homelessness, and addiction. Local youth would also be employed as partners with the landscapers to learn valuable food production and community development skills.

Benefits of this project

• Edible plants would provide new opportunities for local food production. Using native plants would reduce the resources required for their maintenance thus minimizing the ecological footprint of each garden.
• The BIA has received many comments from residents and businesses regarding the need for more green spaces – they want the Strathcona Green Zone to literally become greener. By creating micro gardens, more green space would be accessible throughout the neighbourhood.
• This project would also reduce spaces available for criminal activity through the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). A public place that lacks significant ownership interest is often perceived by some as places where criminal activity is supported. By converting underutilized spaces into gardens, the BIA would help reduce areas that encourage crime.
• The most profound benefit of this project would be the generation of green jobs for individuals with job readiness barriers and inner city youth. The youth will gain tangible job experience and skills.
• There will also be opportunities for intergenerational interactions with Mission Possible’s employees and youth in a safe environment. Many of the landscapers will be able to teach the youth some of their consequences of their decisions in their lives in the hopes that the youth would not follow the same path.

An Inclusive Approach The Strathcona Community Micro-Gardens would provide an inclusive approach to addressing many of the problems affecting this community. We are counting on your support!

For more information on the Strathcona Green Zone, visit us at http://www.strathconagreenzone.com Twitter: SBIA_GreenZone

About the Strathcona Business Improvement Association The Strathcona BIA (SBIA) is a member driven non-profit business organization in Strathcona, a sub-community of east Vancouver. It represents over 850 commercial property owners, business tenants, and 7,000+ employees. The area is a broad mix of industrial, commercial, retail, and residential zoning – many who have been in the area for over 40 years.

The SBIA conducts a variety of programs to facilitate the revitalization of Strathcona including street beautification through banners, flower baskets and murals; street micro cleaning; and graffiti removal. One of its core initiatives is the Strathcona Green Zone, an initiative to promote green practices among its membership and eventually make the area a sustainable district. Programs include waste audits and a resource exchange whereby businesses find other businesses to repurpose unneeded materials to divert them from the landfill.

Besides business development, the SBIA is involved with community events, sponsoring the Powell Street Festival, the largest Japanese Canadian festival in Canada; the Eastside Culture Crawl, a three day event drawing over 10,000 people to artists’ studios in east Vancouver; and children’s programming at the Strathcona Community Centre.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!!

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

FREE Home Air Sealing/Draft Proofing!

Interested in having your home draft proofed for FREE?  The City of Vancouver aims to make Vancouver the greenest city in the world by 2020 & have partnered with EMBERS to run a pilot program to increase energy efficiency in homes.   This wonderful service will take about 4-8 hours to complete depending on the condition of your home & should result in a less drafty house & lower hydro bills for you.  You must own your home & be located in the Vancouver area to participate. If interested, please call Emma on 604 692 0781 or drop us a line at embersvancouver@gmail.com.

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

BE MOVED

EMBERS has moved into our lovely new offices- Suite 310 111 West Hastings St, in the historic Woodwards Building.

We would like to highly recommend and thank ‘Be Moved’ moving company for their extremely efficient, courteous and affordable service.  For more information on their services call Wayne on 604 290  4877.

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

Terminal City Rollergirls 2010 Christmas Sock Drive.

The Terminal City Rollergirls will be collecting new and gently used socks for the  2010 Christmas Sock Drive!  The socks donated will be benefiting the DTES low barries homeless shelter, First United Church, Urban Native Youth Association and The Downtown Eastside Womens Centre. …Sock Donation boxes will be set up at Rollergirl, SFU, Flaming Angels, and various other locations. Socks can also be donated to any member of their community service committee at these locations or in person: DaRukus: possilby the YMCA McFisty : Stardust Juawanna : Kerrisdale Arena, Redline Automotive, Sashay Day Spa, Kingswood Pub, and possibly the Frog n’ Firkin in Vancouver and Trail Appliances in Surrey Chic N’ Destroy : VAncouver Film Studio, Bridge, Flaming Angels Pretty Painful : Invoke Media Hitt n’ miss : Possibly High school in coquitlam??? Spidey Webher : SFU Avi Hater : Vancouver Coastal Health’s 3 Bridges, Buranby Center, Assertive Community Treatment team, Watari Family Services, Rollergirlave messages on facebook and we’ll get you in touch with the right person to pick those socks up! They will also be collecting socks at various league and fresh meat practices to make donations easier (To be announced….) Collection will go until the 22nd of Dec! SO GET YOUR SOCKS OFF! Click here to view the facebook event!

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

Bruce Turnbull opens his newest exhibition “Stumble.Fall.Eaten” on Thursday November 18th

EMBERS Build a Business student Sheryl Hamilton has her own business promoting art.

Bruce Turnbull opens his newest exhibition “Stumble.Fall.Eaten” on Thursday November 18th.

Opening Reception: Thursday November 18th, 5 – 8 pm

(exhibition runs to December 11th)

Elissa Cristall Gallery, 2245 Granville Street (at 7th)

Tel: 604 730-9611

“Apres L’Hockey, encaustic on found object, 11″ x 57”

“I’m always looking for the beauty in things that have been discarded,” says Bruce Turnbull. “As I get older, I realize how important Dr. Seuss is to a well-rounded education,” he adds.

A renovation and construction manager by day, Turnbull uses discarded materials from building sites to create his art. He works with beeswax and oil paints that are fused to the surface with heat. With a whimsical approach to his work, Turnbull’s subjects range from hockey players and skiers to angels and bumblebees.

“The inspiring thing about Bruce is that his artistic work starts in demolition,” says D. Mackinnon. “He remodels your house, salvages the surfaces, and paints intelligently executed images on them. It has been most satisfying, for us, that our old home lives on in the form of beautiful art on our walls.”

Bruce Turnbull graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1998 and completed his MFA at the New York Academy of Art, NY. His art can be found in public collections including the National Portrait Gallery of Canada, the Colart Collection, Quebec and private collections in Canada, the US, Europe and Asia. He is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award, a Canadian grant given to emerging artists.

Selected works can be viewed at: http://www.CristallGallery.com/UPCOMING

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

Furniture……

EMBERS is downsizing in preparation for our move and we have lots of furniture to give away and sell extremely cheaply.  We have several dark wooden desks, a lovely corner desk, various chairs and a variety of other miscellaneous items.  If interested, please call Emma on 604 692 0781 or email embersvancouver at gmail dot com.

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

EMBERS is MOVING!

From Monday 29th of November onwards we will have an office in the Historic Woodwards Building! Our new address will be: Suite 310, 111 West Hastings St, Vancouver, V6B 1H4. Our phone number and email will remain the same and we will be open for business as usual.

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

Rising Stars 2010

Our Rising Stars Event for graduates of our Build-a-Business Program now has a facebook invitation.  Click here to view and RSVP!

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

Claudia Segovia Upcoming Shows!

Embers Build-a-Business graduate Claudia Segovia of Figa’s Closet has a number of upcoming shows:

Reflexions of the Mexican Soul.  UBC Library Gallery, Vancouver, BC
November 20th – Dec 22nd
http://mexicofest.ca/events3.html

Launchpad Gallery, Portland OR
Nov 5th – 27th
http://launchpadgallery.org/facing-fear/

Gateway Theater, Richmond, BC
Nov 29- Dec 22nd
https://www.gatewaytheatre.com/

Whistler Arts Council, Whistler, BC
January 7th-28th
http://www.whistlerartscouncil.com/

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com

Susan Katz- Evening the Frayed Edges Book Launch

Susan Katz is a creative writing instructor as well as a journalist and author. She has a special interest in creating public awareness of the lived experiences of people who are differently-abled. She inspires her students to weave their lived experiences into the fabric of our society.

Susan is launching a book this month called “Evening the Frayed Edges” , a collection of first-hand accounts of Mental Health Recovery which hopes to provide insight and education to both the public and health care professionals.”  Details are below.

 

THE RECOVERY NARRATIVE PROJECT WRITERS**

**Dori Jaffe, Deniz Burton Ismen, Jude Swanson, Margo Robinson, Susan J. Katz, and Susan Trapp**
WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE LAUNCH OF OUR FIRST ANTHOLOGY:

EVENING the frayed edges:
a collection of first-hand accounts of Mental Health Recovery

Edited by Susan J. Katz
AT THE JOHN BRAITHWAITE COMMUNITY CENTRE
145 West 1st Street, North Vancouver

November 14 2010
OPENING AND GREETINGS BEGIN AT 4:00 PM

with music by Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan and Charles Kaplan
followed by WORDS AND READINGS BY THE AUTHORS
LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED
**BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SIGNING AND PURCHASE**
and are also available from PeerNetBC, Odin Books, and People’s Co-op Bookstore

Click to follow their blog

EMBERS

http://www.embersvancouver.com