Carol-Ann Flanagan (right) accepted the Non-Profit Organization of the Year award for the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby.
In the fall of 2025, the Society to End Homelessness had the honour of receiving the Not-for-Profit Organization of the Year award in the Burnaby Business Excellence Awards.
Congratulations! It is so good to see the Society seen and recognized for the honest, generous work being done to support “the least of these.”
I recently spoke with Carol-Ann Flanagan, soon to be the Society’s Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement.
She told me she ended up at what was then called Southside Community Church (now The Neighbourhood Church) while walking a shortcut in 1994.
She had recently moved to Burnaby from Montreal with her husband and small children and hadn’t attended church in a long while. She heard the music while passing by and stepped in to listen. Although she didn’t stay that day, someone handed her an invitation to the church’s ‘moms of young children’ ministry.
Carol-Ann began attending the Southside moms’ group on Wednesday mornings and was drawn in by the community of young children and parents. She also started volunteering with their foodbank; this felt like a nice fit since Carol-Ann worked for the Vancouver Food Bank.
The church had also begun offering a meal for unsheltered and otherwise vulnerable folks in the area. The ministry has grown a lot since then!
In 2005, a taskforce in Burnaby began assessing the need for services, housing and adequate income amongst the unhoused and those at risk in the area. Fast forward to 2015 when the Task Force to End Homelessness in Burnaby formed the charitable non-profit, the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby, to build sustainability for the Task Force and its activities.
The Society works in tandem with all levels of government, the health authority, social service agencies and other non-profit organizations, businesses, faith communities and concerned citizens.
Twelve service providers (at least) come to volunteer every Thursday morning. When Carol-Ann started in 2018, 40 to 60 people were coming by; now they see 150 to 200.
Here are some of the services offered:
- the CRA and Services Canada help with taxes up to 10 years in arrears at no cost.
- Haircuts are offered once a month.
- Foot care is offered weekly with a registered nurse.
- Progressive housing is made available.
- Spirit of the Children supports Indigenous guests.
- The Primary Care Network tries to match guests with a family doctor.
- Veterans Affairs assists unhoused or vulnerable veterans to access benefits.
- Mosaic, a mental health support group, works with newcomers, refugees and those seeking asylum.
- IHART (Integrated Homeless Action Response Team} gives varied medical help to unsheltered visitors.
- A mobile shower unit (the only one of its kind in the whole Vancouver area!)
- A complimentary clothing and shoe service.
These are only the services Carol-Ann described to me while we were talking, but there’s even more going on than this – including the Neighbourhood Pantry which offers a very well-run food bank service on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Check out their website, or even stop in if you’re local, to find out more. Perhaps get involved in the new year! They can always use volunteers and/or donations.
Volunteers with the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby.
When I asked about how this award from the Burnaby Board of Trade came about, Carol-Ann mentioned that last year she received the King Charles medal which is awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada.
It was after she received this honour that someone nominated the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby for the Non-Profit of the year award. (This was the 2nd year they were nominated.) Carol-Ann was quick to mention that all of the non-profit organizations nominated are doing excellent work in the city.
The Society takes over much of The Neighbourhood Church’s Edmonds Town Centre Campus on Thursday mornings, and they plan to move with the church to their new location when it’s ready.
Please consider supporting their involvement in the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser February 28, or something similar in your area
This article was originally posted as part of the January 2026 Making Connections newsletter from the Baptist Union of Western Canada and is re-posted here by permission.
Go here for an earlier Church for Vancouver article which describes The Neighhbourhood Church’s big plans for its Edmonds community.
I’m SO very impressed! So very good to see God working in the way he does – step by step – in the way He usually works. Always there for those who are obedient to His call. You are an inspiration. May God bless you richly as you move His work forward. May the love you have for God and His people be deeply felt by all those your ministry touches.