I met Rob outside Gospel Mission (Carrall Street Church) just before its second last service, Wednesday night (May 1). He was looking forward to gathering with the community, as he has for a couple of years now. He seemed sorry… Read more →
February is Black History Month, sponsored by the City of Vancouver. There will be a series of activities, but I will focus on two events of particular interest to the Christian community: Stayed on Freedom and the ‘Grand Reopening and… Read more →
Peter Biggs of The Light Magazine is researching one Metro Vancouver / Fraser Valley municipality each month, and producing a focus on each one. The October issue brought attention to the Downtown Eastside and a feature interview with Jacqueline Dewar, who has worked and lived in… Read more →
I plan to take the rest of the summer off, following this weekly update. (And I recently realized that this month marks the fifth anniversary of Church for Vancouver.) If, like me, you’re tired of hearing evangelicals described in the… Read more →
The City of Vancouver recently posted information about the Women and Family Recovery and Housing Centre, a major new initiative of Union Gospel Mission (UGM). In January, the provincial government promised an $83-million investment in four projects [450 units] all located in the… Read more →
Jenny Hawkinson has been working as an artist for a decade, mostly in the Downtown Eastside. For several years she worked with Mission Possible; now she is a DTES street pastor / artist with 24-7 Prayer. Over the summer, she and… Read more →
Just over a month ago, the Jacob’s Well community was not sure whether it would be able to carry on, having been evicted from its long-time home at 239 Main Street, just north of Hastings Street. The team decided to close its doors… Read more →
Princess Avenue doesn’t have an official ‘car free’ day, but the Downtown Eastside street will in fact be closed to cars twice this week. Yesterday Union Gospel Mission (UGM) hosted Summer Connect outside its building north of Hastings, and on Sunday (June 18)… Read more →
It seems ironic, to me at least, that the last time I was at Jacob’s Well, long-time activist Jean Swanson was making an impassioned presentation about gentrification – describing the way that uncaring governments and business forces were tearing apart the Downtown Eastside… Read more →
Mission Possible is an innovative community economic development agency operating in the Downtown Eastside. It runs two social enterprises, MP Maintenance and MP Neighbours, which employ an average of 50 individuals per year in transitional jobs. They are the subject of a… Read more →
