Summer Outreach in DTES

If it's cold and wet we take socks. Change the weather to warm and sunny (not that we've had much of that in Vancouver this summer) and we take bottles of water. Simple ways to come alongside friends we are meeting around the Downtown Eastside. We have no other agenda than to give loving witness to God's goodness and His desire to heal and restore whatever is broken or lost in lives -- including our own. God always "shows up" and each little walk through Oppenheimer Park, Pigeon Park, or one of the alleys close by is a source of joy for us.

What's Going On In Squamish?

Summertime in Squamish. It's never difficult to get in the car with a Tim Horton's coffee at 8:30 on a Wednesday morning and head for Squamish. Evelyn and I (Elsie) round the corner on Hwy 99 at Horseshoe Bay and "ooh and aah" our way up the Sea to Sky, arriving around 10am at Mountain Valley Mission at the end of 2nd Avenue. For the next few hours we enjoy time to get to know new friends and build relationships. A leisurely walk gets us to the Helping Hands shelter a few blocks away. Coffee and conversation with friends -- sometimes laughter, sometimes tears, always kindness. Simple sharing together and watching God do wonderful things in all of us.

Clockwise from top left: Barclay and Mary Mayo, Mountain Valley Mission, Evelyn Leeburn, Mark Hird, Elsie Quick

Church and Affordable Housing Conference 2011

Mark your calendar now. More information to come.

Meet The Office Staff

Who are you going to find when you come to the Partners in Hope office? Actually, familiar friends.

Richard Campbell is a longtime volunteer with Partners in Hope. He's facilitated meetings, hosted many friends at his home, talked with men on the phone and in person in encouraging ways. Richard answers the phone, sorts out our computers, and generally offers assistance.

When she's not running around doing all sorts of other things, Alayne can be found in the office on Thursdays. She's never short on a laugh, a sound word of advice, and a can-do way of looking at whatever is challenging.

Joan has criss crossed the city doing various acts of kindness through the food co-op and other areas of service with Partners in Hope. She leads and early morning prayer group on Fridays, runs over to the drop-in at Fraser and 16th and then heads to the office to be of assistance to folks.

Susan just knows how to find a solution. She's walked alongside women for quite some time, supervised various areas of the food co-op. Currently she facilitates one of our support groups. She finds time to meet folks in the office on Friday afternoons.

Roger's "office" is often a coffee shop where he meets with guys but they sometimes find their way back to the office as well. In spite of not wearing that Santa suit in the summer, you always know when he's around!!

Thank You Bill

I pull up to the curb in front of the office and, right on time, there's Bill waiting for me. Bill is our office custodian and what a great joy he is to all of us. From the coffee on my desk this morning to the cleaning up of things I haven't yet noticed are dirty, Bill works tirelessly to keep the Partners in Hope office looking top notch.

Bill is also thoughtful, well read, and articulate, and he keeps me wondering about things that are important. I appreciate that.

Thanks Bill for being you and for being one of us.

1273 Clark Drive Pictures

A few pictures to let you see the office and where we are situated. You'll have to decide for yourself what colour the building is. It's a bit of a joke among some of us if it is green or "something else." The main thing is that you know we are located at Clark and Charles. We're a few steps from the "Clark and William" bus stop for the #22 bus. Come and find us here.

Typical office hours are 10am - 3pm. You'll find Elsie here on Tuesday, Richard on Wednesday, Alayne on Thursday, and Joan and Susan on Friday. We are phone accessible every day at 604-215-0335.

New Partners In Hope Office

We made the transition to a new office this spring. We quickly learned the difference in size from the house on 21st Avenue as we squeezed in together to celebrate what God has given and to bless the space for God's use.



You can find us at our new address in downtown Vancouver. I'll have a street view picture soon.