Southside

If we are truly in and for our neighbourhoods, we need to be active in caring for those who are homeless and struggling with poverty.

We work alongside the Salvation Army in fundraising for homeless projects and by hosting weekly dinners frovided by the Salvation Army. We continue to host the Vancouver Food Bank at our ETC campus as we have for over fifteen years. We've been involved with Surrey's Christian street ministry, Nightshift, and we partner with the Burnaby Homeless Task Force in a weekly homeless outreach.

That's the program side of things.

But it's the people we connect with that make these programs so rewarding. These programs give us a way to meet those in our neighbourhoods who live on the street. Some struggle with addiction and emotional issues. Many have suffered great losses. We know of many who will never be able to work and are simply looking for some comfort and a warm meal. But we've also watched a few who were living on the streets get help to fight against the odds to find jobs and their own place to live.

Treating people with compassion, dignity and respect is one way to be In4 the neighbourhood.

Did You Know?

Prostitution and the 2010 Olympic Games

- Major world events bring an increase in sex trafficking to meet the demand of tourists and spectators.
- In 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup, they established "sex huts" around the perimeter of the stadium for use by prostitutes servicing men during the month-long soccer championship.
- In 2010, Vancouver will host the Olympic Games.

"It is suspected that young women and children will be exploited during the Olympic Games. The supply of these women may come from foreign countries, other Canadian provinces and the existing sex trade in Vancouver's downtown eastside, Burnaby and Surrey. Human traffickers may start up their operations as early as 2008 and will certainly increase their supply by 2009." (The Salvation Army, www.thetruthisntsexy.ca)

Ethos is common space in Forest Grove to sit, reflect, converse and have a cup of great coffee or smoothie. Ethos serves fairly traded and locally roasted coffee from JJBean. Visit the ethos website.

local initiative
Ethos is a local initiative and expression of the Forest Grove neighbourhood. The vision of a public place to foster community emerged from Southside, who owns the space.

The greater Vancouver area is home to many immigrants - people from a vast array of places around the globe. Coming to a new country with new traditions, new customs, new food and new ways of seeing the world is hard. Our role with immigrants in our neighbourhoods is to help that transition process, offering immigrants a safe place to learn English and get acquainted with Canada through the local community.

In our ETC congregation, 50% of the neighbourhood knows English as their second language. Of that number, about half are from China. About 100 other countries are represented in the other half. We spend time in Conversational English gatherings, cooking and baking classes, annual Chinese New Year Celebrations and helping people feel at home through connecting with Canadians who are neighbours who become friends.

Some refugee families are escaping war, persecution and other difficult circumstances when they come to Canada. We are involved with Journey Home Comunity, who serve refugee claimant families, as well as with International Teams' "Ride For Refugees," fundraising for projects that help refugees in Metro Vancouver as well as around the world.

We participate with Cobs Bread in their "End of Day Giving" program every week in several of our four neighbourhoods. At the end of each day Cobs gives away all of the bread and sweets that they have left. We have a variety of volunteers that help to pick up, bag and deliver the bread to disadvantaged families in our neighbourhood.

In the past three years, Cobs Bread has donated over $5 million in bread to charities.