Annual Report 2017
A Word from the Chair ››
T
he last year has been pretty exciting. It’s been a time of change, but at the same time there are some constants that give us comfort every day. In my mind, our neighbourhood is both enduring and endearing. Every morning I count myself lucky to roll my bicycle through the heart of Fernwood and see my neighbours, shop owners, high school students, and the many people who defy labels. I see kindness; I see vitality, and most of all I see something so many people in our world are searching for—a community. At Fernwood NRG, we’re working hard to build up our community and wherever possible create positive change. The most tangible sign of change involving Fernwood NRG has been the ongoing construction of the new mixed use building at 1310 Gladstone Ave. Like many of you, I’ve been watching as the construction site went from a hole in the ground to walls, stairs and windows. You might be wondering what the final building will look like? Well, we’ve always wanted the building to look like it belonged with the rest of our ‘village’ so it’s going to be clad in bricks that will complement the rest of the handsome buildings that surround it. The apartments up top will benefit from being just high enough that they
will have nice views. As for the rest of the building, we’re confident that we’ll have tenants that will provide great services to the neighbourhood. This past year we also saw a new Provincial government that has promised bold and ambitious steps to improve childcare affordability. Like many of you, we are excited to see all the details. Fernwood NRG has provided high quality childcare for decades, and our dedicated staff work hard to make our programs not only caring, but also as affordable as possible. It would be nice for hard working families to have additional assistance with childcare. We think it will make our neighbourhood a better place because it will make it more reasonable for everyone to live here. We’re hopeful that this new promise will deliver assistance that is sustainable over the long haul. We also hope that it won’t compromise our desire to pay our 18 child care employees a fair wage. While it didn’t exactly happen in 2017, there was a big change at the Cornerstone Café. The living room of the community changed hands. We remain the owners of the building. The space is now leased to the people who operated the Parsonage and Fernwood Coffee near Cook Street. The owners of those businesses live in our neighbourhood. We believe that this has
Michael Lancaster
injected a creative vibrancy back into the space. Personally, I’m thrilled to have my Saturday morning breakfast bagel that much closer to my door! Speaking of good food, some of you may have attended our Family Dinner Night on Mondays at the Fernwood Community Centre. This year we started a new program called Student Dinner Night. The new dinners happen on Wednesday nights at the community centre and offer students who live in the community a break from their studies and a chance to share a meal with familiar faces or meet new people. When possible, this dinner event also showcases live music and gives students a chance to grab some free groceries through
the Food Share Network. And as long as I’m talking about food, I should remind everyone that the Good Food Box continues to be one of the best deals around. Go to thegoodfoodbox.ca/home/order and get yourself hooked up with this affordable, locally sourced, box of food. In closing, I want to say that the Board and Staff of Fernwood NRG strive to offer relevant and meaningful programs that make our community stronger and more vibrant. We like to think these services help pull this collection of houses, apartments and businesses into something more meaningful – a neighbourhood called Fernwood. Please accept our gratitude for your continued support in delivering these services. 2017 Annual Report
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