Annual Report 2009

Fernwood Neighborhood Resource Group Society

Annual Report 2009

Fernwood NRG’s latest housing project, Park Place, features solar hot water heating and edible landscaping. The six-unit complex opened its doors to families in September 2008.

New Beginnings, New Possibilities

I

T HAS BEEN ANOTHER BUSY

but rewarding year in Fernwood.

The single biggest accomplishment of the Society in the last two years was the construction and completion of the Park Place affordable housing Project on Yukon Street. We broke ground in January of 2008, finished construction in the summer, and in September, the first families moved in. The project was built on-time and on-budget and we raised over $1 million from four levels of government and private foundations to complete the project. What was formerly a vacant lot now houses six families with children—over 20 people in all. It is located beside a park, and features solar hot water heating and an edible landscape—both of these features make the housing more affordable as well as more environmentally sustainable.

Fernwood NRG has now completed ten 3-bedroom units of affordable housing in the past three years, providing affordable housing to nearly 40 people.

Our work in affordable housing has been recognized in the past year by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In November 2008, Roberta Martell (our former Executive Director), Lenore Rankin (our Development Director), Paula DeBeck (our Treasurer) and Garde Colins (our contractor who has worked with us on both the Cornerstone Building and who oversaw construction of Park Place),

received an award on behalf of Fernwood NRG from CMHC in Ottawa for “Best Practices in Affordable Housing” for the work we did on the Cornerstone Building.

This award is the second we have won for the Cornerstone Building. In 2007, we also received the President’s Award from the Victoria Hallmark Society for the Cornerstone restoration.

In the last year, we also made the difficult decision to focus on providing care and support to families with children five and under. We transferred the operations of our Out-of-School Care Program at George Jay School to Kids Klub. We had run the program at George Jay for many, many years but it had always been a struggle for us. By contrast, Kids Klub is a non-profit that operates out-of-school care programs at schools across five school districts and is now successfully operating that program.

Sadly, Roberta Martell, our Executive Director who worked so hard on behalf of the neighbourhood for five and half years gave her notice in the Spring of 2009. She felt she had achieved what she set out to achieve in Fernwood, and that it was time for her to consider her own future and to choose her next big adventure. (See p. 4 for a retrospective on Roberta’s time in Fernwood).

Roberta’s departure, of course, led us to search for a new Executive Director.

After a comprehensive process, we selected

Lee Herrin, our long time board member to take Roberta’s place. Lee was involved in the original hiring of Roberta and has worked side by side with her and the rest of the Board over the past six years. Although Lee and Roberta are very different people, we are lucky to have someone come forward to step into Roberta’s very big shoes who has already demonstrated such a longstanding commitment to this organization and to the neighbourhood. Lee started in August and has been focusing his attention internally to create a strong team with the capacity to move the organization into the next big project.

Speaking of which, one of the things the

society is currently working on is another affordable housing project very similar to Park Place at 1768 Pembroke Street. We have submitted a rezoning proposal to City Hall and are awaiting feedback and the opportunity to go to a public hearing. If all goes well, we will be reporting back to the membership in the new year that we are beginning our fundraising efforts.

Continuing to look forward, eight new directors were elected to the Board at our AGM in early December. We will begin the new year with a planning process in which we will first orient the Board to the organization, and then reach out to the broader neighbourhood by holding a forum similar to the one we held in 2007. We are also considering some other means to expand and enrich the neighbourhood dialogue, including conducting a survey of a random sample of neighbourhood residents as well as enhancing our website to support more social networking and dialogue on topics of interest and importance to the neighbourhood.

Thank you for your ongoing support of Fernwood NRG. I’m looking forward to a successful 2010.

Sincerely,

Caitlin Davies Chair, Board of Directors 2009 Annual Report

page 1

Report on our Principles & Values 2009 In 2005, Fernwood NRG adopted our Statement of Principles & Values which has guided us in our work ever since. The following report outlines how our efforts in the past year have advanced these principles & values on behalf of the neighbourhood.

1.

WE are committed to creating a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable neighbourhood.

When something is sustainable, it means there is an ability to continue doing what you’re already doing—indefinitely. Nobody really knows what a sustainable neighbourhood looks like in all its glory—but we’re confident we know some of the pieces.

A sustainable neighbourhood ensures that there is housing, care and opportunities for all to participate the daily life of the neighbourhood. Fernwood NRG does its part by providing high-quality childcare for 45 children, pre- and post-natal counseling and nutritional support to approximately 90 mothers and their families annually, recreation programs for teens, seniors and everyone in between, and opportunities for social connection for parents with young children through our parent and tot and Mother Goose Programs. We also provide affordable housing—in the past 3 years we have completed ten 3-bedroom units of affordable housing, providing housing for nearly 40 people.

A sustainable neighbourhood provides for many of its needs and minimizes the waste it produces. We have incorporated edible landscaping into the grounds of Park Place (1222 Yukon Street), and we support the Good Food Box which provides lowcost local food to families across the region.

We strive to achieve zero-waste (meaning composting or recycling all “waste” products) in all of our facilities and at our events.

We have incorporated clean energy projects into both of our building projects to

date—a geothermal heating system at the Cornerstone Building which provides for a significant portion of the heating needs of the building, and a solar-assist hot water system at Yukon Street which pre-heats hot water for the housing units and the laundry. We continue to host the monthly Recycling Day providing an opportunity to drop off more recyclables than are collected in the blue box system.

A sustainable neighbourhood has a healthy economic life, so that people can, in their own neighbourhood, both have meaningful work and obtain the necessities of life affordably. To this end, our most significant project has been the revitalization of the Cornerstone Building, in particular the reopening of three commercial units (with a fourth coming in the new year).

We also created our own business, the Cornerstone Café. When residents patronize the Cornerstone Café, they are supporting the neighbourhood revitalization directly, because the proceeds from that business flow back to Fernwood NRG to allow us to continue our good work. Stage, the tenant in the middle space, is owned by a Fernwood couple. Collective Works, the artists’ gallery, provides space for Fernwood artists to showcase their talents.

There is much more to do to make Fernwood deeply sustainable, but we’re proud of what we’ve already achieved in moving us closer to that goal.

2.

WE are committed to ensuring neighbourhood control or ownership of neighbourhood institutions and assets.

3.

WE are committed to using our resources prudently and to becoming financially self-reliant.

In the past year, Fernwood NRG completed the Park Place Project (1222 Yukon Street), raising over $1 million from government and foundations. This project, while providing affordable housing to 6 families, has also increased our assets by nearly $1.1 million since 2007. In combination with the Cornerstone building, Fernwood NRG has financial assets worth over $3.3 million. Against these two properties, Fernwood NRG has mortgages with Coastal Community Credit Union for $994,391. These mortgages are easily supported by the income from the two properties. Our complete financial statements for the 2008-09 fiscal year are available at fernwoodnrg.ca/financial09.

Fernwood NRG’s operations have returned to a surplus position after two years of minor deficits related to our various construction projects. In 2008-09, Fernwood NRG ran an operating surplus of $20,859 (or 1.3% of revenues). This was used to rebuild the organization’s cash position after four years of construction projects. As a result of the successful completion of our construction projects, the way in which the organization generates its revenues has greatly changed. In

4.

2002-03, Fernwood NRG depended on government for nearly 70% of its revenue; that number has fallen steadily since then and now sits at just under 33%. Notwithstanding the broader turmoil in financial markets, Fernwood NRG is stronger than ever financially due to our wise investments in the ongoing development of the neighbourhood. Our complete financial statements for the 2008-09 fiscal year are available at fernwoodnrg.ca/financial09.

WE are committed to the creation and support of neighbourhood employment.

Fernwood NRG employs over 40 people, many of whom live in the neighbourhood.

Approximately half of our staff are full-time. Throughout the year, we have hosted many students and placements, including three students from as far away as Montreal and Ukraine through the Canada World Youth Program. Through our work on the Cornerstone Building, we have created commercial space which is leased to another business and an artists’ collective. Our recreation programs encourage local providers to offer sessions of everything from yoga to community kitchens to participants in the space at the community centre. We even hosted a very successful craft fair which featured a number of artisans including some from the neighbourhood. page 2

2009 Annual Report

5.

WE are committed to engaging the dreams, resources, and talents of our neighbours and to fostering new links between them.

8.

WE are committed to developing the skills, capacity, self-worth, and excellence of our neighbours and ourselves.

There is a conscious intent inside Fernwood NRG to create the organization as a model of what is possible for neighbourhood organizations. We are increasingly being seen

Primarily, we engage with our neighbours in our living room at the Cornerstone Café.

Whether it’s just folks meeting each other for a cup of coffee and a chat, or whether it’s a bluegrass performance, the Friday night Sound Spa, or the art jam, a lot of connecting goes on through the café. Our recreation model allows local providers to come forward with their ideas for recreation programming that their neighbours would be interested in.

We provide space to groups of all kinds at little or no cost, from the addictions recovery program LifeRing to Food Skills for Families which supports recent immigrants to learn how to prepare food using ingredients commonly available in Victoria’s supermarkets. We publish our neighbourhood newspaper, the Village Vibe, which provides a Fernwoodfocused calendar of events, space for announcements, and an opportunity for writers and photographers to see their name in print.

6.

WE are committed to taking action in response to neighbourhood issues, ideas, and initiatives.

Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in Victoria have been issues that have galvanized the neighbourhood in the past several years. Fernwood NRG has responded with creation of ten 3-bedroom units of affordable housing since 2006. In

the past six months, we’ve focused more on the little things which make a big difference—in particular, parking and pedestrian safety. We are hopeful that 2010 will bring civic investment into adding more non-residential parking in the core of the village, and improvements to the crosswalk across Fernwood Road at Gladstone.

These investments will support the ongoing revitalization of the village. In prior years, we’ve hosted community forums to identify issues of importance to neighbourhood residents, and to brainstorm ways to resolve them—this is something we will be doing again in 2010.

7.

WE are committed to governing our organization and serving our neighbourhood democratically with a maximum of openness, inclusivity and kindness.

Fernwood NRG’s membership is open to anyone 14 years old and older who lives in Fernwood. The Board of Directors of Fernwood NRG is drawn from the membership, meaning Fernwood NRG is run by and for Fernwood, and cannot be controlled by nonresidents. There is no fee for membership in Fernwood NRG, so there is no financial barrier to membership. In 2009, we put out an open call for residents to come forward if they were interested in joining our Board of Directors. We now have a full Board of Directors, all residents of the neighbourhood, who will guide the organization in the coming year.

9.

as a leader in the region, provincially, and even nationally for our work in affordable housing in particular. We have been contacted by folks from Nanaimo to Ontario to have discussions about how they could create a Neighbourhood Resource Group in their own neighbourhood. We have had to learn many things we did not previously know in order to grow and be successful in our work—it is rewarding to be able to share that knowledge with others who are inspired by our example.

Fernwood NRG creates numerous volunteer opportunities, from helping with our childcare programs, to coordinating recycling day, to helping out at Fernfest— all of which allow residents opportunities to learn new skills, meet new people or give back to the neighbourhood. We also provide space and facilities for other groups to meet, allowing still more opportunities for learning, connection and growth.

WE are committed to focusing on the future while preserving our neighbourhood’s heritage and diversity.

Fernwood NRG has demonstrated a strong concern for heritage over the years. Our former property at 1423 Fernwood Road (known as Fernwood House), was lovingly restored inside and out (especially the interior stairwell of dark, paneled wood) by volunteers and contractors. The property was designated as a heritage building after we completed our work on it. We made a difficult decision in 2005 to trade that house as a downpayment on the Cornerstone Building which was undoubtedly headed toward demolition give its lack of habitability. We worked tirelessly with hundreds of volunteers to gut the building, then fundraised to have it restored. The Hallmark Society recognized our work with the President’s Award for adaptive reuse of the heritage inventoried building.

We then went on to develop the property at 1222 Yukon Street, which had been a vacant lot for a long time. Yukon Street is, of course, one of the jewels of the neighbourhood, and we wanted to ensure that our building was sensitive to the surrounding heritage houses while maximizing the use of the lot and the funds we raised to provide muchneeded housing. We hope you agree that we succeeded in this aim!

10.

WE are committed to creating neighbourhood places that are vibrant, beautiful, healthy, and alive.

Fernwood is once again a vibrant neighbourhood. There were times five years ago when the neighbourhood felt empty, ugly and profoundly unhealthy. The re-investment into the core of the neighbourhood—which began with the Belfry restoration, continued with the Cornerstone purchase and revitalization, the makeover of the Fernwood Inn, and which is now being completed with the ongoing work on the Rennie & Taylor Building—has had a dramatic impact in this change. The improvements that will come in future years will not likely be as dramatic as the Cornerstone project, but they will all

11.

be guided by the same underlying intent of creating vibrancy, beauty, health and aliveness. A single example demonstrates the spontaneous desire for beauty and vibrancy that lives in Fernwood—the painting of the poles which, in recent years, has replaced tagging.

Events also create a feeling of vibrancy— Fernwood NRG staged the annual FernFest celebration in the square this past June with music, dancing and even a little magic. And bubbles, of course! This past October, the Hallowe’en bonfire in Stevenson Park, an old Fernwood tradition, was revived.

AND, most of all, WE are committed to having fun!

Honestly, if you got to do this great work day after day, wouldn’t you be having fun too? You can support our work by joining our organization (membership is free) by visiting fernwoodnrg.ca/who-we-are/membership or by making a donation (visit fernwoodnrg.ca/donate for information.

2009 Annual Report

page 3

A Thank-You: Roberta Martell

W

HEN ROBERTA MARTELL

first started work in Fernwood in January of 2004, the Cornerstone Building was boarded up. The main issues galvanizing the neighbourhood were intravenous drug use and its attendant problems. The Community Centre was open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week and we had just lost a major chunk of funding from the provincial government due to cutbacks. Now, six years later, the Cornerstone Building is the thriving hub of the neighbourhood, IV drug use is still an issue but is being much better managed, the Community Centre is open from 9 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday and hosts numerous events and activities on weekends, the annual revenues of Fernwood NRG are up 87% from $841,000 when Roberta started

From left: Roberta during the construction of the Cornerstone, smiling on a bench, reading the Vibe inside partially-constructed Park Place with Lenore Rankin and Rob Fleming.

to $1.58 million last year, and the Society’s assets have increased from $445,000 to over $3.3 million.

Roberta made a big splash when she arrived on the scene, almost singlehandedly whipping up a groundswell of support citywide to encourage City Council to rethink its misguided Recreation Renewal plan. The plan, had it gone ahead, was to close neighbourhood centres such as ours in favour of much larger civic-run buildings. She then set to work on the urgent shortage of childcare in the city by opening the Fernwood Infant & Toddler Care program, providing much-needed childcare to 20 young children. She extended the hours and revamped the recreation programs of the community

centre, ensuring they were relevant to neighbourhood residents. She gave the board confidence we could take on the Cornerstone Building and tirelessly negotiated with Robin Kimpton, the former owner, to cut a deal the neighbourhood could live with. She led the volunteer efforts to gut the building, raised funds for the affordable housing suites upstairs, and oversaw the repair and restoration of the building. Roberta insisted that the project incorporate a clean energy component—the geothermal heating system—and brought her old boss and friend David Suzuki to town to help raise the money to pay for it. She had the vision and energy to create the Cornerstone Café, at a time when the Society’s resources were

Our Staff 2008-2009

Our Supporters

Maia Anstey Germaine Asplin Elisha Barker Hilary Beckett Eila Buziak Natalie Bishop Sarah Crocker Caitlin Croteau Amanda Cruickshank Kelly Daniels Khalina Demandre Katy Dewinetz David Gilchrist Jo-Anne Gilmour Amber Goforth Gabrielle Hanlon Ayeala Helbig Lee Herrin Johanna Henderson Chris Howard Lyn Joth Conlan Killeen Mandy Kler Moyuru Koga Kate Lackey Krissy Lynn Jahnava Moore Roberta Martell Shelley McGrath Kayliah McKinnon Marianne McLauchlin Matt Muise Meghan Murphy Michael Politano Bowles

Current Board Members:

page 4

Caitlin Davies Paula DeBeck Sue Salvati Matt Takach Lisa Matthaus Tony Nelson Todd Faulkner Andrea Scott Simon Nattrass Bianca Bodley Steve Parr Outgoing Board Members:

Aaron Ellingsen Trish Richards BC Council For Families BC Gaming Branch Yuri Pomeroy Allison Power Kirsty Rankin Lenore Rankin Maia Ray-Pine Joy Roberts Sushil Saini Kumi Sakai Shannon Sargent Heather Schiedel Brenda Scott Hanna Scott Sean Solberg

2009 Annual Report

James Thornton Amy Traverso Sandy Tremblay Talia Turner Casey VanWensem Jacqueline Walker Robyn Watt Tanya Weldon Adele Woodyard Eri Yamashita Nasstasia Yard Stuart Zilm

BC Housing BC Recreation and Parks Association Belfry Theatre Blanshard Community Centre Blue Map Sustainable Solutions Canada Helps Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

extremely strained. Within nine months, the café was earning a surplus and returning income to the Society to allow us to continue to grow. No sooner had work ceased on the Cornerstone, than the Park Place project began. She led the fundraising efforts which made that project such a success, raising over $1 million. Fernwood as a neighbourhood is much stronger, healthier, and more spirited than before she arrived.

She has left an indelible mark on the fabric of this neighbourhood. Roberta Martell is extremely courageous and passionate, and we miss her terribly. But we wish her luck on her journey, and we are certain we will hear of her much more in the years to come.

Canada World Youth

Oak Bay Kiwanis

Capital Families Association Capital Regional District Chris Kennedy Christine Lintott City of Victoria Cold Star Foods Community Action Program for Children Deryk Houston Discovery Coffee Equitable Life of Canada Garde Collins Garth Homer Society Homelessness Partnership Initiative Individual donors like you Industry Canada Lucy’s in the Square Mackenzie Charitable Giving Foundation Ministry of Children and Family Development Ministry of Housing and Social Development

Our Volunteers Provincial Employee Community Services Public Health Agency of Canada Real Estate Board of Victoria Real Estate Foundation of BC Service Canada St. Patrick’s School Stage Small Plates Wine Bar The Centre for Sustainability The Food Security Collective The Placemaking/ Mapping Group United Way of Greater Victoria Vancouver Island Health Authority Victoria Foundation Village Vibe Advertisers Woodward and Company Yellow House Collective