Annual Report 2012
A Word from the Chair ››
Lisa Matthaus
In 2012, Fernwood NRG’s Board of Directors set a new strategic direction for the organization focused on food and food production.
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ver our more than 30-year history, Fernwood NRG has expanded from a long-time focus on childcare and programming at the Fernwood Community Centre to playing a central role in the economic and social revitalization of the heart of Fernwood. As well, Fernwood NRG now provides affordable family housing through our 10 units in the Cornerstone Building and Park Place. In the spring of 2011, we held our second Neighbourhood Visioning Forum which was attended by 140 people from the neighbourhood including a number of groups active in the neighbourhood. We spent the day in dialogue to determine our collective priorities for the future. Both
affordable housing and food security rose as key priorities. While record high property prices and less grant availability from both government and foundations makes this a risky time to pursue property development for affordable housing (though we’re always watching for opportunities!), we see lots of ways to start advancing food security in Fernwood. What is food security? Ultimately, real food security means that we have the capacity to sustain ourselves indefinitely with food we have grown, stored and prepared ourselves—not each of us as individuals, but at a larger regional scale. There are many in the Capital Region who are bringing a much greater emphasis on food and food security to the popular
consciousness. In 2012, Fernwood NRG’s Centre at 1240 Gladstone Avenue. We Board of Directors set a new strategic also secured generous support from various direction for the organization focused on funders to develop related initiatives for food and food production. Part of our the coming year, including a survey of vision for the neighbourhood in the next Fernwood residents’ food security needs and interests, an five years is to scale inventory of land in up that production. We want to see the neighbourhood We want to see food food growing potentially available growing everywhere, for growing food, and to celebrate everywhere, and and presentations what can be grown to celebrate what and workshops with and produced in can be grown and a number of partners. the city. We want To see more about Fernwood to become produced in the these and other known as “the food city. projects planned or neighbourhood,” in the idea-phase for where there is an emphasis on producing our own food and the coming year, go to http://fernwoodjoyously consuming it. nrg.ca/fernwood-nrg-programs/urbanAlready, in 2012, we brought the Good sustainability/food-security/ and watch Food Box into our organization, and we the Village Vibs. now deliver roughly 250 boxes of food I would like to take this opportunity every two weeks to families across the to say thank you to my colleagues on the region. And later in the year, we announced Board, our dedicated staff and committed that we will be planting an orchard and volunteers, our funders, and all of our garden in the Spring of 2013 in the lands many supporters in the neighbourhood adjacent to the Fernwood Community and beyond for a productive 2012! 2012 Annual Report
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Report on our Principles & Values 2012 In 2005, Fernwood NRG adopted our Declaration of Principles & Values which has guided our work since then. The following report outlines how our efforts in the past year have advanced these principles & values on behalf of the neighbourhood.
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WE are committed to creating a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable neighbourhood.
Since the birth of our organization in 1979, Fernwood NRG has been providing child care and family programming at the Fernwood Community Centre. Since 1992, we have been delivering the Canada Pre-Natal Health and Nutrition Program which provides nutritional counseling and support to approximately 100 expecting mothers per year. In 2004, we opened our Infant & Toddler child care program in a portable behind the Fernwood Community Centre. This increased the number of spaces in our child care programs to 45. In 2006, we opened four 3-bedroom units of affordable housing, and in 2008, we created another six 3-bedroom units. These programs and services demonstrate Fernwood NRG’s commitment to providing vital social supports in our neighbourhood. In 2005, Fernwood NRG stepped forward to purchase the then boarded-up building at the corner of Fernwood and Gladstone. Through this investment, we played a significant role in revitalizing the economic life of our neighbourhood. In 2006, we opened the Cornerstone Café to have a place to start rebuilding neighbourhood connections as well as creating neighbourhood employment. The Café is owned and operated by Fernwood NRG, and the proceeds from the Café support the provision of programs and services in Fernwood. In 2011, we heard at our Neighbourhood Visioning Forum that Fernwoodians desire greater food security and want to see more food grown in Fernwood. In 2012, Fernwood NRG adopted Food Security as a strategic direction for the next several years. We have already announced that we will be converting the gardens and lands around the Community Centre to food production (a kitchen garden and an orchard), and we have taken on the operations of the Good Food Box. We also hosted Don Genova in November to speak about the New Urban Food Culture, and we will be hosting many more food-related activities at the Community Centre in the coming year. All of these activities taken together (and others we haven’t mentioned) demonstrate how Fernwood NRG is living our commitment to Urban Sustainability. Find out more about what we do at http://fernwoodnrg.ca/fernwood-nrg-programs/urban-sustainability/.
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WE are committed to using our resources prudently and to becoming financially self-reliant.
In October of 2011, the membership of Fernwood NRG approved the creation of a wholly owned subsidiary company, Fernwood NRG Holdings Inc. to take ownership of and to operate the Cornerstone Café. This restructuring was to satisfy federal regulations for charities. As a result of this change, in the 2011/12 fiscal year, our revenues shrank by 10.4% or $170,280 over the previous year. Since this organizational restructuring occurred in November, there were only 8 months of café revenues showing in our financial statements rather than 12 months. Next year, the organization will “shrink” again because there will be no café revenues on the books of the Society in 2012/13. As well, in 2011/12, grant revenues were down 5.7% as governments and
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funders continued to contract. However, Fernwood NRG’s diverse sources of income will buffer us from continued government cutbacks. Since 2006, we have reduced our dependence on government grants from over 65% to less than 30%. Looking for ward, we expect to earn more of our own revenue and to depend on government and funders less. Although we ran a deficit of 5.1% of revenues in 2011/12, in part due to the restructuring, we have made the necessary changes to our organization to put ourselves back into a surplus position in the current fiscal year and beyond. Our financial statements for the 2011/12 fiscal year are available at http:// fernwoodnrg.ca/financials12/.
WE are committed to the creation and support of neighbourhood employment.
Fernwood NRG employs 42 people. This represents roughly 25 full-time positions. In all, 80 people were paid for work with Fernwood NRG in 2012, many of whom live in the neighbourhood.
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WE are committed to ensuring neighbourhood control or ownership of neighbourhood institutions and assets.
Fernwood NRG owns property in Fernwood at 1301-13 Gladstone Avenue, 1222 Yukon Street, as well as a portable building sited behind the Fernwood Community Centre at 1240 Gladstone Avenue. Over the years, we have invested $3.23 million in the acquisition and development of these properties. Under agreement with the City, we operate the Fernwood Community Centre at 1240 Gladstone Avenue. We have worked with the City over the past several years to improve the facility in various ways that have extended the life of the building. The City’s investments in the building since 2010 (lighting, flooring, roof repair, painting, and now the HVAC system) total more than $200,000. page 2
2012 Annual Report
In 2010, Fernwood NRG signed a lease with the Victoria School District (SD61) to steward Springridge Common for all of Fernwood. We renewed that agreement in 2012, and have invested nearly $15,000 in labour and materials raised from a variety of sources into improvements to the Common. In the 2011/12 fiscal year, Fernwood NRG invested $11,123 in capital assets, much of which was replacement of worn equipment and furnishings. We also retired $26,587 of debt (principal) related to the mortgages on our properties (1222 Yukon and 1301-13 Gladstone). Our financial statements for the 2011/12 fiscal year are available at http:// fernwoodnrg.ca/financials12/.
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WE are committed to engaging the dreams, resources, and talents of our neighbours and to fostering new links between them.
In 2012, Fernwood NRG launched Fernwood University, which brought neighbourhood residents together to hear nine free lectures at the Cornerstone Café. Each lecture was related to one or more of Fernwood NRG’s Principles and Values (see http://fernwoodnrg.ca/fernwooduniversity/). In 2013, Fernwood University will focus on food in the city. The second pole-painting day held in May of 2012 was also a great success. Fernwood NRG, along with the Paint-Box’s Emily Grav and Beth Threlfall held a
stencil-making workshop attended by more than 30 people. We also gave out over 100 pole-painting kits to decorate another 100 utility poles in Fernwood and beyond. Every second Wednesday morning, 15 volunteers gather at the Fernwood Community Centre to pack and distribute roughly 250 Good Food boxes of fruits and vegetables to folks across the region. This is just a small sample of the projects we undertook in 2012 to engage Fernwoodians and to create more connections between neighbours.
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WE are committed to taking action in response to neighbourhood issues, ideas, and initiatives.
In response to resident input at our 2011 Neighbourhood Visioning Forum, Fernwood NRG is shifting our organizational focus to Food Security. Through 2012, we have been working with City staff to develop a plan to plant an orchard containing 24 mixed fruit trees behind the Community Centre. With approval from Council, the orchard will be planted in the spring of 2013. We held a public forum in December 2012 to hear residents’ views and to gather the names of volunteers—we will be calling on those who are willing to help as soon as we get the green light to plant! Also, in 2012 we began negotiating the terms of use of the garden in front of the Community Centre. We will be planting this to a mix of annual and perennial vegetables, berries and fruits to support our programs at the Centre this coming spring. In 2012, a small example of taking action in response to neighbourhood ideas was the painting of the information kiosk in the square. At Fernwood University, a resident challenged us to make it more functional and more attractive. We agreed that we should do that, so we worked with Emily Grav to clean up the kiosk, paint it, and refresh the cork. In all, this project took several people a few hours, and cost less than $300—but it makes a big difference to how things look in the square. What do you want to see in your neighbourhood? Let us know and if it’s feasible, we might just ask you to help us do it!
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Perhaps the most delightful outcome of our commitment to “focusing on the future while preserving our neighbourhood’s heritage and diversity” in 2012 came in July, when the New York Times published an article about Fernwood under the headline “A creative corner of Victoria mixes old and new.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, and we’re glad it’s so obvious that even newspapers across the continent are taking notice. The article featured five photos, and in two of them were painted poles. The Cornerstone Café (at that time hosting the Victoria 150 exhibit with historic photos Fernwood through the years) was also mentioned, along with Stage Wine Bar, Freedom Kilts, the Paint Box School of Art and Springridge Common. We feel we must be doing something right if we’re getting this kind of international exposure!
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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 residents of Fernwood, and cannot be controlled by non-residents. There is no fee to join Fernwood NRG, so there is no financial barrier to membership. This is our fourth year of distributing our Annual Report through the Village Vibe so that it gets to every household in the neighbourhood. We are doing this again this year to continue to raise awareness in the neighbourhood of who we are and what we do.
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WE are committed to developing the skills, capacity, self-worth, and excellence of our neighbours and ourselves.
Behind the scenes, all of the great events and activities Fernwood NRG organizes are supported by volunteers, from Fernwood University to Pole Painting, to FernFest and Fernwood Bites. We couldn’t do any of these things without the willing support of nearly 100 people who help us through the year. Of course, we also have many regular volunteers at the Community Centre who help us with all of our regular programming, including the good folks from Garth Homer who come every week to help with landscape maintenance and toy-washing. We’re now at the point where we will be calling for volunteers on a regular basis to help us with hosting events, coordinating activities, and taking on projects. At our Neighbourhood Orchard Consultation Meeting in December of 2012, 12 people signed up as volunteers. This is a huge inflection point for the neighbourhood, because with a large group of committed volunteers, many incredible
projects become possible that would never happen if they could only be completed by paid staff. If you’re keen to help us continue the transformation of the neighbourhood, watch the notice boards, the Village Vibe and our website for volunteer opportunities. Or better yet, become a member of Fernwood NRG at http://fernwoodnrg.
WE are committed to focusing on the future while preserving our neighbourhood’s heritage and diversity.
WE are committed to creating neighbourhood places that are vibrant, beautiful, healthy, and alive.
In 2012 we were able to make some long overdue improvements to the exterior of the Cornerstone Building. We refreshed the paint (though one day soon we will need to repoint the brickwork), added lights around the perimeter to better light the sidewalk and the business entrances at night, and added a living wreath on the
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Fernwood Road side of the building. Our new tenants, the lovely folks at the Yoga Den, also added a beautiful mural of a lotus flower on the east wall of the building. These enhancements have definitely added to the appearance of the building, and as well reflect the unique character of our neighbourhood.
AND, most of all, WE are committed to having fun!
Fernwood University, Pole-Painting Day, FernFest and Fernwood Bites, getting recognized in the New York Times, partnering on Neighbours for Change with the Fernwood Inn, a Permaculture Design course, the free New Urban Food Culture talk with Don Genova… If this doesn’t sound like fun to you, we don’t know what would. Don’t miss out on the fun in 2013. Watch the Village Vibe, or www.fernwoodnrg.ca or just come on down to the Cornerstone Café to find out what’s going on. Fernwood Bites will be held June 23rd in Fernwood Square. Mark your calendar now and watch for tickets to go on sale as it will sell out quickly. You won’t want to miss it! You can support our work by joining our organization (membership is free) at www. fernwoodnrg.ca/fernwood-nrg-get-involved/become-a-member/ or by making a donation www.fernwoodnrg.ca/donate/.
ca/fernwood-nrg-get-involved/becomea-member/ (or drop by our office at 1313
Gladstone Avenue) and tell us what skills you can offer as a volunteer. You’ll also notice that in the coming year, the Fernwood Community Centre will become more of a skills-development centre, especially focused around food (whether growing it, storing and preserving it, or preparing it). We began this shift in 2012 by partnering with Permaculture BC to host a Permaculture Design Certificate course through the fall (attended by 25 committed students). Watch the Village Vibe and www.fernwoodnrg.ca for news about upcoming offerings in 2013. 2012 Annual Report
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Our Staff
Maia Anstey Germaine Asplin Christian Baerike Alison Barnett Nicholas Basansky Shonna Bell Sina Betschart Steven Bjornson Fiona Bongarts Kamara Brilling Daniel Bromley Seth Brooks Erin Burton Jenna Cotton Abby Cronk Ashleigh Cyr Mila Czemerys Amber Davidson Danielle Davies Jasmine Dixon Lanna Duffy Sherry Dunlop Ona Dunn Claire Eide Chloe Elias
Greg Enkel Kate Ferguson David Gilchrist Rebecca Giles Dee-Ann Gordon Celine Grandbois Lee Herrin Maggie Hertzberg Madelaine Hittos Janice Hoffman Ashley Humphreys Amy Ingram Bailey Jensen Fariyal Karmali Mizuho Kashiwagi Denyse Koo Eva Kotusova Jean Lawson Sarah Laxton-Scott Lauren MacKay Kirsten Maddison Victoria McColl Madeleine McGillvray Madison McRae-Cox Jeremy Morrison
Vivian Munnion Erin Munro Holly Anne Oaken Alex Pask Andrew Picard Yuri Pomeroy Patrick Pouponneau Sarah A. Primus Phoebe Ramsay Kirsty Rankin Lenore Rankin Jessica Renfrew Ritva Robinson Mary Rutter Harry Siegel Sean Solberg Staci Sten Nathan Sun Judy Swanston Debra Tattersall Shelly Taylor Mary Thompson Lauren Turner Talia Turner Kathleen Unfreed
Ada Vera Shannon Vickers Micqualyn Waldie Julie Wattier Caitlin Webb Jessica Wilner Sean Wright
Samantha Wylie Caitlin Wynne Freya Zurcher Current Board Members
Lisa Matthaus Kelsey Singbeil
Caitlin Davies Paula DeBeck Matt Takach Andrea Scott Outgoing Board Member
Tony Nelson
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Neighbourhood page 4
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2012 Annual Report
Jen Mitch
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Vancouver Island