Annual Report 2013, Fernwood NRG by Fernwood NRG

Annual Report 2013

A Word from the Chair ››

n my letter last year I talked about the twin priorities of Fernwood NRG, as generated at our 2011 Neighbourhood Visioning Forum: affordable housing and food security. At the time, record high property prices and less grant availability made it risky to pursue proper ty development for affordable housing (“though we’re always watching for opportunities!”), but we saw many ways to promote food security in Fernwood. As it turned out, we ended up advancing both priorities at the same time! Last year, Fernwood NRG took on several initiatives to increase food security in Fernwood. In particular, we took a lead city-wide in planting edible gardens

around public buildings and in public parks: on a very rainy day last September, over 20 volunteers installed Fernwood’s Neighbourhood Orchard behind the Fernwood Community Centre at 1240 Gladstone Avenue. This coming spring, we will be planting a kitchen garden along the front of the Community Centre as well. We also held four sessions of Fernwood University in 2013 devoted to the topic of Food Security, and continued to deliver the Good Food Box program which brings affordable boxes of fruits and vegetables to families across the region. As well, being on the lookout for affordable housing opportunities resulted in a once-in-a-generation chance right in the core of the neighbourhood. In September, the membership of Fernwood NRG approved a borrowing resolution which enabled us to complete the purchase of two properties in the very core of the neighbourhood: 1310 Gladstone Avenue and 2009 Fernwood Road. We also have an option to purchase two adjacent properties in 2015 provided we can secure the necessary development rights and the financing to build more affordable housing. After we announced the purchase, the Times-Colonist said in an editorial:

Lisa Matthaus

“The residents of Fernwood appear to be big believers in the principle: if you want something done right, do it yourself. Members of the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group want to make their ‘urban village’ a better place for families, so they are putting money and work into shaping what it will look like. They don’t want to make the funky village bigger, just better…. It’s a community attitude that others could learn from, with residents shaping their village with bricks and mortar to create homes for new neighbours.” While ramping up these new projects we’ve been careful not to lose sight of the important on-going work Fernwood NRG does, in particular our child care programs and recreational programming at the Community Centre. Our child care facilities continue to operate at capacity, while the Community Centre is also used at near-full capacity through the week. All of our hardworking staff, volunteers, and our members, donors and supporters can be proud of what we’ve already achieved as an organization. I’m very excited about the next steps for the new projects in 2014 and looking forward to breaking ground, hopefully, in 2015. Watch for more information and opportunities to have your say in what the new developments will be!

The residents of Fernwood appear to be big believers in the principle: if you want something done right, do it yourself. Members of the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group want to make their ‘urban village’ a better place for families, so they are putting money and work into shaping what it will look like. They don’t want to make the funky village bigger, just better… 2013 Annual Report

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Report on our Principles & Values 2013 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 and values on behalf of the neighbourhood.

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

In September 2013, the membership of Fernwood NRG unanimously approved borrowing to purchase two properties in the heart of Fernwood Village: 1310 Gladstone Avenue and 2009 Fernwood Road. Fernwood NRG is seeking a rezoning on 1310 Gladstone Avenue and intends to redevelop both properties over the longer term as mixed use, providing space for neighbourhood-based businesses, offices and housing. We believe that the key to neighbourhood health and long term sustainability is to have a mix of housing and services in the core of the village. The people living in the village core provide a built-in support for the businesses, especially businesses that focus on providing the necessities of day to day life; they also benefit from the convenience of having access to goods, services, and transportation links just outside their door. In developing these properties, Fernwood NRG intends to incorporate as many features as possible to ensure the new buildings are both energy efficient and long lasting, while sensitively blending in to their surroundings. We are laying down the roots of our village for the next hundred years or more. One popular definition of sustainability is to think seven generations ahead (or roughly 150 years into the future)—we don’t know for sure what the future will bring, but we believe that building efficient, attractive, long-lasting buildings that can accommodate a mix of uses both now and in the future is good step toward building a more sustainable neighbourhood.

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

In July of 2013, our company brought a new business into being in the Cornerstone Building: Studio 1313 Hair Design. Studio 1313 is the rebirth of Studio 1284 which was formerly located in the square. Jacqueline Rogers and her team now work for Fernwood NRG providing the same great service and style as they did before. Now, however, the income from the business supports the provision of services and supports to families and individuals right here in Fernwood. Studio 1313, along with the Cornerstone Café, are ways that Fernwood NRG both builds community while becoming more financially selfreliant.

In 2012/13, our charitable arm, the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group Society, rebounded from a deficit in the 2011/12 fiscal year and generated a significant surplus of $96,354, which included a significant donation from the Company. The revenues of the Society shrank following the restructuring in the previous fiscal year to separate the activities of the Society and the Company; going forward, the Society’s revenues will grow as the Society develops more affordable housing. Our financial statements for the 2012/13 fiscal year are available http://bit. ly/1hzuwZH.

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

Fernwood NRG employed 72 people in 2013. This represents roughly 30 full-time positions. This represents a growth of approximately five full-time positions from the previous year, mostly through the addition of Studio 1313.

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

Fernwood NRG strongly demonstrated this principle in 2013 by negotiating with the M’akola Group of Societies to ensure that their four properties in the core of Fernwood Village would come under neighbourhood control and ownership. At this point, Fernwood NRG has secured two of the properties and has an option on the other two to be exercised in 2015. Through this purchase, in 2013 Fernwood NRG invested $1.1 million into the heart of the neighbourhood. Following through on the purchase of 2013 and 2017 Fernwood Road, as well as building new buildings will require a much

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2013 Annual Report

greater investment still. Although these investments were made in 2013, they will not show on our financial statements until later in 2014. I n t h e 2 0 1 2 / 1 3 f i s c a l y e a r, Fernwood NRG invested a very modest $4,832 in capital assets, much of which was replacement of worn equipment and furnishings. We also retired $50,465 of debt (principal) related to the mortgages on our properties (1222 Yukon and 130113 Gladstone). Our financial statements for the 2012/13 fiscal year are available at http:// bit.ly/1hzuwZH.

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

In 2013, Fernwood NRG continued Fernwood University, which brought neighbourhood residents together to hear four free lectures at the Cornerstone Café. Each lecture was related to the idea of “food in the city” (see http://fernwoodnrg.ca/fernwood-university/). The third pole-painting day held in May of 2013 was also a great success. We gave out over 100 pole-painting kits to decorate another 100 utility poles in Fernwood and beyond, and sent a crew from Fernwood NRG around the neighbourhood to touch up poles that needed it. Every second Wednesday morning, 15 volunteers gathered at the Fernwood

Community Centre to pack and distribute roughly 250 Good Food boxes of fruits and vegetables to folks across the region. This was the first full year of operations of the Good Food Box inside Fernwood NRG. On a rainy Saturday in September, we held Plant-a-Fruit-Tree-Day. Twenty hardy volunteers braved the rain to dig holes, plant trees, drive T-posts, and protect the newly planted trees with deer fencing. In future years, watch for pruning workshops, and the first fruits! This is just a small sample of the projects we undertook in 2013 to engage Fernwoodians and to create more connections between neighbours.

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

At our Neighbourhood Visioning Forum in 2011, roughly 140 Fernwoodians turned out to talk about the future of Fernwood. The single biggest issue identified that day by the participants was the need for more affordable housing. Greater food security was also a high priority, along with more neighbourhood-oriented businesses in the village core. Fernwood NRG spent 2012 preparing to tackle food security, as we believed at that time that property prices were too high (along with the fact that most funders are no longer giving grants for affordable housing). We held courses and lectures at the Community Centre, we planted our neighbourhood orchard in 2013, and we are preparing to install a kitchen garden in front of the Community Centre in 2014. We also took over the operations of the Good Food Box (a long term partner), a program that uses volunteers to deliver high quality boxes of fruits and vegetables to people and families across the region. But sometimes, an opportunity lands in your lap even when you aren’t actively looking for one. That more than describes what happened in 2013 when we learned that four properties were for sale right in the heart of the village. These properties, due to their location in the village core, have development potential to increase the amount of commercial space in the village, while adding a modest amount of much-needed affordable housing. Fernwood NRG will be developing this opportunity over the next five to ten years as this represents the single biggest project we have ever embraced. However, you can be sure we won’t lose sight of our commitment to food security, or any of the other important services we provide, like child care and support for families.

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

Any new building project, especially when it involves replacing what currently exists, requires a careful balance. That is one big reason Fernwood NRG stepped up to purchase the properties when we did: we couldn’t be sure that a private developer would be working from a set of Principles and Values like ours. The buildings we will propose will be designed as modern buildings, but designed to look like part of the neighbourhood. We will be paying careful attention to the way the buildings face the street, the types of materials that are used, and the architectural details like the size and shape of windows and doors, and ornamentation. Our buildings will be larger than what is there at present, but modest overall, in scale with the core of the village, and pleasing in appearance. For those with concerns about any change at all, we encourage you to have a look at our property at 1222 Yukon Street. Although it is a larger building than the five heritage houses on the street, its design is very much in keeping with the much older and very attractive houses there. We are aiming to achieve much the same result here in the core of the village.

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

A café is a meeting place—we see everything from nervous first dates, to business meetings, to deep philosophical conversations. We also see people working at their computers (a curse of modern times for many of us), but being part of the life of the neighbourhood at the same time. A salon is a place for long conversations, to catch up on the news, or to tell stories— it is much more than just a place to get a haircut. The same is true of a theatre, a grocer, a pub, a taco stand, a yoga studio, an allotment garden, or a community hall and so on. What makes a neighbourhood a neighbourhood is neighbours, going about

their daily lives just as we are going about ours—it is this daily activity that gives any neighbourhood its unique character. The vibrancy, beauty, overall health and aliveness of a neighbourhood is as much a product of the commercial and community spaces as it is the residential places where we eat, sleep, relax and spend time with our friends and family. Over the next five to ten years, Fernwood NRG will be working to add a few more commercial spaces, and a number of residential apartments. These spaces will be the meetings places and spaces that create and enliven daily life for Fernwoodians long after all of us today are gone.

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. If you support our work and live in Fernwood, we would love to have you as a member! 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 fifth 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.

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, to Planta-Fruit-Tree-Day and our upcoming garden planting. 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. 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.ca/fernwood-nrgget-involved/become-a-member/ (or

drop by our office at 1310 Gladstone Avenue) and tell us what skills you can offer as a volunteer.

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

Fernwood University, Pole Painting Day, Plant-a-Fruit-Tree-Day, FernFest and Fernwood Bites, partnering with the Fernwood Inn on Neighbours for Change, planting an orchard, co-creating the future of the neighbourhood… If this doesn’t sound like fun to you, we don’t know what would. Don’t miss out on the fun in 2014. Watch the Village Vibe, or http://fernwoodnrg.ca or just come on down to the Cornerstone Café to find out what’s going on. FernFest once again celebrates the summer solstice (June 20-21) with family fun and live music. Fernwood Bites will be held June 22nd 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 http:// fernwoodnrg.ca/fernwood-nrg-get-involved/become-a-member/ or by making a donation http://fernwoodnrg.ca/donate/. 2013 Annual Report

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Our Staff

Sherrie Alexander Sarah Alpert Maia Anstey Germaine Asplin Christian Baerike Nicholas Basansky Shonna Bell Steve Bjornson Fiona Bongarts Danica Boyce Ceara Boyer Kimara Brilling Daniel Bromley Joshua Casey Jenna Cotton Abby Cronk Ashleigh Cyr Mila Czemerys Jesse Douglas Lanna Duffy Naomi Eckert Claire Eide Chloe Elias Greg Enkel Miriam Enkel Vivian Gleeson

Clarissa Gotobed Jacob Hart Shelley Heit Lee Herrin Madelaine Hittos Ashley Humphreys Bailey Jensen Andrea Johnston Judy Johnston Kathryn Juricic Fariyal Karmali Mizuho Kashiwagi Renee Kennedy Eva Kotusova Sarah Laxton-Scott Lauren MacKay Emily Maxwell Victoria McColl Cheyenne McColm Madeleine McGillivray Madison McRae-Cox Jill Morgan Jeremy Morrison Erin Munro Holly Oaken Dumont Omeasoo

Alex Pask Johanna Payjack Yuri Pomeroy Patrick Pouponneau Phoebe Ramsay Kirsty Rankin Lenore Rankin Jessica Renfrew Andrea Robertson Ritva Robinson Tina Robinson Jacqueline Rogers Kari-Anne Sawatsky Catherine Shillington Harry Siegel Sean Solberg Staci Sten Nathan Sun Judy Swanston Shelly Taylor Zoei Thibault Mary Thompson Lauren Turner Talia Turner Kathleen Unfreed Talyse Watson

Julie Wattier Caitlin Webb Jessica Wilner Samantha Wylie Caitlin Wynne Freya Zurcher

Current Board Members

Lisa Matthaus Andrea Scott

Sarah Amyot

Kelsey Singbeil

Geoff Cross

Matt Takach

Caitlin Davies

Amy Zidulka

Paula DeBeck

2013 Annual Report