THE TALK OF THE TOWN
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MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy at Gordon Neighboirhoo
NEW FUNDING FOR GORDON NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE
Support For Mental Health & Addictions Services
The West End’s Gordon Neighbourhood House (GNH) is one of the beneficiaries of $10 million in grants being awarded to twenty-nine community organizations across BC through the Community Counselling grants program, administered by the Community Action Initiative.
GNH will receive a grant to expand their free counselling program.
In making the announcement with Minister of Mental Health and Addictions last month at GNH, West End - Coal Harbour MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert stated that the funding will support a broad range of mental health and substance use services, including easy-to-access counselling with a focus on marginalized individuals and those who have faced barriers accessing the supports they need. He added that a third of all recipients will be servicing Indigenous communities.
Chandra Herbert stated that the BC government is committed to providing faster access to mental health services, when and where people need it, and that this funding is part of A Pathway to Hope: A roadmap for improving mental health and addictions care for everyone in B.C.
“For far too long, counselling was out of reach for many British Columbians,” Minister Darcy said. “Today, we are saying loud and clear that the ability to get help should not depend on the size of your bank account or where you live in the province. This new, multi-year funding is a significant step toward a system of care that helps British Columbians get help when and where they need it.”
Implementing A Pathway to Hope is a shared priority with the BC Green Party caucus and is part of the Confidence and Supply Agreement.
At the announcement event, GNH senior director Siobhan Powlowski said: “As Neighbourhood Houses, we seek to build healthy, inclusive and just communities where every person can thrive. This funding will allow us to dramatically expand our free counselling program, while providing other factors that are critical for success — child care so a single parent can attend counselling too, a hot meal so that hunger will never be a distraction and transportation to the appointment.”
Chef Amanda takes over in the Gordon Neighbourhood House kitchen.
WELCOME CHEF AMANDA!
While we’re talking about Gordon Neighbourhood House, let’s welcome Chef Amanda!
Amanda will be cooking up delicious community lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She will also host Chop n' Chat to prepare soups or salads for the Food Hub the following day.
Born and raised in Brazil, Amanda holds a Professional Diploma from the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. Since permanently moving to Vancouver, she’s spent time meeting people and learning about the food history and culture that lays the basis for nurturing the region.
Drop by GNH and say hello!
Jefferson Alvarez.
ANOTHER NEW CHEF ON THE BLOCK
Gordon Neighbourhood House’s isn’t the only West End kitchen with a new chef.
Papi’s Seafood and Oyster Bar has announced that Jefferson Alvarez has joined the team as Head Chef and added his signature flair to the nightly dinner and weekend brunch menus at the English Bay restaurant.
Born and raised in Venezuela (and Amanda’s from Brazil - do we detect a theme here?) Jefferson’s South American heritage and love of experimenting with an array of international cuisines served as his inspiration and he embarked on his kitchen career in earnest when he immigrated to Canada at the age of 16 to attend culinary school in Ottawa.
Alvarez’s new nightly dinner menu at Papi’s includes appetizers such as fish tacos, braised pork belly & seared scallops, and main courses like Coconut mussels, lobster risotto, and seared Arctic char and clams. His weekend brunch menu includes items like lobster benny and Papi’s special breakfast sandwich.
Said Alessandro De Pieri, general manager of Papi’s: “We’re excited to welcome him to the family and have him add his unique sense of culinary creativity and signature flair to the menu.”
Lisa Arthurs adjusts a display at the new Quick Nickel location on Davie. (West End Business Improvement Association Photo)
THE WORD ON THE STREET
Popular Quick Nickel Relocates
When Lisa Arthurs opened The Quick Nickel on Denman at Haro some 30 years ago, the plan was to provide West Enders with an outlet for quality, brand name clothing at discount prices. The plan worked like a damn and shortly thereafter Lisa relocated to a larger, but still cozy, location on Davie, just a few steps east of Denman. There, for 25 years, she and her staff built a beloved community business that, once discovered, becomes a regular haunt for bargain-seekers.
So if you’ve cruised by that location lately and noticed the empty storefront, we sure hope you also noted that a few more steps up the hill is a new, more spacious location at 1736 Davie. The same great staff, the same great quality and prices, and now you don’t have to edge around sideways to get to the next display!
Congratulations to Lisa and everyone who works and shops at The Quick Nickel for proving that local, store-front businesses can, and do, survive in this challenging economic environment.
Carol Strickland is a frequent sight doing her binning rounds in the West End. Read her 2016 interview with The Vancouver Courier here.
A MODEST RAISE FOR BINNERS
At the beginning of November, nickel deposits on all non-alcoholic beverage containers up to a litre were increased to a dime This was good news for local binners - many of whom live day-to-day on what they collect from cashing in returnable beverage containers.
But not everyone was optimistic, with one binner, quoted by journalist Stanley Q. Woodvine (who writes a blog about life on the streets of Vancouver from the viewpoint of homelessness) saying that he expected the higher deposit value to increase his income from returning bottles by only about 25 percent.
One concern was that homeowners might be prompted by the increase to hang onto their discarded bottles and take them in for the deposit return themselves. The West End Journal would like to remind our neighbours that doing so will cut into the daily income of some the already most marginalized and impoverished members of our neighbourhood.
Another ongoing concern that Stanley brought to our attention is that there are individuals who cut into local binners’ take by cruising alleys looking for those bags of returnable bottles and cans that many of us leave beside our dumpsters, thinking that makes it easier for the hard-working binners. On the theory that if you can afford to own and operate a car, you probably don’t need those nickels and dimes as badly as folks like Stanley and his binning colleagues. Carol Strickland, a longtime binner frequently seen in the West End, agrees. Both recommend that we find out what day our container recycling bins are emptied and place our returnables in the bin, on top of the week’s collection. They’ll find them.
You can read Stanley’s original comments on the deposit increase news here, and his analysis of the economics of binning here.
Leonard Landrick.
OCEAN TOWERS MURDER ACCUSED FOUND GUILTY
Conviction On Hold
The 75-year-old man accused of killing two residents of the West End Ocean Towers apartments on Morton Street in 2017 has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Leonard Landrick pled not guilty to second-degree murder charges in the stabbing deaths of 57-year-old Sandra McInnis and 51-year-old Neil Croker.
However, the judge did not discharge the jury. Instead, the jury was excused, meaning they may be reconvened at a later date.
That move was in response to the defence counsel for Landrick asking the judge to not enter the guilty verdict because they want to present a defence of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD). The Crown prosecutor disagreed, saying there is no foundation for NCRMD.
It’s now up to the judge to decide on next steps, and the guilty verdict is on hold until that decision is made.
Both the victims and the accused were residents of the Ocean Towers. McInnes had lived in the building for years and served on the co-op board, while Croker was the building’s caretaker.
During his trial, Landrick testified that he had his drink spiked by McInnis and Croker several weeks before the murders and that Croker had sexually assaulted him. The Crown argued that the allegations, which have not been proven, were Landrick’s motive for stabbing the two victims.
