2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society (SHHS). Over the past ten years the Society has provided over $3.5 million in funding to Surrey organizations that assist people experiencing homelessness. The Society has supported 55 projects with more than 50 partners assisting over 500 individuals, including children, who were homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness.

In September 2017, a once-notorious establishment in Surrey, where sirens had rung out daily and women were profoundly exploited, underwent an incredible transformation with support from the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society, which provided a $75,000 responsive grant for much-needed renovations.

Sometimes what makes the biggest difference in a person’s life is the sense of confidence that comes from getting back to work and belonging in the community.

The vision is borne out of an undeniable need. People are better off when they can afford a home where home is: where they work, go to school, where their social connections are and/or where they’ve lived their entire lives.

The BSC Fund aims to bring more philanthropic resources to Black communities and believes that post-secondary education and training can be a valuable tool to combat poverty. The BSC Fund provides grants to Black students of all ages who face barriers to attending public post-secondary institutions.

Ken Lyotier was a champion of the people in the Downtown Eastside, where he lived and worked since the 1970s. He was a tireless innovator and advocate for those living in poverty and for “binners,” people who earn money by collecting and returning recyclables.

Since 2007 alone, the Van Tel/Safeway Legacy Fund has granted more than $1.5 million back to the community. But that is just dollars. The magnitude of the real gift is much larger, as it lives on in the lives of every person touched by the hundreds of organizations that received funding, and in all the future grants to come, built on the 60-year history of these credit unions and the goodwill of thousands of their members.

In 2017, with an investment from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Affordable Rental Housing Innovation Fund, the PDF Loan program expanded and introduced a new Pre-Construction loan that provides additional and longer-term capital into non-profit affordable rental housing initiatives.

No money changed hands. A contract was signed to acquire 31 new units of below market rental housing in the City of Richmond, BC. And all of the players received what they wanted in the ultimate win-win-win scenario for non-profit housing in this province.