The Burnaby Neighbourhood House is inviting the public to attend the grand opening of its new north location on Friday, March 10.
Since February 2014, the North House was located at the corner of Willingdon and Hastings Street in a building that was slated for demolition. Because the walls were coming down, the developer offered the non-profit organization free rent until it was time to move.
Last December, staff hauled everything over to 4908 Hastings St. The North House’s program director, Simone Brandl, was the one who found the space after driving past it “100 times.”
“I kept seeing this brown paper on the front of the windows and then one day when I drove by, there was a little note that said, ‘For Lease,’ with a phone number on it. I called right away, we brought the board in, the executive director. By the end of that week, we had leased it.”
Brandl added the new location is a great one because it’s in the middle of everything, between Boundary and North Road.
Like its counterpart, South House, North House is all about creating a place where people can volunteer, run their own programs and meet people.
“People have gifts, skills and passions, but they don’t always know where to direct that or they can be part of something, so a neighbourhood house gives them a welcome space to come in and actively become connected to the neighbourhood,” said Brandl.
The program director noted a common request for that area has been more arts-related workshops. She said North House has partnered with North Burnaby Photo Connection, which has donated hanging apparatuses for artists to display their work.
“So we can have an open gallery all the time,” Brandl said. “People can bring their art work, hang it in and if they want to have an exhibit, we’ll let them do that. That’s just kind of a way for us to start having a gathering place for people who are artists.”
She added the charity is also looking at hosting art-related entertainment, like a monthly poetry slam.
Other services at North House include a family drop-in with story time, so parents can have a cup of coffee and mingle with one another, plus a community kitchen at Gilmore Community School, where parents come together, share recipes, cook a meal and take it home to feed their families.
North House is also equipped with a digital café (three computers for anyone to use) and free Wi-Fi.
“There’s a lot of people that are seniors who come in and they’ve made some friendships, and in the process, learned how to use some of the technology maybe they wouldn’t necessarily know,” said Brandl.
What surprised Brandl about working in that part of town was the number of young families who are making under $40,000 a year, she said.
“We have a lot of low-income families that are living in what looks like a really affluent area, but when you get down to it, there’s a lot of housing people have in their basement suites,” she told the NOW. “They’re just meeting their rent, they’re just meeting their food (needs), so programs like ours, they would never get.”
Brandl couldn’t stress enough how much the Neighbourhood House is volunteer led. At the organization’s last annual general meeting, it was noted there were 131 volunteers, while 1,800 people dropped in to use the facility.
The March 10 open house is on from 2 to 6 p.m. (ribbon cutting is at 4 p.m.), at 4908 Hastings St. There will be a tour, refreshments, kid-friendly activities and program displays. RSVP by March 9 by email at
[email protected]. For info, call 604-294-5444.
