Vancouver City Council approves Capital Grant for Gordon Neighbourhood House

On Tuesday December 15th, after some careful deliberation and several amendments being proposed, Vancouver’s city council voted with only one opposing vote in favor of a $1.1 million capital grant for Gordon Neighbourhood House.

Gordon Neighbourhood House’s current location is 30 years old, and as such is at the end of its current life cycle. Management has been focused on securing funds from the City of Vancouver, the Federal Government, The Home Depot Foundation, The Alexandra Foundation and the Central City Foundation in order to update and maintain the current site. The bulk of the fund raised will address the building envelope restoration, but will also include new windows throughout and the introduction of gender-neutral bathrooms.

On December 9th, Paul M. Taylor (Executive Director of Gordon Neighbourhood House) and Dan Watson (member of the steering committee for the Young Ideas Initiative) spoke to city council in support of the grant, while other GNH staff were on hand for moral support. This was after a flurry of letters of support from a variety of individuals and community flooded Council just days before the special meeting.

Thank you to all of the donors and volunteers, especially our friends at Perkins + Will who will continue to work with GNH on this existing next phase of GNH’s rejuvenation.

2016 will certainly be an exciting year for GNH, not only will phase 2 of the restoration begin, but there is also the planned opening of an additional Attic Thrift Store on Davie Street.

#TogetherWeGrow