Our Vision
A Connected and Compassionate Community where Everyone Belongs.
Our Mission:
We Inform, Engage and Advocate to improve life for unhoused and at-risk people in New Westminster.
Our Values:
- We believe everyone deserves compassion and care.
- We believe people should be involved in the decisions that impact their lives.
- We learn from our actions to continually improve.
- We believe in and advocate for culturally inclusive, decolonizing and anti-oppressive practices.
- We help people understand complex issues.
- We believe everyone has something valuable to contribute.
History:
The New Westminster Homelessness Coalition was formed in 2005 to bring together a range of people and organizations working to address homelessness in New Westminster. The Coalition incorporated in January 2012, and became a society on May 31, 2012, in order to better succeed in our long-term mission to help those in need in New Westminster. In 2016, we updated our strategic plan to address homeless issues more effectively. Many of our members also supported the City in developing a new Homelessness Action Strategy (2022).
The NWHCS members represent service providers, faith and community-based organizations, community members and all levels of government. The coalition is funded by the City of New Westminster, project specific funding, and donations from community members.
Our member organizations deliver housing, outreach, food, job training, crisis intervention, financial assistance and youth programs, and witness first-hand the day to day challenges of poverty and homelessness in our city. We continue to work on addressing the needs of the homeless and those at-risk in New Westminster; enabling many people to permanently break the cycle of homelessness.
Our I’s on the Street pre-employment program is an award winning outreach/support services program that engages homeless or at-risk-of-being-homeless persons into supervised employment cleaning the sidewalks/streets in front of local businesses. It is based on a proven model with 30 years of success in Metro Vancouver and is designed to serve as a “stepping stone” to regular employment.
In May 2019, working in partnership with New Westminster Community Food Action, the NWHCS was successful in securing City of New Westminster funding to support the implementation of the New Westminster Food Security Action Plan. This work has increased the profile of local food security issues which are so intricately linked to poverty and homelessness. When the pandemic struck, we worked with the City to support the Covid emergency food response establishing Food and Resource Hubs in Sapperton, the Brow of the Hill, the West end, and Queensborough, extending our reach from the downtown core. We continue to involved in addressing community food security issues.
In July 2022, a new Homelessness Action Strategy was adopted by City Council. The NWHCS is currently working in partnership with the City to Implement it. This work will also include the development of a New Food Security Action Plan.
In May 2024, our city was chosen by the Tamarack Institute to participate in a national cohort to support the development of a National Belonging Strategy. The NWHCS is part of the Circle of Actions belonging team investigating belonging in the downtown core of New Westminster. This is very exciting work that will have a broader impact on the work we do.
Through our strategic alliances and ongoing efforts to increase community awareness through initiatives like Homelessness Action Week (HAW), Connect Days and the Circle of Actions belonging project, and programs like I’s on the Street we believe that as a community we can work together to make homelessness a thing of the past. We thank our members and partners for their hard work and dedication and look forward to continuing to work together to support our community.
Our work is made possible by people like you. If you like to donate to support our work, please click here
You can also become a member of the Society through a $5 annual membership fee. The membership form can be downloaded here.
Our Members, Partners and Supporters:
| BC Poverty Reduction Coalition | New West Hospice Society |
| CAN (Community Action Network) New Westminster | New Westminster Public Library |
| Don’t go Hungry Food Support Program | Peter Julian, MP |
| Douglas College | St. Barnabas Anglican Church |
| Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver | St. Vincent DePaul Society |
| Fraser Health | Salvation Army, Stevenson House |
| Fraserside Community Services, New Leaf Club House | Sanctuary on 6th |
| Greater Vancouver Foodbank | Senior Services Society of B.C. |
| Greens and Beans | Shiloh-5th Avenue United Church |
| Jennifer Whiteside, MLA | Spirit of the Children Society |
| Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral | Union Gospel Mission |
| Lookout Housing and Health Society | University of BC, Faculty of Dentistry |
| Lower Mainland Purpose Society | Westcoast Genesis Society |
| New Westminster Museum and Archives | WorkBC, New Westminster |
| Our Sponsors: |
| City of New Westminster |
| Downtown BIA |
| Sparc BC |
| VanCity |
| Community Members |
Our Board
Chair: Jack York
Treasurer: Dawn Embree Secretary: Matthew Barbosa
Members at Large: Pamela Sesk, Edith Tazumi, Heather Lynch, Wes Everaars and Thomas Gomes,