Partnership Links Local Organizations to End Aboriginal Homelessness in Richmond

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Aboriginal Housing Management Association, Lu’ma Native Housing Society, Richmond Youth Service Agency, and Chimo Community Services are proud to announce their community-based partnership to help end Aboriginal homelessness in the City of Richmond.

After a year of background work, the partnership launched today was created to find a locally sourced, community-first approach to solving the problem of housing shortages facing Aboriginal peoples in need in the Richmond area. The importance of linking local service providers together acknowledges the inherent knowledge, experience, and relationships that those in the community already have with their members, neighbours, and those most in need in the area.

Quotes

“We are pleased to launch this partnership, with local service providers helping local community members in Richmond. There is a passion and innovation that comes from connecting with people who are already working towards the same purpose in the same area,” says Kent Patenaude, President of Lu’ma Native Housing Society.

“As an organization that focuses on connecting sensitive individuals with the services and help they need, we are happy to see this partnership take shape. As the initiative grows, we only expect to see our community in Richmond strengthened and homelessness decrease,” says Mark Miller, Executive Director of Chimo Community Services.

“Coming together to help lead responsive change for the Aboriginal youth and individuals in Richmond is a pillar of the work we do and we’re happy to partner with like-minded organizations to effect change where it is needed most,” says Marshall Thomson, Executive Director of the Richmond Youth Service Agency.

“We are excited to see such an innovative partnership grow from the ground up. We realize the importance of supporting local organizations’ know-how to best serve the communities in which they live and work. This partnership is just the first step to facing this growing problem with a collaborative people-first approach,” says Adam Munnings, President of the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA).

Backgrounder:

AHMA is committed to the self-determination, management and delivery of affordable, quality housing to urban and rural Aboriginal people throughout BC. Under the B.C. Aboriginal Social Housing Management agreement, administration of all Aboriginal social housing, programs, and services operated by over 40 Aboriginal Housing Providers across the province (4,200 units) has been transferred from BC Housing to AHMA. This Aboriginal self-management model for social housing is the first of its kind in Canada.
Created in Richmond, British Columbia in 1973, Chimo Community Services now serves over 10,000 individuals and families each year from different cultural backgrounds, age groups, family lifestyles, and economic situations. Through nine program areas, Chimo provides diverse services from community building to prevention, from individual crisis support to advocacy, and from peer support to education. Chimo engages in collaborative community planning and develops innovative resources to address emerging needs.
The Richmond Youth Service Agency is a community and recognized charitable organization that was started in 1974 by a group of committed and passionate young people with the help of a United Way grant. The organization began with the goal of making sure that youth in its community received the support, resources, and opportunities they needed to succeed and achieve their dreams. For more than 38 years, the organization has evolved and grown along with its community. Today, RYSA works with its local community to make certain that children, youth, and families in Richmond thrive and are given every opportunity to succeed today and tomorrow.
Lu’ma Native Housing Society was incorporated in 1980 to provide affordable housing to Aboriginal families and individuals with low to moderate income. The Society currently owns and operates an affordable housing portfolio in excess of 400 units. Though its primary focus is to build, own, and operate affordable housing, it has evolved and now provides a good range of services such as: Aboriginal Patients’

Lodge; the community entity for the BC region to fund Aboriginal homelessness projects; Community Voice Mail; Aboriginal Children’s Village; Aboriginal Youth Mentorship & Housing program and they also own and operate other community social enterprises including First Funds Society and Lu’ma Native BCH

Housing Society. Lu’ma has served 4,000 clients at its Patients’ Lodge and over 4,500 clients through Community Voice Mail in the lower mainland (including Richmond).

Learn More:

To learn more about the organizations, see the following websites: