12. DTES Neighbourhood House

Organization Information

Organization Name

• Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House

Mission and Vision of Organization

To provide opportunities for residents to meaningfully engage with and contribute to their community in an equitable atmosphere of sharing and learning. The secular, grassroots Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House (DTES NH) embraces people of all ancestries, genders, ages and descriptions; annually welcoming almost 9,000 DTES residents in a community where 70% of our neighbours have low incomes, 700 are homeless and 5,000 are under-housed. Our programming is community inspired and varied, a sampling of which has included a Chinese Elders Community Kitchen, Traditional Aboriginal Community Kitchen, Leadership Development, a Children's Community Kitchen, Nutritional Outreach Activities (Mobile Smoothie Project and Banana Beat), The Healing Circle, Fathers for Thought, Table Talks project, Family Drop In: Families, Farming and Food, Community Drop-in and the production of a Right to Food Zine.

Those who built the DTES NH put the Right to Food at the heart of our work, as nutritional vulnerability was a theme familiar to all. Our goal around the Right to Food is to reform the nutritional impact, quality, abundance and delivery of food in the DTES in consultation with residents, community food providers, non-food community organizations, healthcare professionals, policy makers, growers/suppliers, food/beverage industry professionals and researchers.

Guiding Principles + Values

We know food to be a communicative instrument and hence use its offering as an instrument of community building. The average DTES resident lives with one or more serious health issues, has a compromised immune system and is under- housed. Coupled with extreme material poverty, the lack of adequate housing renders people incapable of providing themselves with adequate nutrition. Typical housing quarters provide one small room with no cooking facilities or storage for foodstuffs. Many of our neighbours live in Single Room Occupancy units (SROs). The average DTES diet consists of a of starch (in the form of white rice and pasta); copious amounts of tasteless coffee garnished with coffee whitener (an addictive petroleum by-product) and refined sugar; endless soup; day old pastries and donuts; dishes made with an alarming amount of taste enhancing chemical additives; and processed foods. These foods do not support positive health outcomes for our neighbours, but remain omnipresent in our community. What is not found in the average DTES diet is local, seasonal, fresh produce; sweets which are healthy (eg dates and figs); dishes made without additives and refined sugars; homemade vinaigrettes; alternatives to dairy products; and generally speaking fresh, identifiable foods. These are the things that the Neighbourhood House works to make available for our neighbours. When one is materially poor, the first things lost are privacy and choice. Offering people a choice of the foods they ingest is a critical piece of the NH food philosophy. It's a commonly held myth that those living in poverty don't have nutritional knowledge or aspirations.

Contact Information

• Primary Contact Person(s): Rory Sutherland
• Email: ed@dtesnhouse.ca
• Phone: 778-828-5574
• Address: 573 East Hastings, Vancouver BC
• Website: [dtesnhouse.ca]

Preferred Method of Contact

• Best method(s) to contact: Email
• Preferred platform(s) for project meetings: In person ,Email ,Phone, Zoom
• Best day(s) to contact: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays
• Best time(s) to contact: Mornings, Afternoons
• Work to happen online or in person: Combination

Project Description

Context: What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?

In Spring 2020, Patrick Moore from UBC Ethnography partnered with the DTESNH to convert an abandoned garden adjacent to the NH into a food producing garden to support an increase in meals being served from the NH during the COVID-19 crisis The project was initially funded through private donations and the committed labour of volunteers led by Patrick and DTESNH Staff, who are reactivating the lot, including 140 abandoned raised beds. Over 2000 seedlings were started and transplanted into the space. We have worked with the owner of the property to lease it from him for a three-year period. We will be preparing for our third growing season and thinking about how to make this urban agriculture project a sustainable community asset.

Main Project Activities and Expected Deliverable(s)

• students will research urban agriculture initiatives in food insecure communities
• provide description of most successful models

Will the project work for the students be online, in person, or a combination?

• Combination

Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)

• knowledge of gardening and farming
• knowledge of social enterprise models
• experience interacting with vulnerable populations

Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?

• No

Is a criminal record check required?

• No

Related Community Service Opportunities for Students

• We are always looking for volunteers for our food security programs.

Required Reading

Project/Partner Orientation Materials

• DTES NH Food Philosophy https://www.dtesnhouse.ca/our-philosophy
• rtfzine.org https://rtfzine.org/ (specifically the articles below about the Urban Farm)
  • Plant a Seed; Feed the People (written by Patrick Moore) http://rtfzine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rtfzine_25opt.pdf
  • Concrete Oasis (written by community member) http://rtfzine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/rtfzine_25opt.pdf
  • 25 Years of the Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks http://vancouverfoodnetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/VNFN-timeline-VERTICAL-online.pdf

• Request the relevant past LFS350 student reports from your TA

Additional Project/Partner Orientation Materials

The following will be provided at the first community partner meeting:

• All urban farm-related documentation and research we have developed to date.