Project Title
Understanding RISE's Relationships with Local Community Food Security Supports
RISE Community Health Centre of Collingwood Neighbourhood House
Organization Information
Organization Name
Mission and Vision of Organization
RISE Community Health Centre (CHC) is part of Collingwood Neighbourhood House (CNH), a non-profit society governed by a volunteer board of directors. RISE (Resilient, Integrative, Socially Just and Equitable) CHC strives to support the health and wellbeing of Renfrew-Collingwood by providing primary care clinic, community development and health promotion, and harm reduction services.
The Mission of Collingwood Neighbourhood House is to promote the well-being of the Collingwood community by providing leadership and working collaboratively with individuals, families, agencies and other groups to develop and support inclusive, innovative, sustainable initiatives and services that respond to the community’s social, educational, economic, health, cultural and recreational needs.
Guiding Principles + Values
Collingwood Neighbourhood House
- Our neighbourhood as a place of connection, belonging and inclusion
- Individual strengths and gifts as the foundation of relationships
- Interculturalism and appreciation of our collective diversity
- Co-operation and mutual respect
- Participatory decision-making as a vehicle for empowerment and self-realization
- Social justice and equitable access to a full range of quality community resources
- Integration, partnerships and collaboration with other organizations
RISE Community Health Centre
Resilience
As an asset-based approach, rather than focusing on vulnerabilities, community resilience promotes the resource-leveraging potential of the community. We strive to leverage the capacities of our clients by contributing to the improvement or management of their health and well-being. We recognize that clients, families, and communities need to be fully involved in identifying their health and wellness goals and that we will meet them where they are in their health journey.
Integrations
We provide integrated and coordinated services to meet the physical, social, emotional and cultural health needs of our clients and community. We accomplish this in a variety of ways through diverse representation of staff and clinicians and in the delivery of services. We integrate our efforts with other departments at Collingwood Neighbourhood House and through coordination and partnerships with other health service providers and social services agencies.
Social Justice
We believe that everyone has the right to avoid preventable disease and escape premature death. Indigenous peoples, newcomers, LGBTQ2Si+ folks, isolated seniors, people who are sex workers, people who are homeless and underhoused, and people with disabilities experience more barriers to appropriate health care. These disparities contribute to disproportionately higher rates of disease and shorter life spans. We focus on providing opportunities for these populations to access culturally safe, trauma-informed care.
Equity
We understands that access to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right. We recognize that health outcomes are not just biological. They are also very much socially determined and impacted by access to resources. We strive to ensure that our services are available, accessible, and acceptable to those who need them and that individuals have the fair opportunity to reach their fullest health potential.
Contact Information
- Primary Contact Person(s): Rani Wangsawidjaya (she/her)
- Email: rwangsawidjaya@cnh.bc.ca
- Phone: 604-558-8090
- Address: 5198 Joyce St Vancouver, BC V5R 6C9
- Website: https://www.cnh.bc.ca/rise/
- Alternate Contact: Mark Rito (he/him), mrito@cnh.bc.ca
Preferred Method of Contact
- Best method(s) to contact: Email
- Best day(s) to contact: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
- Best time(s) to contact: Mornings
Preferred Platform(s) for Remote Collaboration
- Email, Zoom, or we can set up a WhatsApp group
Project Description
Note: This project takes place in person and online
Context: What challenge or issue does the project aim to address?
At RISE Community Health Centre (CHC) we are proud to practice health promotion and community development. Collingwood Neighbourhood is a non-profit, social services agency serving the community since 1985. In 2020, CNH became the first neighbourhood house in North America to operate a CHC. Two years later, we have an established interdisciplinary team of clinicians, including medical practitioners, nurses, pharmacist, dietitian, social workers, community health workers, physiotherapists, and counsellors. With new staffing, new relationships need to be formed, interdepartmentally as well as externally, in order to continue RISE's priority in health promotion and community engagement for our clients.
The City of Vancouver's (CoV) free and low cost meals and groceries map (available in table form here) provides a good surface overview of food access in the city. There are food assets within CNH and Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhoods that may not be displayed on the CoV food asset map. Digging deeper into the organization, department, or institution may help in being aware of other food provisions/programs. In this project, we aim to uncover these 'hard to point out' food assets.
Main Project Activities and Deliverable(s)
- Updated food asset map with a focus on CNH initiatives and others in the Renfrew Collingwood neighbourhood.
- Using the contacts of these food assets, identify and map (virtual representation) and work with RISE staff to identify where RISE has strong, medium, and weak relationships to these different assets
- Having both assets and relationship/engagement level mapped out will support RISE staff in developing strategic health promotion strategic priorities:
- Where are there relationships that need to be strengthened so RISE can better support health approaches for local residents?
This project is aligned with an initiative of CNH's 2022-2024 strategic priorities: enhance our level of communication and collaboration across CNH.
Student Assets and Skills (preferred or required)
- Computer skills including familiarity with Google Drive
- Communication skills
- Verbal and written qualitative analysis
- Comfortable with phone communication
Are there any mandatory attendance dates (e.g. special event)?
- N/A
Is a criminal record search (CRS) required?
- No
How Much Independence is Expected from Students?
- Deciding on the project deliverable(s): Mostly led by community partner, with some student input
- Developing the activity plan and timeline: Equal leadership between students and community partner
- Scheduling and initiating the communication plan (e.g. weekly Zoom check-in, biweekly email update, etc.): Mostly led by community partner, with some student input
- Implementing the activity plan (e.g. surveying stakeholder groups): Mostly led by community partner, with some student input
- Finalizing the deliverable(s): Mostly led by community partner, with some student input
Related Community Service Opportunities for Students
- There are many volunteer opportunities at CNH. Please ask!
Required Reading
Project/Partner Orientation Materials
Students should review these materials prior to the first partner meeting:
- Collingwood Neighbourhood House website
- City of Vancouver Food Asset Map
- Renfrew Collingwood Food Justice blog
- Renfrew-Collingwood Social Indicators Neighbourhood Profile (2020)
- McKnight, John. Asset-Based Community Development: The Essentials
- Community Relationship Mapping Tool
Additional Materials
- Community Tool Box. University of Kansas
- Canadian Association of Community Health Centres
- Canada's Invisible Food Network: Technical Report (2021)
- Community Food Assessment Guide (2008), Provincial Health Services Authority
- Kim, S. & van Enckevort, J. (2021). Community-Centered Food Support and Care for All: Transforming Dignified Food Access in Vancouver. A Convening Grant report from Kiwassa Neighbourhood House. Vancouver: British Columbia.
- The Community Mapping Toolkit
- Activating Inclusion Toolkit. UBC Equity & Inclusion Office
- Resilient Neighbourhoods Toolkit. City of Vancouver
- Take a look at the Renfrew-Collingwood Connecting Diversity storytelling video project
- Take a look at previous LFS 350 projects focusing on the food asset mapping, student findings, and resources. For example Winter 2019a, Winter 2019b, Fall 2022
Click here to learn about the global settlement and neighbourhood house movement. For information on neighbourhood houses in our region, visit the Association of Neighbourhood Houses (ANH) website. Note that some local neighbourhood houses are independent (not overseen by ANH) and therefore are not listed on this website.
Outcomes
Intended Project (Short-term) Outcome
- RISE staff are aware of the free and low-cost meals in the Renfrew and Collingwood neighbourhood and are aware of their relationship level with other CNH departments, external agencies and institutions to support and encourage health promotion and community development for RISE clients.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Through this project, I think students will learn about...
- Food assets of Collingwood Neighbourhood House and Renfrew/Collingwood neighbourhood.
- Determine a relationship analysis/different levels of engagement between RISE and agencies/institutions/CNH departments
By working on this project, I believe students will develop skills and/or awareness of...
- the importance of trusting relationships and interdepartmental communication for promoting health and community wellness.
By the end of the project, I hope students will come to appreciate...
- qualitative indicators of social connectedness, community belonging, and health promotion.