If you want to have fun, meet new people, connect with other community members, build up your skills and give back to the community, volunteer with us! Recently there are a few opportunities in our food hub team and seniors team, Please share them with your friends and family and we look forward to hearing from you! 

Seniors Tech Support Volunteer
Seniors Resource Navigator
Food sorting and packaging – SVNH Food Hub
Distribution Volunteer- SVNH Food hub
Perishable packaging volunteer – SVNH Food Hub
Volunteer driver – SVNH Food Hub
SVNH Food Hub non-perishable packaging volunteer

“Digital Equity for All Ages” is the theme for this year’s International Day of Older Persons. The theme stresses the need for the elderly to receive access to the digital world and help them become active participants to enrich their lives. As per the United Nations, elderly persons in the least developed countries are, for the most part, not getting proper access to the digital world.

SVNH provides one-to-one tech support for seniors to gain more digital literacy skills, and our Information & Referral program could help you find local technology-learning resources. For more information, please contact Frank at frank.lin@southvan.org or 604-324-6212 ext 115.

Residential schools were in existence from 1831 until 1996. They were government funded, and church run “schools”, established to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian society. The goal of these schools was to break the children’s ties to their language, traditions and families. Many children experienced the worst neglect and abuse imaginable at the hands of their teachers and people responsible for running the schools. Several thousand children died while under the care of the government. (resource: www.cedarhilllonghouse.ca)

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis Webstad’s account of losing her shiny new orange shirt on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.  September 30 was chosen because children are back in school and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the year. Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and community agencies to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. (resource: www.orangeshirtday.org)

This year, the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC, neighbourhood houses, camp and the central office are distributing Xe Xe Smun’eem Orange Shirts to honour residential school survivors and to remember those who did not come home.

Xe Xe Smun’eem – Victoria Orange Shirt Day is an annual event in the city of Victoria to honour and recognize Residential School survivors. The event is held each September 30th in Downtown Victoria.

We chose to support Eddy and Kristin because of their long work getting Orange Shirt Day recognized within the community and as a federal government holiday. They have also worked closely with the neighbourhood houses through our journey of re-learning around Truth & Reconciliation and Decolonization. We believe supporting their work, getting the Xe Xe Smun’eem Orange Shirts into our communities and sharing Phyllis Webstad’s story through her two books, will help with our goal of education around Orange Shirt Day.

The South Vancouver Neighbourhood House celebrated the Grand Reopening of the South Adult Day Centre.  Friends, family, clients and George Chow, the MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview, were in attendance,  some via Zoom and others were there in person.   Everyone enjoyed the tour of the new facility – it is a beautiful, bright, and extremely welcoming space – located in Champlain Heights (345 – 3150 E. 54th Avenue).  We were honoured to have Catherine Lane,  the sister of Barbara Downs, attend our event.   Barbara was the second Executive Director of SVNH, who passed away recently. She was passionate about establishing a new home for SVNH which she demonstrated through advocacy, raising money, and then passing the torch in 1996 to make room for a new leader. Her dedication to the community in South Vancouver never ended and she left a generous bequest to SVNH that helped us establish a new home for the South Vancouver Adult Day Program.   We thank all our donors who made furnishing and upgrading the new facility a reality – we couldn’t have done it without you. 

Our Adult Day Programs provide specialized service for frail seniors and adults with physical or cognitive challenges who live independently in the community by themselves or with a caregiver.

Using a person-centered approach, we are committed to enriching the lives of our participants and supporting their caregivers. We facilitate medical and therapeutic programming which reflects individual needs, interests and abilities and provides participants with opportunities to connect with others and contribute to our community.

The programs rely on volunteers to help provide quality programming. If you are an interested student or volunteer, please contact us.

Our service is a referral-based program operating Monday through Friday, from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Referrals can be made by seniors, their families or friends by contacting Central Intake at 604-263-7377.

For up-to-date news and information go to http://svnhadc.blogspot.ca.

You could order a free print copy of the BC Seniors’ Guide in English, Farsi, French, Chinese, Korean, Punjabi or Vietnamese by calling the Office of the Seniors Advocate at 1-877-952-3181 (toll-free), Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

English PDF and translated PDF versions of the 12th edition of the BC Seniors’ Guide are also available at

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/family-social-supports/seniors/about-seniorsbc/seniors-related-initiatives/bc-seniors-guide

It is with a great deal of sadness that the South Vancouver Seniors Hub Council shares the news of the passing of Lorna Gibbs.  Lorna was a long time and well-known resident of Vancouver and over the years she took on many leadership roles in our community.  She was the Past President of the SVNH Community Board, Past Chair of the South Vancouver Seniors Network which was the impetus for the South Vancouver Seniors Hub, Past Chair of the Hub Council and founding member and Chair of the recently dissolved Southeast Vancouver Seniors Arts and Culture Centre Society just to name a few.  In 2017 she was a recipient of BC’s Medal of Good Citizenship and SVNH held a special luncheon in her honour as we all wanted to express our appreciation of her generosity, service, acts of selflessness and contributions to our neighbourhoods.

Through her work on a variety of seniors’ programs, services, and issues, she changed the lives of many seniors and inspired many more to contribute to their community.    For over 20 years she was one of a driving force of community leaders who were worked tirelessly behind the scenes to advocate for a Seniors Centre.  In 2018, hundreds attended the opening of the Killarney Seniors Centre – many of us will remember with great fondness, the big smile she had on her face that day and hundreds of smiling and cheering seniors who acknowledged her and her team of volunteers for their efforts and this accomplishment. 

Lorna epitomized the kindness, compassion, and values of the SVNH and shared them with those connected to our House and in the community, she did so with an open hand and an open heart.  Her grace and humanity will be missed by those who knew her, and her legacy felt by those who didn’t. 

https://vancouversunandprovince.remembering.ca/obituary/lorna-gibbs-1082884632

We encourage all those who loved her to express your condolences and to share your memories of this truly remarkable woman who left her mark on our community –  she will be missed

South Vancouver Seniors Hub Council

The South Vancouver Seniors Hub Council is appalled by the targeted killing of the Afzaal family on June 6 in London, Ontario. We condemn that senseless act.
This crime was racially motivated and was a crime of hate. It is not acceptable and we condemn any and all such behaviours.
The Muslim community is grieving the senseless loss of the members of the Afzaal family and wonder if it is safe for any Muslim to leave their homes. The citizens of London, Ontario and the rest of Canada are grieving with them.
Everyone is checking their own conscience.

What can we do?

• Check our own thoughts and actions.
• Welcome newcomers to your neighborhood.
• Any time you see anyone new in your neighbourhood, greet them and welcome them into your community.
• If you observe any one being abused and want to react in an assertive manner… (check this link)
• If you are a victim of an act of racism or hatred (or are supporting a victim), please call 9-1-1 to report the incident.
  • When reporting an incident, state that you are reporting a Hate Crime (emergencies such as attacks, assaults and threats).
  • For non-emergency crimes such as graffiti, vandalism and hate propaganda, the operator will connect you to the appropriate detachment to handle the situation.
  • There is no fee when calling 9-1-1 for either emergency or non-emergency situations.
• If you are a victim of a hate crime, or have witnessed a hate crime, help is available through victim services and other resources.
  • Contact Vancouver Police Hate Crime Unit Det. / Cst. Jacquie Abbott of the Hate Crimes Unit can be reached at 604-717-9993 or jacquie.abbott@vpd.ca.
  • Speak to a Victim Service Worker by calling VictimLink BC at 1-800-563-0808 (confidential and multilingual)
  • Contact Police Based Victims Services by calling 1-877-869-0720.
  • Contact the Youth Against Violence Line at 1-800-680-4264 (confidential and multilingual)

Please join us in calling out this horrific act. Think how you would act yourself if you were exposed to something like this. Think about what we all can do to prevent this from happening in the future.

South Vancouver Seniors Hub Council

Full report

As our mission is to work together to network and provide accessible, inclusive, timely and high-quality programs and services for the diverse population of South Vancouver seniors, we endeavor to provide them with the most accurate and up-to-date information as we cherish our seniors in the neighbourhood of South Vancouver.

The new website, in addition to being easy to navigate for our seniors, will give them better access to our values, programs, community partners, services, resources, news, and events in hopes of gathering more seniors to our neighbourhood house.

Congratulations to Hub Council member Jose Mendoza, Jose was just appointed to the City of Vancouver’s Seniors Advisory Committee.  Jose’s role on the Committee will be to advise Council and staff on enhancing access and inclusion for seniors’ to fully participate in City services and civic life; and monitor City programs to ensure that the needs of the elderly and their families are considered. The Committee reports to City Council, so there is a wonderful new opportunity to connect with the City and influence their policies.  

SVNH is thrilled these Council members voices at these tables, South Vancouver will be well represented, and we thank these community leaders for volunteering.

For more info, please contact Ping, 604-324-6212 or ping.chen@southvan.org.