Society of Hope Blog

The Society of Hope, in partnership with the City of Kelowna and BC Housing, is pleased to announce that 21 new family town homes, located at
165 Celano Crescent in Glenmore, will be available late this fall. There are 16 three bedroom units and 5 two bedroom units. These well located units
come with modern features including a dishwasher, space for a washer/dryer and a garage.

To qualify for this housing:

• Applicants must be families with dependent children
• Applicants must have a low to moderate income of $1400 per month and up
• Ideally Applicants will qualify for the Rental Assistance Program (RAP.) The Rental Assistance Program provides eligible low-income working families with cash assistance to help with their monthly rent payments.
• Family configuration must be suitable for 2 & 3 bedroom units.

Placement selection will take place in September and October. Target occupancy will be no later than December 1, 2019. (This to be formally approved by September 15 th , 2019)  Please see the "Apply for housing" tab on the Society of Hope web site.

Kids just want to have fun and Society of Hope's three new playgrounds are providing just that!  It sure has been a fun spring for the children at our two Short Term locations.  With the permanent structures in place, everyone is out enjoying these spaces to the fullest – a great way for the kids to connect in a safe environment.

Volunteers from Black and McDonald assembled one unit in record breaking time with skill and efficiency.  (All in one long morning in June, in fact!)   And the 2 Rons & Frank team assembled the other location with heart and passion.  These valued volunteers understand that the little ones will benefit greatly from their efforts.  Thank you to all!

With this year seeing many updates at Providence Court, it seemed fitting to add a magnificent SwingTime Distributors structure that will stand the test of time. A big shout out to the maintenance department for their support in bringing this to completion.  And thank you for the many donations that help make these playgrounds possible.

As well as building new homes for future residents, the Society of Hope staff keep very busy maintaining the many housing units we already manage. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to maintain the 'quality' in "providing quality, affordable housing."

Here we see two members of our maintenance team working on one of Hope's properties. This year, we are replacing some property signage, as well as working on replacing some exterior stairs. Providence Court received a new playground, and is scheduled to get some new siding in 2019. A kid's grassed-in play area will be added to the Pleasantvale Family Site. We are updating the landscaping both at Providence Vista on the West side, and Providence Court in Glenmore. The Society will be replacing all the sliding patio doors in Cedar and Birch Manor. These are just a few of our bigger projects!

Continual patching, painting, snow shoveling, renovating and cutting the grass or pruning – a great variety of jobs all intended to keep our buildings and grounds in tip top shape.

On Wednesday, March 27, 2019. The Government of Canada's commitment to seniors was addressed by The Honourable Carla Qualtrough.

Ms. Qualtrough is the Minister of Public Service and Procurement and Accessibility, and Member of Parliament for Delta.  She was joined by Mr. Stephen Fuhr, Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country. Together they spoke into the proposed 2019 Federal budget, as well as a National Dementia Strategy for Seniors.

Vi Sorenson, Executive Director of Seniors Outreach and Resource Centre hosted this event at The Society of Hope's Apple Valley Location, in the Ziglar Recreation Centre for Seniors.

For further information regarding this commitment and investment into Seniors, go to https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/themes/seniors-aines-en.html

Some factors addressed in this article, that may be of interest to our seniors, are:

• Raising CPP (Canada Pension Plan) benefits
• OAS (Old Age Security)
• GIS (Guaranteed Income Supplement) and the GIS Earnings Exemption
• Allowances and Survival Allowances
• Seniors having a Secure and Dignified Retirement
• Seniors receiving the benefits they are entitled to
• Economic security for low income seniors
• Isolation, Community participation and Quality of life
• Having a Minister of Seniors
• The 10 year National Housing Strategy
• Home and Palliative care
• Enabling Accessibility Fund – making community spaces accessible
• EI Caregiving benefits
• Protecting workplace pensions.

Bottom Line: ​Let's make retirement easier for seniors!​

The Society of Hope recently received a Provincial CFLS (Canadian Forces Liaison Council) Employer Supports Award.  This award is presented every two years, and every Canadian employer is eligible. The award gives Reservists an opportunity to thank and recognise their employers.  As it says in their 'Pacific Connector' Newsletter, "The rewards are intended to recognise the generosity of employers and educators who give the reservists the support and time required for military training and/or deployment."

It was announced on Feb 6, 2019 that the Society of Hope won the "Best Practices in Employer Support – Small Organization" award.  The Headquarters of the 39^th Canadian Brigade Group is the location where the official awards ceremony will be held on February 26^th.  We are honored to sit as winners among so many larger and well known Employers in BC, such as Correctional Services Canada, Costco, and CP Rail.

What to do on a cold, snowy January evening?  Why, go bowling, of course!  Here we see the Society of Hope staff enjoying an invite from the Board of Directors to go Bowling.  Did you know that within the Ziglar Recreation Centre, Apple Valley Senior's site houses a 6 lane, 5 pin bowling alley?  Our Resource Coordinator organized 'Bingo Bowling', a fast paced, all participation, wild and silly bowling game.  Each team takes a lane and gets a bingo card with 25 squares.  Squares may say things like "Strike, spare, head pin only, gutter ball, 10 points, 7 points", etc.  Just pick up a ball and start bowling!  First team to fill every square on their card wins!  BINGO!

It has been a busy and festive season for the Society of Hope.  A great number of our tenants participated in one of our many Christmassy events.  Cedar Court enjoyed seasonal foods at the end of November, followed by Apple Valley's Christmas Mingle on Dec 6th, complete with entertainment and a photo-booth!   A gingerbread house making party was held for the children at our Short Term sites, and goodies were dropped off for our Franklyn Rd. residents.   Woodsdale Place residents in Lake Country were the recipients of some gift baskets, and Providence Meadows enjoyed a party with games and treats.  Pleasantvale enjoyed a banquet style celebration on Dec 13th, and this was closely followed by a holiday meal at our Gordon Drive location on the 20th.   It was wonderful to have so many of our staff and tenants participate.  We greatly appreciate all of the generous donations and helping hands that made these events possible. 

The Society of Hope's 22-year vision of bringing affordable senior's housing to Kelowna has been realized.

To much fanfare, the ribbon was cut on the third phase of Apple Valley, a senior's complex on Benvoulin Court, Thursday morning.

The 47-unit building brings to 199 the number of affordable senior's units in the development.

Society executive director Luke Stack says the vision began with the donation of land in the Landmark Centre area in the late 1990s. The society sold that land, and used the proceeds to purchase what was at the time the Pettit family farm, where Apple Valley now sits.

"It took many, many years to find this site, get it out of the ALR, rezone it, get the roads built. That added quite a few years to the project," said Stack. "But, it turned out to be a great decision because it's so well located now. It's perfect."

Stack says the society is still trying to determine what to do with an additional two acres at the back of the complex.

It's also constructing 21 family townhomes in Glenmore. In all, Stack says the vision is to build another 150 units of affordable housing in Kelowna over the next five years.

Geraldine Barsetti is one of the residents who moved into Apple Valley 3 in October. She said she feels at home, and very safe, and has had no trouble meeting people and making friends.

Total cost of the entire development came in at $38 million, with $15 million of that coming from all three levels of government.