Not-For-Profit Organizations that Support Commercial Drive and Surrounding Communities
At IntercomLux Security, we put a huge emphasis on our social impact, starting with the professionals we employ, by providing them with a plethora of training and certification requirements, including Naloxone training, Indigenous awareness safety training, and more to come in the future as we continuously develop and evolve our training program.
A couple of months ago, we released a blog post with details on how to be a better advocate for individuals experiencing homelessness. As we continue working with the Commercial Drive BIA, we wanted to spotlight two charitable, not-for-profit organizations that serve the Commercial Drive community and surrounding areas and highlight the incredibly important work that they are both doing – meet the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society and RainCity Housing.
Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society
The Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society (VAFCS) helps children, youth, families, adults, and elders maintain their Aboriginal cultural ties through various programs and activities, assists Aboriginal people in accessing education, housing needs and support, and operates a low-barrier shelter for adults. Since 1963, the centre has been providing quality programs and services to the community.
The mandate of the centre is to meet the needs of the urban Aboriginal People making a transition to the urban community. The centre provides programs in health and welfare, social services, human rights, culture, education, recreation and equality for all genders of Aboriginal People of all age groups. Over 40,000 urban Aboriginal People are identified and targeted as the clientele base of the VAFCS in its catchment area of the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
How You Can Support VAFCS:
1. Volunteer with VAFCS
2. Donate to VAFCS
RainCity Housing, located in the heart of Commercial Dr., provides housing and supports that are responsive to the people that the organization works with. For more than three decades RainCity Housing has put government funds and donations to create, implement, and manage housing and support programs that sustain relationships, strengthen communities and make change for people experiencing homelessness and mental health, trauma and substance use issues, throughout BC's lower mainland.
RainCity provides multiple, curated programs to better serve its communities, including temporary shelters, transitional housing, long-term housing, LGBTQ2S+ housing for youth, housing for women-led families and outreach based housing programs. Moving into a new environment can be stressful for anyone, and moving inside from an experience of homelessness can also be stressful. RainCity Housing works to get to know each person and focuses on strengthening connections and building community – providing them with more than a home.
How You Can Support RainCity Housing:
1. Host a fundraiser
2. Donate to RainCity
3. Volunteer with RainCity
4. Consider legacy/planned giving
5. Designate RainCity Housing as your gift register for a birthday, wedding or special event
In the security industry, we have the opportunity to work with people from all different backgrounds, races, religions and ethnicities and we must be mindful when working with people experiencing homelessness as it’s not a surface-level issue, which is why we also provide our professionals with in-depth mental health training. As a local Vancouver-based security company, we take pride in our core focus on improving our social impact for our professionals, clients, and communities and are pleased to support these well-deserving organizations and causes.
ABOUT INTERCOMLUX SECURITY
Owned and operated in Vancouver, BC, IntercomLux is a full-service security company providing a wide range of unique clients with tailored security solutions. To receive a risk consultation and a complementary quotation, reach out to our team of experts today: inquiries@intercomlux.com | 604-283-8599