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Overview Our Own Outreach Projects Partnerships in Outreach Neighbourhood Ministry Refugee Sponsorship
St. Philip's, together with St. Anselm's, St. Helen's and St. John's Shaughnessy, participates in the Westside Anglicans Neighbourhood Ministry (WANM).

Request for Donations

A key component of the  Neighbourhood Ministry is the Street Outreach program.  Participating parishes collect non-perishables and basic necessities, which are packed up and distributed to unhoused people on the Westside every Saturday morning, year-round.

The Street Outreach program currently requires the following items:
  • Rain, winter and fleece jackets (we currently have NO fleece jackets in our supply closet)
  • Rain pants and sweatpants
  • Long underwear
  • Men’s socks and underwear
  • Tarps (dark colours are preferred but not essential)
  • Cans of meat and fish
  • Cereal bars (no nuts, seeds or oatmeal)
  • Can openers
  • McDonald’s gift cards ($15 or $10)
Donations can be left in the designated basket in the Narthex. Please only donate fabric items in washed, unripped and unstained condition.  Sweatpants are especially popular and can be purchased inexpensively at thrift stores, such as the Salvation Army shop in Kerrisdale.

Street Outreach Report - November 2024

On November 2nd, Ellie and I (Jane) met Janice at St. Philip’s at around 9:30 a.m.  She provided us with well-stocked packages (some had two Ensures), oranges, eggs, peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, and seven Macdonalds’ gift cards.  We also took two sleeping bags and mats, some jackets (including a lovely woman’s wool coat), gloves, four pairs of fleece pants and a few pairs of gloves and socks.  Thank you to Janice for organizing all this for us.  And thank you to St. Philips’ parishioners for their generosity.

We also had some banana/chocolate chip muffins, cookies, Halloween candy and underwear and t-shirts.

Ellie and I started out at the No Frills fence (4th and Highbury) and met T., M. and A.  They were happy to see us and accepted all the food offerings.  M. and A. took jackets and underwear and T. took a new t-shirt (and promptly put it on) and underwear.  A. also took an extra package for his wife.  He is looking for a pair Size 11 shoes.  He looked at one pair that we had but unfortunately it was half a size too small.

We then took a quick look around the beaches, Jericho, Jericho Hostel area and Locarno.  Unfortunately, it was about 10:20ish and the beaches were pretty busy by that time due to an event at Jericho Beach and soccer games at Jericho Hostel park..  We drove around but did not see anyone (but we admittedly did not look too deep into the areas).

We then travelled up Fourth Avenue to Yew and parked.  We found a smiling P. who took all the food offerings, except for an egg!  We hiked around the block but did not see anyone else near Whole Foods or around the Shoppers Drug Mart or Safeway.

We then drove down towards the Granville Loop Park where we spotted a couple of tents so we managed to park on 6th and hiked over.  The first tent we spotted belonged to R. who was in the process of collapsing his tent and getting ready to leave.  He appeared to be quite organized with all the items necessary for living outdoors.  He was happy to take food though, as well as underwear and some sweatpants.  He also pointed out another tent tucked behind a large tree which we could not see from the road.  The tent was empty but we determined that a woman camping was there.  We left her a package, some women’s sweatpants and a women’s all weather coat.  The third tent was also empty but whoever lived there had lots of belongings.  We left just left a package.

Next we went over to 7th and Fir and parked at the old Windsor Lumber parking lot. We found R., L. and C. camping out in one of the parking lots.  They were happy to see us and accepted everything, including underwear, sweatpants, t-shirts, extra socks, extra sandwiches, gift cards.

Then it was on to the VSB Park where unfortunately, as we were quite late (after noon) no one was there.  I think the trip around the beaches made us a little later than usual.   I feel badly if J. couldn’t wait for us.

We then hiked over to Granville and found D. sitting outside the Starbucks. We gave her all the food offerings, sweatpants, underwear, and the beautiful warm wool coat we had.  She was thrilled to receive it and promptly covered herself with it.  She also requested one of our sleeping bags, so Jane went back to the car to get it.  In the meantime, Ellie went into Starbucks to treat D. to a coffee which she really enjoyed.  Ellie also kindly treated us both to a coffee. D. is still waiting for a turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich!

We then crossed the street and found A. near the old Chapman’s.  He did not really want anything, but we tempted him with a package of Walker’s shortbread and a McDonald’s gift card.  We took a cursory look up Granville and not seeing anyone we headed back to the car and drove up Broadway until we got to Safeway where we found M.  He hasn’t been making it to the Kitsilano Shower Program these days but he is staying in a shelter at night and so is able to stay warm and have a shower there.  He accepted all the food offerings, a t-shirt, underwear, extra socks and gift card.

We did not see St. at any of his usual spots, nor did we see anyone at Shoppers on Dunbar.

Reports are only posted for Saturdays when the Street Outreach team meets and sets out from St. Philip's, as occurs on a rotating basis with other WANM parishes.
PDFs of reports for previous months can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

More About the Westside Anglicans Neighbourhood Ministry

The Westside Anglicans Neighbourhood Ministry (WANM) was started in 2008 when a small group of concerned church members decided that they would like to support the people who are unhoused or insecurely housed on the West Side. It offers care, companionship and practical help to our most vulnerable neighbours living on Westside streets and in marginalized conditions. It is a collaborative ministry offered by four parishes:

Mission Statement  - "Mutual Transformation”  

Reviewed by the Board of Management on Nov 23, 2021

  • We aim to show love and kindness to our homeless and vulnerable neighbours on Vancouver’s Westside, simply by being a non-judgmental, reliable presence in their lives
  • We aim to be a bridge for them to access medical and social services which are inaccessible due to physical, mental health, and economic challenges and circumstances.
  • We hope that the hearts of our volunteers and those who witness our work are transformed; that they become even more compassionate and committed by our weekly outreach and care to address the chronic crisis of homelessness.
Ministries
  • Street Outreach

Every Saturday, volunteers deliver packets of food, clothing and camping equipment to homeless individuals on the Westside of Vancouver. Supplies are donated by the parishioners of the four churches. 

  • Mobile Care Unit

In many cases, the Street Outreach teams find individuals who need help completing government paperwork for ID, income disability assistance, and housing. In order to address these needs the Mobile Care Unit (MCU) was founded in 2017. The MCU is staffed by WANM volunteers who help clients with this paperwork. It currently works out of the Kitsilano Community Centre on Saturday mornings at the same time as the Kitsilano Shower Program , which offers a hot breakfast, showers and clean clothing.

  • Dunbar Housing

At 17th and Dunbar there is a supportive housing building which the WANM has been involved with
since its inception more than a decade ago. Several times a year volunteers host celebration meals, providing not only all of the food but also serving it and spending time with the people who live there.

More Information

For more information about the MCU or the Neighbourhood Ministry, please visit the Neighbourhood Ministry website at neighbourhoodministry.com

 

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