Revitalizing Canada‘s Poorest Postal Code
Contributed by Cherie White
As a little girl I was born into a loving Salvation Army home. I remember my grandfather singing gospel songs over me before I fell asleep. He taught me about social justice from a very young age which became my foundation. He would also tell me bedtime stories of helping find housing for immigrants that would arrive in bus loads in front of his church door. He had a strong faith in Jesus and these “true” stories always fascinated me as a little girl. Because of these roots that were planted in me, I have devoted my entire life to redistributing wealth, finding homes for single moms and women, and creating social enterprises and ultimately revitalizing Canada‘s poorest postal code. My husband, and my four small children decided that we wanted to move to this neighborhood where a new Salvation Army community was being formed
614. We wanted to be part of a community that brought life, light and hope. Over time, many people would leave drugs and alcohol and join our community, but the hardest part was always finding housing. Vancouver is in the middle of a huge affordable housing crisis. The problem was clear but the solution was much more difficult to pinpoint. However, I believe that if we stop pointing our fingers at the government and start pointing your fingers at ourselves we can become a part of the most powerful solution to poverty in the world. So I became a social justice land developer and I live and work in this neighborhood. My company is called Steadfast Developments, an all female development team that focuses on social justice, affordable housing, and intentional community development. We also provide sustainable economic development and social enterprises for those who live in our buildings. The solution became clear to me. It’s not
about helping those already in poverty, but rather a preventative model as a long term solution. It is about breaking the cycle and moving people from poverty to sustainability and then to abundance. Meaning we need to focus on those that are at risk of poverty rather than those that have already given up hope. With the right experienced team, my tenacity never gives up no matter how hard it gets, plus funding from the right sources equals a revitalized neighborhood. We are not about gentrification, but rather collaboration and partnerships of those that are already in the neighborhood. After several years of working to raise private capital, which finally happened on July 1St of this year, we are about to purchase property and build an entire new neighborhood with an infrastructure of community centers, art centers, cafés, libraries, schools, grocery stores
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