The second floor of the mid-Cold War era construction near Richmond Centre containing St. Alban’s: parish hall, kitchen, meeting rooms and offices was the site of a happy event on Thursday morning, October 18th, 2012. It was the scene of the official opening of the Richmond Drop-In Centre at St. Alban’s, the third component of St. Alban’s Parish’s compassionate service partnerships with other organizations in Richmond. The other two are “Inn from the Cold” the Extreme Weather Shelter at St. Alban’s and the weekly, Community Meal.
The Drop-In Centre planning traces its beginnings to conversations that grew out of the extreme weather shelter project, and the parish’s ongoing commitment to serving the homeless and marginalized population of Richmond through intentional support like the 4th Annual Homeless Connect event which not so coincidentally also took place on October 18th.The Drop-In Centre Planning Group is an adjunct of Richmond Homelessness Coalition which is a City project with staff support from individuals like Donna Yuen of Social Services and City of Richmond Affordable Housing Coordinator, Dena Beno. As this is a city project there is greater availability of funding sources that may not be as easily accessed by not-for-profit organizations working independently. St. Alban’s Rector, The Reverend Margaret Cornish reports that “although the Drop-In Centre is at St. Alban’s it is a City project supported by St. Alban’s ministry.”
The west facing rooms on the second floor of the Parish Hall building have been cleaned and renovated with new flooring and paint. The plan is to open the Drop-In Centre Monday to Friday, 10 am to 2 pm. There will be access to computers. The Drop-In Centre location will be offered as a mailing address for centre users. Chimo Counselling services and a variety of health care providers will have an ongoing presence and once a week there will be a hairdresser on site.
For more information about the Richmond Drop-In Centre at St. Alban’s please contact the Parish Office at 7260 St. Albans Road, Richmond, BC, 604.278.2770.
Image: Richmond City Counselor Bill McNulty, The Reverend Margaret Cornish, Richmond Mayor, Malcolm Brodie and Richmond City Counselor, Linda Barnes are very happy that they successfully cut the celebratory cake following the ribbon cutting ceremony.