The New ACW Place in Surrey
For many years Mary McIntyre has been a lay leader of her parish, All Saints, Mission; the diocesan ACW with terms as president, vice-president and treasurer; and she has served the diocese as a Member of Synod and of Diocesan Council. Mary was recognized by her parish for her service with investiture into the Order of the Diocese of New Westminster in 2015. Mary was instrumental in guiding the sale of WA House in Vancouver, the subsequent move to the first ACW Place in Burnaby and now the move to the second ACW Place in Surrey.
We met up at the Grand Opening of the new facility in Surrey, September 9 and Mary agreed to answer a few questions about the process of seeking a new facility and the move.
Thanks for agreeing to speak with me today. The former WA Memorial House located on West 14th Avenue in Vancouver’s VGH/City Hall neighborhood was sold in 2011, with the final meeting held there in July of that year, just prior to the move to the first ACW Place, 7012 Unit B Merritt Avenue in Burnaby, southeast of the Metrotown area. Please tell us a little bit about the sale of WA House and the move to the first location.
WA House needed major repairs. The east side windows, the porch and roof supports had dry rot. We would’ve needed to raise over $100,000 to repair the building. The house was purchased to accommodate missionaries back in Canada to visit and raise funds for their work as well as preparing bales of clothing for the Yukon.
As we no longer hosted missionaries at the house and the basement was small, we had to consider that there was a lot of equity in the building, if sold, could allow us to find a place to do the bales with more room and easier access for the women working on the bales. So, we thought a more central location for the active ACW groups would be better. We presented this to the ACW AGM, and the membership agreed it was time to move. We discovered that although the Society had updated its name from the” Women’s Auxiliary of the Church of England” over the years we had not updated the name on the land deed. The diocesan legal team helped us with this, so that we could sell the property.
The realtor we engaged had prospects, as several of the houses around us were being changed into multi-family housing with carriage house(s) and multi-car garages. As soon as we were ready to list, he had offers ready. An offer was accepted a few dates later and looking for a new place began.
We looked at several places in New Westminster and Burnaby, with the Merritt Street location being the best choice at the time, close to the sky train, room for hi-lo shelving/racking, a kitchen and a meeting room.
Moving up to the present, please describe the situation around the ending of the lease on the Merritt Avenue facility and the subsequent search for and securing of the new location?
When the landlord presented a new lease in March, 2023 weeks before our meeting, we learned that the base rent was to increase 30% to start with subsequent increases to come. The City of Burnaby was to start major road work in the fall. The ACW investments had seen a $250,000 loss in 2022 which left us with a thin cushion to absorb the increased rent and taxes. For less money we could get a place closer to where those members who were committed to being bale workers were coming from (Delta, Surrey and Coquitlam). We looked at several places, some smaller but all had only 1 or 2 parking spaces and little street parking. We made offers on a few but they fell through. We were able to negotiate a lower rent all in for 5 years, so no future increases due to taxes, etc., and lots of parking. New, bright and open in an active office building. Easy access for those coming from Hwy 1 or Hwy 10.
Much of the ACW’s 57th AGM business meeting on May 27, 2023, involved discussions around the need to find a new ACW Place and protect the organization’s commitment to continue stewardship of its financial resources to support ACW priorities. The finding of the new facility and the move appears to have been very successful. Without going too far out on a limb, what is the general feeling amongst the membership regarding these current events?
The open house was the Board’s opportunity to showcase the new facility. And I believe we received positive feedback. We will look in to getting a chair lift for the upstairs meeting room in the future, to make that space more accessible. With the new location we are getting more interest from the valley groups to help with the bales.
How will this new facility affect the current and future mission and ministry goals of the diocesan ACW?
We are hoping to engage valley youth groups in the bale process. We will keep our commitments to key outreach programs, such as the VGH Chaplaincy, but will have to reduce our gifts to others until the investment market recovers more.
What was the biggest challenge involved in the process?
Finding a new place and getting it ready for the opening. The bale team are still getting used to the new place and where everything is located.
What was the happiest surprise?
The neighbours’ friendly greetings and the handy garbage bins.
In hindsight is there anything that you and the leadership might’ve done differently?
We might’ve done a better job of communicating to the members the reason for moving and not make it feel so rushed.
What does the future hold for the ACW in our diocese?
We are working on speaking to parishes without ACW Groups anymore and letting them know that they can still contribute to the work we do. That ACW is more than local parish fundraising and teas.
We are hopeful that with this new location we can get more people interested in helping with our outreach to the north and local groups, like Dress for Success and new immigrant families, with clothing, bedding and gifts.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Change can be frightening, but as we found 12 years ago, it also brings new beginnings.
IMAGE
Treasurer, Mary McIntyre presenting at the ACW AGM, May 27, 2023.
Photo: Randy Murray