Author: Clicklaw Editor

October 2017 Events (BC-wide, Online)

Events, The broader context

Bookmark this post! It will be updated as more events are announced. You can also get frequent updates via our Twitter. Have a suggestion? Email us.

  • October 2017: Personal Planning Month: Getting your affairs in order gives you peace of mind and takes the burden off family and friends. It’s easy when you know the steps to take. Attend a free presentation, find out about Nidus’ free forms to make your own Representation Agreement. Nidus is an independent, non-profit, charitable organization that was set up by seniors and disability groups. Nidus is the Centre for Excellence on Representation Agreements and personal planning.
    • Provincial Interactive Webinars with Q&A: Public libraries across BC are hosting Nidus presentations. Locations include: Castlegar, Duncan, Okanagan (Enderby, Armstrong, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Summerland), Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Trail, Thompson-Nicola, Victoria, Prince Rupert, Williams Lake.
    • Metro-Vancouver in-person presentations: With the generous support of local seniors centres, neighbourhood houses and public libraries, Nidus-trained volunteers and staff are able to offer some in-person presentations in the Metro-Van area.
    • Webinars for Professionals: Professionals need information and resources geared to their workplace role. Nidus is offering presentations for the following settings.

      Interested professionals should email info@nidus.ca for details.

Engaging Older Women in your Community is a promising practices tool developed as an outcome of the Older Women’s Dialogue Project (OWDP), a collaborative project between the West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (West Coast LEAF) and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL). The publication is intended to support your agency to anticipate and address structural barriers to the participation of older women in community initiatives aimed at legal and policy change.

The tool includes key questions to explore, tips for enhancing organizational capacity to include older women, and examples from our experience throughout the OWDP. All of the ideas contained in this resource reflect what CCEL and West Coast LEAF learned through working with older women in Vancouver, BC.

There are more than 27,000 non-profit societies in BC, providing services and programs that touch virtually every citizen. All pre-existing BC societies need to transition to the new BC Societies Act. The Act includes many significant changes. There is a two-year transition period by which time all societies in BC will have to have filed a transition application. This workshop will provide your society with the information it needs on whether to make any bylaw or policy changes necessary for your society to transition to effectively function under the new Act.

The Fee is $50, but if you are a registered non-profit society delivering community social services within the geographical boundaries of the City of Vancouver, you may be eligible to receive a bursary to assist you with all or part of the workshop registration fee. See registration link for details.

  • October 16-24 (Various Dates): People’s Law School presents several classes on the following topics in Surrey and Vancouver:
    • Monday, October 16 (7-8pm) Probating a Will – Surrey Libraries Ocean Park Branch
    • Tuesday, October 17 (7-8:30pm) Wills and Estates – Surrey Libraries Guildford Branch
    • Wednesday, October 18 (7-8:30pm) Residential Tenancy for Landlords – Surrey Libraries Newton Branch
    • Thursday, October 19 (7-8:30pm) Strata Law – Surrey Libraries City Centre Branch
    • Tuesday, October 24 (6:30-8pm) Immigration Law – What TPRs Need to Know – Dunbar Community Centre
    • Tuesday, October 24 (12-1pm) Your Tenancy Rights – People’s Law School

This year, PovNet celebrates twenty years of building an online community of advocates, social justice lawyers and other passionate front-line workers and supporters who are committed to supporting those living in poverty, while battling the systemic issues that drive people there. We would be so happy if you could join us to celebrate this milestone. We would also like to invite you to help spread the word about this event. We are so excited to be celebrating the work of PovNetters from all over BC and indeed right across Canada. The celebration will be held at the Radisson Hotel Vancouver Airport, and will start with a short Annual General Meeting, followed by a few speakers and stories. We will have finger food and refreshments and there will be a cash bar. The location is within 1 block of the Aberdeen Canadaline station. We look forward to sharing this evening with you!

  • Tuesday, October 24 (12:30-1:30 PM): Litigating for Access: Suing the Government Over the Crisis in Legal Aid at Room 122, Allard Hall, 1822 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver.

Part of the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies’ Fall 2017 lecture series. Featuring West Coast LEAF’s Executive Director Kasari Govender and Litigation Director Raji Mangat.

Get your tickets now and spend an evening with your friends from CLAS and other familiar faces from the social justice community. Tickets are $20, plus service fee, online and $25 at the door. Space is limited so buy early. A full dinner menu will be available so stay for a drink or two and maybe even dinner. Either way, we want you to join us for a fun night. Thanks for supporting our organization as we work towards advancing dignity, equality and justice for all across BC. Tickets can be purchased here. Please direct any questions about the event to Dianne Bankay at dbankay@clasbc.net.

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StreetMessenger – Texting service for street and marginalized individuals

Community posts

Tracey Axelsson of the Vancouver Community Network (VCN) and PovNet introduces the work she is doing with the StreetMessenger.

The StreetMessenger was created by VCN (a charity) because they briefly struggled with the burden social service agencies deal with daily — the need to rapidly send information about supports available for street and marginalized survivors in a way that will be read and acted on in real time.

The VCN offices work out of Woodward’s in the DTES; they were posting the Extreme Weather Shelter sheets in the window. It didn’t take long to realize that nobody looked at the posters and that email was just as useless for time-sensitive info. The tech charity decided to begin working on the StreetMessenger. With funding from the Canadian Internet Registries Authority and Innovation in Homelessness (ESDC), they’re now able to make this very easy to use text-messaging platform freely available across Canada so agencies can save money and time on outreach, with more effective and wider-reaching results.

I hope you can tour the site – or take a moment to watch a quick video hosted by Judy Graves.

An new and very exciting feature of the system is the Shelter Bed Availability Map.  The map icons display the number of beds available in the shelter at that location (and set to zero at 11pm). The numbers can change as the beds are taken with a simple text message to the system from the front line staff. It is currently being updated by bc211 during their twice daily call-outs.

Tracey is available via email to answer any questions – vcned@vcn.bc.ca.

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