Building Community
Our Story
Since 1979, our non-profit organization has provided child care, family, seniors, and community programs, recreation activities, and food security initiatives like the Good Food Box at the Fernwood Community Centre. We host Fernwood’s annual neighbourhood celebration – FernFest, and support placemaking and community development initiatives in Fernwood. We organize the Gift of Good Food fundraiser annually which supports families in need across Greater Victoria with fresh fruit and vegetables. We publish the Village Vibe, Fernwood’s neighbourhood newspaper and share the voices of our community.
In the Spring of 2004, when the Cornerstone Building (on the corner of Fernwood Road and Gladstone Avenue) was a boarded-up eyesore, we held an open-space visioning forum at the Fernwood Community Centre. The Visioning Forum was a chance for our neighbourhood to work together to co-create a vision for Fernwood. We discussed the challenges and opportunities for the neighbourhood.
The Visioning Forum held space for the community to vision a new future for the neighbourhood, but we knew that we would need to become a different kind of organization to support the community in making the change for Fernwood. In the Spring of 2005, we drafted a Declaration of Principles and Values which has guided us in our work ever since. Key among these principles was that we become more financially self-reliant so that we could direct our resources where we thought they would make the biggest difference such as through affordable housing.
In August 2005, we purchased the Cornerstone Building, and with the help of neighbourhood residents, supporters, and funders, began renovating the retail spaces and apartments above. This would allow us to lease commercial space to offer subsidized housing. Fourteen months later, we held the grand opening of the Cornerstone Apartments, which provides four 3-bedroom units of affordable housing for families with children in the heart of the neighbourhood. With the success of this model—an opportunity arose for us to purchase two vacant lots on Yukon Street, where we built the Park Place Apartments, creating six new 3-bedroom units of affordable housing for Fernwood.
The Foundation
Our Vision, Mission & Values
Vision
We nurture a neighbourhood where everyone experiences belonging, connection, joy, and acceptance.
Mission
We are a neighbourhood house that nurtures community well-being, connection, and resilience through programs, services, and advocacy.
We act with courage and compassion, centering the needs of marginalized people in our community — including children, youth, individuals, families, and seniors.
We provide welcoming spaces, host community celebrations, and collaborate widely with community members and partner organizations.
Values
- We nourish our community.
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We centre relationships, equity, and well-being.
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We lead with integrity.
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We are rooted in our local neighbourhood.