What do community centres offer

When I first moved to North Vancouver three and a half years ago with my husband and daughter at the time, she was just two , I admit I felt a bit like a fish out of water. Suddenly, I was in the middle of a brand new world, without knowing anyone. But making such a huge lifestyle change had its moments of difficulty, especially considering that I suffer from social anxiety.

When we embraced the community centres in our city, things began to change for the better. Participating in programs offered by Harry Jerome the closest community centre to our home shed a brand new light on North Van living for us.

We met like-minded people, were able to enjoy a wide array of activities, and connect on a deeper level with our community, making us feel like we ourselves were an integral part of that community. NVRC works hard to ensure that we have a diverse range of programs, activities, and events. What do you and your family love to do at your local community centre? I hope you take advantage of all the wonderful things that community centres offer this Spring! Stephanie E. Stephanie is a professional writer and photographer residing in North Vancouver with her husband and five-year-old daughter.

A community is more than just a group of people living in a particular area. A community is a group of people we lean on when times are tough; our friends, family, and neighbors who are there for us when we need love, support and encouragement.

A good community is a cohesive, safe, confident, prosperous and happy place. It is free of poverty and crime, providing a high quality of life for everyone that lives there.

It values and promotes open, participative development processes underpinned by a continuous culture of trans-generational learning. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search.

Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Why is a community Centre important? The fitness facility is only one of two in the downtown core and has nearly members who pay an annual membership fee that is nearly half the rate of other nearby facilities. The centre is also home to the Ontario Early Years Centre OEYC which provides early childhood education and parental support free of charge, four days a week.

Additionally, rooms and facilities in Water World were rented out to the community for use in events, meetings, parties and gatherings over times in In fact, Water World is seen as such a vital hub that until the recent closure announcement, United Way and its partners had been examining opportunities to offer new programs housed in this facility. For these reasons and more, the loss of a community centre like Water World would pose a significant and negative impact on the surrounding neighbourhood.

There is a broad catalogue of research that shows the connections between barriers to local access to programs and facilities in neighbourhoods, with a rise in indicators of poverty and poor health, such as declining childhood literacy rates or a rise in obesity rates. The loss of local after-school programs which encourage childhood literacy and education, local fitness facilities which improve the health and wellbeing of residents, and facilities for community events and functions may not only impact the local neighbourhood, but the city as a whole.