2018 Revised May 2018

DTES LITERACY ROUNDTABLE MEMBERS: Strengthening Literacy in Aboriginal Front Door Capilano University the Downtown Eastside Carnegie Community Centre Crab Tree Corner Vision, Goals and Action Plan DTES Neighbourhood House of the DTES Literacy Roundtable Embers Lookout Society Open Door Group Potluck Café/ Knackworks The Downtown Eastside Adult Literacy Roundtable is a coalition Simon Fraser University - of adult educators working in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Faculty of Education The Roundtable understands literacy as having the knowledge, Simon Fraser University – skills, and confidence to participate fully in our lives. The group Leadership and Community has been collaborating since 2005 to share skills, ideas, support Building Program and information. In 2010, the Roundtable organized a Strathcona Community Centre community literacy plan and continually implements the plan UBC Hum 101 every year. The group meets once a month and welcomes new UBC Learning Exchange members committed to strengthening literacy in the DTES. The Vancouver Community College Roundtable acknowledges and honors the fact that our Vancouver Public Library community lies within the unceded traditional territory of the Vancouver School Board xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwx̱ wú7mesẖ (Squamish), and Vancouver Writers Exchange Səlílw̓ ətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) territories. Wish Drop-in Centre YWCA Vancouver https://dteslit.wordpress.com/

1

Contents

Downtown Eastside – DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable ...... 2

Literacy Task Group...... 3 Community Context ...... 3 Some Examples of Positive Impacts Include: ...... 4

Some Examples of Negative Impacts Include: ...... 6

Community Development & Literacy Collaboration ...... 7

Addressing Our Goals & Priorities...... 8

Literacy Goal: Connect, Exchange Skills and Share Ideas ...... 10

Literacy Goal: Support Aboriginal Reconciliation Efforts in the DTES ...... 12

Literacy Goal: Increase Awareness of Literacy Resources ...... 13

Literacy Goal: Build Capacity to Support People with Learning Disabilities/Differences ...... 14

Programs ...... 15

Friends of the DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable ...... 23

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 2

Downtown Eastside – DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable

UNESCO has defined literacy as:

Literacy is traditionally meant as the ability to read and write. The modern term's meaning has been expanded to include the ability to use language, numbers, images, computers, and other basic means to understand, communicate, gain useful knowledge, solve mathematical problems and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture.

http://www.unesco.org/education/GMR2006/full/chapt6_eng.pdf

The American Library Association (ALA) defines digital literacy as:

The ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills.

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mpr/vol22/iss1/27/

Literacy in the Downtown Eastside community goes far beyond reading and writing; rather, literacy means being able to enjoy and participate in everyday life, and being able to contribute to, remain informed in, and engage with ones’ community.

Project Steward: WISH Drop-In Centre Society Literacy Outreach Coordinator: William Booth

In 2010, the Roundtable organized a community literacy plan that is continually implemented and updated every year. This report covers from July 2017 – June 30, 2019. The report has been prepared and written by table members Sandra McKay and William Booth in collaboration with the Downtown Eastside (DTES) Literacy Roundtable. In 2018 the design and content of the report was edited and updated by Marie Urdiga, with input and additions from DTES literacy roundtable members.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 3

Literacy Task Group The literacy task group in the DTES community has been comprised of adult educators and a network of supporters who sit on the DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable and represent a wide spectrum of literacy/educational organizations in the DTES community.

The Roundtable has been coming together since 2005 for the purpose of sharing skills, ideas, support and information. The work of the Roundtable is organized through monthly meetings hosted by a rotation of its members. At these meetings, members share new developments in their organizations and the community, as well as well offer opportunities for professional development and support through workshops and guest speakers. We are able to engage community members in activities by providing a modest honorarium to profit from their knowledge and contacts throughout the community

Community Context The Downtown Eastside is a dynamic, vibrant, low-income Vancouver neighborhood located on unceded Coast Salish Territory. Also known as ‘the Heart of the City’, the DTES has historically been a hub of rich cultural life for Aboriginal, Chinese, Japanese, Latin American, Black, working class, and low income peoples. The strong, community-driven DTES neighborhood prides itself on insider knowledge, lived experiences, volunteerism, social justice efforts, multicultural diversity, unity and support and offers opportunities for asset-based learning.

In the past year, a number of developments, issues and decisions have directly impacted people—both positively and negatively-- living in the Downtown Eastside community. This has, in turn, affected the ability of organizations to support literacy development.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 4

Some Examples of Positive Impacts Include:

 Responding to the needs identified by the Roundtable and the broader DTES community, Open Door Group has increased access to WorkBC programs and services by moving from a single office to three service locations. Open Door Group has also continued to expand the availability of employment services through ongoing partnerships with organizations such as BWSS, ACCESS, Gastown Vocational Services, La Boussole, as well as the provision of itinerant services at offsite locations.  New services to Opioid users have been created - Atira Women’s Resources Society and BC Housing have opened 38 treatment beds for women, a new women-only safe injection site is now open, and a provincial Mobile Medical Unit has been set up at 58 West Hastings Street.  Last month, the City of Vancouver delivered formal apology for its historical discrimination against the Chinese community. Watch and Listen to the fully bilingual (English and Cantonese) special council meeting held in Chinatown, including the apology text read by community readers. Read the bilingual apology.  Tuition-Free Adult Basic education and English as a Second Language has been re- established, after years of lobbying.  Vancouver has been backing events and discussions in relation to the truth and reconciliation commission, including continuing the Walk for Reconciliation and gathering and sharing culture at the reconciliation expo, in September 2017, which ended in Strathcona Park.  As of September 2017, the BC government has increased welfare rates and disability assistance by $100 a month- this is a much needed raise, as the price of living in Vancouver continues to rise.  This year, Vancouver and B.C have continued to hear recommendations to the planned Equitable City Framework (Poverty Reduction Plan), and are preparing to roll out a poverty reduction strategy soon.  There has been plans among Roundtable members to undertake financial literacy programs for those who will receive Canadian Government cash settlements which reflect the 60s 'scoop'.  EMBERS Eastside Works has opened at 57 East Hastings, an income generating hub located in the heart of the DTES. The city has provided $275,000 in funding to support

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 5

development, operations and rent in the project’s first year. This project helps those in need connect to local work opportunities, and to access training and support.  The Roundtable convened a Technology and Digital Literacy Forum to share with the community the findings of community -based research which Suzanne Smythe and her team have carried out in the past year.  WISH and Lucy Alderson have been awarded an ABC Literacy Grant.  With resources from the Raise a Reader Family Literacy Fund, WISH, the writers’ exchange and Books, Bags, and Babies has been supported.  WISH Drop In center is preparing a Reflective Journal for women based on the discussions they had last year in the DTES Families Discussion. This discussion series pointed out the importance of bonds in the DTES, both biological, street family and peers. They are taking quotes from this discussion series to help promote support and reflection in a journal form.  The DTES Roundtable has continuously supported and organized weekly linkvan.ca 'pop-up' cafes in Oppenheimer Park, and other community spaces, where community Ambassadors, students and VPL librarians go into the community offering technical assistance and support to help bridge the digital divide. The project forges new relationships with adult learners through technology to help address a significant barrier to digital equity. The cafés have had had over 800 interactions with community members, some who come every week to learn and others who come with a specific issue.  The DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable continues to foster important connections between educators and literacy organizations and participate in various community functions such as Heart of the City, Alley Health Fair, Aboriginal Health Fair, Homeless Connect, Homeground, etc.  In the face of ever increasing funding challenges The DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable members and supporters continue to offer and provide innovative and creative programs.  We have submitted grant applications and have been successful in securing funding from various grants, including: the Chapman Innovation Grant, Centre for Community and Engaged Learning, Face the World Foundation, and finally from the Spencer Foundation.  The City of Vancouver now has one of North America’s largest free Wifi networks, a welcome addition in reducing accessibility barriers.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 6

Some Examples of Negative Impacts Include:

Arguably, the biggest challenge has been the opioid and fentanyl crisis B.C is currently facing. On April 14, 2016, British Columbia’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in B.C. Many organizations are feeling the increased pressure on services. The fentanyl crisis is also putting an unimaginable strain on families, the community, and the service organizations in the DTES. As frontline workers and members of the DTES literacy roundtable know, this crisis is causing immense trauma and burnout. We continue to find ways to navigate through this crisis. “… while the province and regional health authorities have allocated additional funding for the opioid crisis, very little of that money has gone to nonprofit organizations that don’t technically work in overdose response but which now find their staff responding to overdoses on a routine basis.” (Retrieved here.)

In addition to the obvious impacts, there are many intersecting challenges literacy roundtable members are facing:

 Budget cuts, housing shortages and gentrification. The Carnegie Community Action Project has produced a Retail Gentrification Mapping Report, which outlines the gentrified businesses having opened in the DTES since June 2015. “People already on the fringes are being further marginalized in their own neighbourhoods. Gentrification, increases rents and pushes out businesses upon which low-income residents depend. They exclude low-income people, they are expensive and people feel stigmatized when they enter these shops.” (Retrieved from here.) "Vancouver needs to do more to guard against gentrification" stated Jeremy Stone of UBC. "You have displacement, trauma economic and health outcomes suffer from the loss of neighborhoods." (Retrieved here.)  Some have moved to other areas in Vancouver and beyond in order to secure affordable accommodation, yet a lack of services causes those to return to the DTES. Transportation, too, becomes a new issue.  Governments and other institutions are increasingly pushing people online to offer more ‘efficient’ services, while also ‘cutting costs’ to service delivery. The consequence is that people are losing their basic rights to government services because they do not have the resources needed for access.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 7

Community Development & Literacy Collaboration

In the past year, some of the important collaborations that have taken place in the Downtown Eastside community to support literacy and the work of the task group have included:

 Continuing opportunities for computer literacy training at UBC Learning Exchange, Vancouver School Board, Carnegie Centre, Vancouver Community College and others provide opportunities for trained educators/facilitators from these programs to support other community members/organizations in accessing computers.  Tech Cafes – In addition to tech cafes being offered to service providers, three tech cafes were held in the Carnegie Learning Centre, one for tutors and two for the general public. The first two focussed on assisting people with key questions around digital mobile gadgets and the third helped people address security and privacy settings on Facebook. Carnegie has continued the tech cafes on Mondays with tutors in the Learning centre. In partnership with SFU’s Leadership and Community Building Programs and the UBCLE, the Literacy Roundtable has been able to expand its reach throughout the DTES. The Literacy Roundtable has been able to work with service providers to offer more targeted tech cafes to a broader range of technology users in the community.  Close collaboration among members allowed support and exchange of students otherwise 'lost’ in the system.  The Literacy Roundtable, in collaboration with UBCLE, Carnegie Learning Center and the VPL has continued to strengthen and expand content and outreach of linkvan.ca.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 8

Addressing Our Goals & Priorities

The literacy task group in the Downtown Eastside community continues to build on their literacy plan Strengthening Literacy in the Downtown Eastside.

The two overarching priorities in the plan are to work together as a community and to value the self-determination of community members. Within these overarching priorities, six literacy goals and possible actions are outlined which guide the Roundtable’s efforts.

In the past year, the Literacy Outreach Coordinator, working in conjunction with the DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable, has taken steps to address these literacy goals. The following table describes each literacy goal, examples of how it was addressed (action taken), indicators of success, and any challenges that may have been encountered along the way.

***In spite of continued challenges as described in this report, Roundtable membership remains lively with a great deal of proactive participation. Thank you to all those who provided an update to this report.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 9

Literacy Goals set through 06.30.2019

1. Connect, Exchange Skills and Share Ideas

2. Support Revitalization of Aboriginal Languages and Cultural Practices

3. Support Low Income Resident Teaching and Learning Opportunities

4. Increase Awareness of Changing Access to Adult Literacy and Educational Pathways and Resources for Learners.

5. Strengthen Our Capacity to Support People with Multiple Challenges Including Learning Disabilities / Differences

6. Create Momentum Through Neighborhood Learning Themes and Events

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 10

Literacy Goal: Connect, Exchange Skills and Share Ideas Goals – new opportunities, challenges, issues, priorities 1 • Clarify where the Roundtable is connecting, exchanging skills and sharing ideas. There is a great deal of work going on with members working with members and other organizations. Partnerships are happening. Keep track of the work on the website and in other reports - Continue to post URL links on revised website to facilitate sharing • Further develop website and use list-serve to access educational opportunities • Provide new support to EMBERS Eastside Works (formerly the Lux)

Action Taken • Continuing monthly Roundtable meetings • Connecting to larger issues that impact education, for example Homeless Connect and Homeground • Roundtable brings in speakers to monthly meetings for professional development • Roundtable rotates venue for meetings • Continue managing Roundtable website at www.dteslit.wordpress.com • Continue to verify and update service and program information on LinkVan app/website https://linkvan2.herokuapp.com/ • Contributed a chapter on digital literacy to a UK publication, The Urban Hub. Linkvan was also featured in an article by the Vancouver Sun. • In 2018-19, the Roundtable continues to discuss current issues with government support and access to education for DTES community members. • Dr. Suzanne Smythe of the Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University continues to compile information and research about digital literacy “Policy changes and cuts to adult education programs in the lower Mainland, British Columbia: A situation report” which was subsequently submitted to the Ministry of Advanced Education. This is an important indication of our concerns. Roundtable produced an Adult Basic Education Blog. Read Suzanne’s blog here. • In 2018, DTES Literacy Roundtable will continue to build capacity within tech cafes

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 11

by supporting ambassadors to serve diverse participants needs. • DTES Literacy Outreach Coordinator William Booth, along with Suzanne Smythe of SFU’s Faculty of Education and Lucy Alderson of Capilano University’s Community Development and Outreach department, wrote a letter to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services. This Committee has recommended the Government provide annual funding of $2.5 Million to Decoda Literacy Solutions, who funds our work. While the government delivered some of the recommended amount the short-fall of $.5 Million effects everything from healthcare, to employment to the economy as well as our ability to assist the community to participate in today’s BC jobs Plan. We thanked the Committee for its past support, and requested they again renew their recommendation to government. • The Carnegie Learning center will produce a book of writing and educational activities to mark 35 years of the Learning Centre The purpose of this collaboration is to gather and share information from around the province about how charging high tuition fees for ABE will affect adult learners, programs and social and economic participation. • In 2017, Dionne Pelan of the UBC Learning Exchange and William Booth presented a workshop on digital technology at the Decoda Provincial Conference.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 12

Literacy Goal: Support Aboriginal Reconciliation Efforts in the DTES Goals – new opportunities, challenges, issues, priorities 2 • Support Aboriginal programs • Connect with Aboriginal educators and community spaces

Action Taken • Maintain contacts with Aboriginal groups, organizations, partners and friends • Raise-a-Reader funds also allocated the ‘Books, Bags & Babies’ at YWCA Crabtree Corner; through crafts, storytelling, and drumming, program provides First Nations family with a connection to their culture in a positive learning environment • The Invisible Heroes Project did three community workshops about the book and how to incorporate the material into learning centers and community organizations. 325 books were distributed in two months. • The Carnegie Learning center is developing a new partnership with Amici Curiae to offer a monthly Indigenous Legal Forms assistance. • The Carnegie Learning Centre and Capilano University, with representation from the Aboriginal Front Door, undertook the Invisible Heroes: Aboriginal Stories from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The book contains personal narratives that highlight the impact of Canadian aboriginal policies on culture, family and individual lives. The recognition of these community heroes brings pride and value to their amazing perseverance. . The Roundtable provided support, enthusiasm and networking for the project. Indications of Success • More community members are aware of Aboriginal languages and cultural practices in the neighborhood. Partnerships are formed; languages and cultures are nurtured in ways that Aboriginal groups define; participation rates have steady increase over time. • Books Bags and Babies has continued to herald their early Literacy Aboriginal Program in the DTES, this year the two ten week cohorts of Books Bags and Babies at YWCA Crabtree Corner program have chosen to highlight the resiliencies that are already present within our community and families. • More discussion of financial literacy support in anticipation of Scoop awards.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 13

Literacy Goal: Fund Low Income Resident Teaching and Learning Opportunities Goals – new opportunities, challenges, issues, priorities • Create more partnerships and partnership opportunities 3 Action Taken • Hourly living wages paid to community members for their work in the following roles; • Community members hired to assist with testing of app and to take part in weekly pop-up tech cafes • Support the Raise the Reader Project • Literacy Outreach Coordinator has written references letters for these community members as they seek further/additional opportunities • Have applied for SFU Community Engagement Funds to support the ongoing training and development of tech-café volunteers and front-line workers.

Literacy Goal: Increase Awareness of Literacy Resources Goals– new opportunities, challenges, issues, priorities

4 • Continue to work with students and community members to enhance the LinkVan App incorporating the Roundtable Guide’s information as well as various community resources, including the DTES Women’s Centre Resource Guide • Continue to access grant writing opportunities

Action Taken • LinkVan App is now live, providing updated access to service information including educational resources. • The Carnegie branch of the VPL has been particularly active in digital literacy activities, including a workshop on Crowdfunding, participation from VPL’s digital creation space in a DTES Artists Resource Fair, and ongoing support of Tech Cafes. • Delivered Digital Tech Forum to over 30 participants raising awareness on tech accessibility issues throughout the region and the importance of digital literacy training opportunities.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 14

Literacy Goal: Build Capacity to Support People with Learning Disabilities/Differences 5 Goals - new opportunities, challenges, issues, priorities

• Assessments through Open Door Group – Work BC? Criteria? Keeping abreast of possible assessments at UBC, SFU, VCC, etc. • Maintain partnership with VPL’s nə́ca̓ ʔmat library, which houses software and other resources related to helping people with learning disabilities/differences so all organizations (Carnegie, Central VPL, etc) can use it.

Action Taken • Working with Work BC and Open Door Group to work with certain students to obtain funding for education and to do assessments. • Supporting learners with disabilities in the Tech Cafes, including improving knowledge of accessibility technology, and continuing to make appropriate referrals for patrons of Tech Cafes • Vancouver Community College continuing to supply and support accommodation for students with disabilities

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 15

Literacy Goal: Create Momentum through Neighbourhood Learning Themes and Events Goals - new opportunities, challenges, issues, priorities 6 • Continue active participation. • Ongoing community event planning and participation, for example, Homeground Festival, Aboriginal Day celebrations, Homeless Connect, Alley Health Fair, and others

Action Taken • Roundtable members, who represent community-based organizations, secondary and post-secondary learning institutions and are instructors and programmers continue working directly with community members to pursue learning opportunities.

Programs

The Writers' Exchange makes literacy exciting and accessible for inner-city kids through free mentoring and creative writing projects. All of our free after-school and summer programs take place at the Writers' Exchange home-base, located at 881 East Hastings Street. VancouverWE.com

Books, Bags, and Babies is an early Literacy Aboriginal program available to families in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside and surrounding areas. Two ten week cohorts are held each year at the YWCA Crabtree. With the help of our Elders, each weekly session starts with a talking circle and by the end of the ten weeks families will have completed vision boards, talked about self-care, and the legacy of residential schools. Each of these themes and others are highlighted in a children’s book for the family to take home and share. The group encourages extended family members to attend such as grandparents who could be providing care for family member's children. The program not only encourages early literacy in children, but also ensures the caregivers attending are exposed to the written and spoken work.

Open Door Group supports adult literacy within the Downtown Eastside as a component of the services and programs provided through the Employment Program of British Columbia, also known as WorkBC. We operate on the fundamental belief that all individuals have the ability to

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 16

succeed. Our mission is opening doors to lifelong learning and career success. Open Door Group currently offers a number of workshops on job search related digital literacy (e.g. resume writing, cover letter writing, job search skills, etc.), as well as a short computer skills workshop for those who have some knowledge of computers. Where literacy is a barrier to the career goal identified by a job seeker, we also have the opportunity to support the individual to gain access to funding for training. At the broadest level, Open Door Group is committed to fostering literacy in essential skills that help individuals to find – and keep – meaningful employment that fits their needs.

Vancouver Public Library, Carnegie branch engages in numerous literacy-based activities throughout the year. Everything from its incredibly popular Friday Afternoon Free Book Giveaways to readings by local authors. Two key areas in which the library was particularly active over the past year were in supporting digital literacy, and in supporting local writers. Digital literacy activities included a workshop on Crowdfunding, participation from VPL’s digital creation space in a DTES Artists Resource Fair, and ongoing Tech Cafes, which VPL supports in partnership with LinkVan, UBC Learning Exchange, and the Carnegie Centre.

The Carnegie branch hosted numerous events over the past year to support DTES writers. A ‘Create Your Own Chapbook’ program drew an enthusiastic audience, the WORD Vancouver festival offered workshops on “Getting Published” and “Therapeutic Writing for Writers”, and an in-house VPL program on “Resources for Writers” was offered. In the summer, the branch ran a “Short Story Book Club”, in which participants read and discussed a short story from the New Yorker, and then worked on writing their own short story.

Vancouver Community College, in addition to offering a full range of certificate, diploma and continuing education classes, is the largest college provider of adult literacy programs in Vancouver. It has a long and proud history of collaborating with a wide assortment of community constituency groups. VCC is a DTES partner in literacy, education and many community events.

The Basic Education Department is the Adult Literacy Fundamental Level program at VCC. It encompasses reading, writing, math and computer skills from beginning skills up to approximately a Grade 9 level. It offers group-based and self-paced, continuous intake classes at the Broadway Campus. We also offer a Fundamental level class for Queer, Trans and Two Spirit

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 17

Youth at our Broadway campus, and a classroom in the Raycam community centre in Strathcona.

College and Career Access - Adult Upgrading courses are offered at the Intermediate (Grade 10), Advanced (Grade 11) and Provincial (Grade 12) levels for students wishing to earn credit or obtain academic prerequisites leading to high school completion and the BC Adult Graduation Diploma. Students can complete prerequisites: (1) for entry into institutions such as university transfer, BCIT, Langara, Kwantlen, etc., (2) in preparation for entry into other VCC programs (e.g. Pharmacy Technician, Practical Nursing, or Electronics) or (3) for entrance into academic, career, or technical programs. College and Career Access offers the ABE Intermediate Certificate Program and the ABE Graduation Certificate Program. The Intermediate Program gives students the opportunity to plan an efficient education or employment pathway and gain all of the necessary courses to access trades and career programs at VCC and other post-secondary institutions where grade 10 is the minimum program admission requirement. The ABE Graduation Certificate Program gives students the opportunity to plan an efficient education or employment pathway and gain all of the necessary courses to access career and university transfer programs at VCC and other post-secondary institutions. Students registered in either program will be placed on a wait list for the trades or academic program they wish to transfer into. For more information call: 604.871.7000, ext. 7366

Raycam Cooperative Learning Center - College and Career Access along with Basic Education has partnered with the Raycam Community Center to provide Adult Upgrading in Math and English. This program was developed through another program in partnership with VCC called NASCARZ. NASCARZ is a program for youth to learn to build and fix cars and explore post-secondary education options. The Raycam Community Centre provides students with English and Math coursework in a supportive, community based classroom. Students receive a lunch through the centre, and many students bring their children, who are cared for through Raycam’s childcare programs. The class runs 4 afternoons a week, and fulfills many of VCC’s and the provinces goals to : provide educational opportunities in community settings; serve Indigenous communities; and assist students in accessing education for, trades, post- secondary and personal skill development.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 18

Intermediate Program for Youth: Broadway Youth Resource Centre offers an Intermediate ABE Certificate Program (Grade 10) and Advanced ABE courses (Grade 11) at the Broadway Youth Resource Centre. The ABE Youth Program offers individualized and self-paced instruction in English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies in a structured and supportive educational setting that allows youth to achieve their academic goals to develop the skills to be productive and responsible individuals. The Youth Program prepares students to enter adult graduation programs, public secondary schools, career and skills training programs and/or employment.

Access to Careers and Education at the VCC Downtown Campus (250 West Pender) offers:(1)Education and Career Planning; Self-Assessment, Career Explorations and Interview Skills, (2) College Success: Active Learning, Study Skills, Goal Setting.

Student Computing Skills Centre offers courses in Computer skills: Word, Excel, and Windows. These courses are being offered in a flexible format that includes self- paced study and scheduled courses at various times to suit the student.

The Simon Fraser University Faculty of Education supports adult and community literacy education by offering undergraduate courses in literacy education, an Equity Studies in Education (ESE) Master's degree designed for practicing educators and community workers, and a PhD program in Languages, Cultures and Literacies. Faculty members and graduate students collaborate with local community groups in literacy research projects of interest to the community, most recently in digital literacy; we strive to offer support and resources that meet the education needs of the downtown community, and we engage in policy advocacy in the areas of adult and digital literacy. For more information, contact:

Suzanne Smythe, PhD, Assistant Professor, Adult Literacy and Adult Education Faculty of Education Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre 778-928-1554/[email protected]

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 19

Simon Fraser University: Leadership and Community Building Programs, Continuing Studies manages a broad array of community and professional programs, aimed at strengthening community capacity and increasing access to the university for a diverse range of adult learners. Our goals include working to identify new opportunities for working in partnership with community organizations to expand and strengthen approaches to community literacy and capacity building as appropriate.

Capilano University, through the Community Development & Outreach Department, works in partnership with organizations in the DTES to bring literacy programming to the community. This year, the three programs described below will participate in a Learner’s Event in Squamish for over 14 learning programs co-sponsored by Capilano from Vancouver to Mt. Currie and to the Sunshine Coast.

Carnegie Learning Centre is a community-based learning centre operated in partnership between the Community Development and Outreach Department of Capilano University and the Carnegie Community Centre. They offer one to one and small group tutoring in reading, writing, esl, math and computer skills for community residents. They also assist community members with emergency literacy tasks such as resumes, job search computer skills, online welfare applications, reading and understanding official letters and documents, etc. This program also does literacy outreach at Oppenheimer Park and at community events.

The Learning Centre at Carnegie has been busy this year. This year, there were over 100 returning and new students involved in a variety of activities offered at both Carnegie and Oppenheimer Park. As always, we assessed students and matched them to work one-to-one on upgrading in reading, writing, math, computers and ESL. We offer weekly tech help sessions and classes in computers in Chinese and computers in English as well as one to one support. We have a weekly creative writing group, which published an anthology of their writing, and participated in a Writer's Retreat on Bowen Island. An ASL tutor is available for weekly tutoring. New groups launched in 2018 included a Drama Club, a Writer’s Feedback circle and an 8-week Storytelling workshop series. In addition, we work with the DTES Small Arts Program, the Volunteer program, the Cultural Sharing and Seniors' programs to co-sponsor cultural and capacity-building activities

We also have at least another 100 community members who come for literacy and digital literacy assistance throughout the year. This assistance includes: welfare, EI, OAP and GIS

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 20

forms, resumes, cover letters, medical services enrolment, medical services assistance, bus passes.

This year, 52 volunteers worked as receptionists and tutors. We give new tutors an orientation, on-the-job training and monthly in-service workshops. This year 15 of those volunteers were also students (ESL, Mandarin, ASL, Math and computers).

We supported 12 people applying to the Small Arts Grant (Vancouver Foundation): application and budget, the artist’s statement and final report. We also supported applicants to the Neighbourhood Small Grant fund and three of them held events at Carnegie: a beading workshop series, a reunion and writing workshop with the Invisible Heroes group and the Poetry in the Park event.

We hosted social events including our annual Open House in September, our annual Holiday party, a Chinese New Year celebration and our annual year-end “Poetry in the Park”. We also collaborated on events in the DTES such as the Alley Health Fair, the Philosopher’s Café (co- hosted with VPL and SFU), a workshop to make your own chapbook, and volunteer dinners organized by the Carnegie volunteer office.

We also offer a weekly Oppenheimer Learning Group at Oppenheimer Park. The Learning Group promotes upgrading skills, creative activities, learning games, and assistance with navigating the education and employment systems. This year, we published our 13th annual calendar featuring the photos, writing and artwork of the Oppenheimer community. We will be hosting a table at the annual Indigenous People’s Day.

WISH Learning Centre is open three nights a week at the WISH Drop In Centre, a resource centre for women working in the sex trade in the DTES. Capilano University and the WISH Drop In Centre Society have partnered in this outreach literacy and upgrading centre for over 16 years. The WISH Learning Centre provides support to women maintaining and developing their literacy and community participation skills and assists women to bridge to further educational opportunities.

We continue to work within the themes requested by women at WISH: being, healing, creating, learning and leading. This year, we had a core group of 30 women who participated in the WISH Learning Centre on a regular basis and many other women who used the WISH Learning Centre on a casual basis. Each 2.5-hour session has an academic activity (e.g. reading, writing, math, geography) and a creative activity so that women can de-stress or pursue individual expression.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 21

We also offer individual support for women who want help with upgrading or computers. We offer a monthly tech café (in cooperation with UBC Learning Exchange and the Roundtable) and a visit from our local librarian. We organized three educational tours to Capilano University, Vancouver Community College and the nə́ca̓ ʔmat ct Strathcona Library Branch. We also enjoyed a trip to Grouse Mountain organized by several women at the WISH Learning Centre who successfully completed a Neighbourhood Small Grant.

The WISH Learning Centre hosts the monthly WISH Women’s Advisory Group where women can raise any issue about WISH and community issues. Women take turns co-chairing the meeting, improving their group leadership skills and assist other women to participate. Women also helped to publish to WISHful Thinking newsletters this year, featuring the writing, views and art of women from the Learning Centre.

With resources from the Raise a Reader Family Literacy Fund, we are also preparing a Reflective Journal for women based on the discussions we had last year in the DTES Families Discussion. This discussion series pointed out the importance of bonds in the DTES, both biological, street family and peers. We are taking quotes from this discussion series to help promote support and reflection in a journal form.

We also work closely with other WISH staff who offer a Supportive Employment Program which helps women to move toward paid employment inside and outside of WISH and the Transitions project, which is a city-wide collaboration to assist sex trade workers to decrease their reliance on sex work. This year, we supported women to consider participating in some way with the Inquiry into Indigenous Missing and Murdered Women. We were also overwhelmed by the number of Memorials that were held in the Learning Centre for WISH women who died this year. We see the impact of grief in our learners, our colleagues and ourselves.

The Strathcona Family Literacy program has been working with immigrant parents and grandparents in the Strathcona community for fourteen years. The program offers a weekly class with language instruction, technology workshops, presentations by neighbourhood groups and service providers as well as field trips. Childcare is provided when funding is available. There is a sense of community within the classroom; everyone takes responsibility for their own learning while also being aware of the learning needs of their classmates. Ages in the class range from 32- 85. The program is a partnership between Capilano University, Strathcona Community Centre and the Vancouver Public Library, Strathcona Branch.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 22

University of British Columbia: The UBC Learning Exchange was created to make mutually beneficial connections between the Downtown Eastside and UBC. Literacy programs at the Learning Exchange include ESL and computer workshops led by local residents, and a wide variety of volunteer and informal education opportunities.

University of British Columbia: Humanities 101 offers three non-credit university-level courses at UBC for people living in the DTES and surrounding areas who have a lust for knowledge and education, especially those whose economic situation, academic experience, financial and social well-being are compromised. With respect to their low incomes, all students receive course materials, bus tickets, meal vouchers and childcare, as well as student cards which give access to UBC amenities. These courses offer Writing, Critical Thinking, Philosophy, Music, Art, Sociology, Popular Culture, First Nations Studies, Literature, History, Politics, Gender Studies, Law, Architecture and more.

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable 23

Friends of the DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable

Aboriginal Front Door The Gathering Place

Aboriginal Head Start Association of BC Open Door Group

Aboriginal Wellness Center Atira Women's Resource Society

Decoda Literacy Solutions Frontier College

Downtown Eastside Women's Centre The Vancouver Community Network

DTES Neighbourhood House Hope in Shadows

Gallery Gachet AIDS Vancouver

Kitsilano Neighbourhood House BC Housing

Kiwassa House Urban Core

Megaphone Magazine The Binners Project

Mosaic Lookout Society

Native Education College (NEC) NICCSS

Potluck Catering- Potluck Café Society Vancouver Native Health Society

Rain City Housing VPD

Reach Community Health Centre Vancity

South Vancouver Neighbourhood House Pace The Native Courtworker & Counselling Association of BC Strathcona Business Improvement Association

The Portland Hotel Society LOVE - Leave Out Violence

Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre City of Vancouver Society (VAFCS) Care of Multi-diagnosed Patients in the Urban Vancouver Coastal Health Core Aboriginal Child & Family Support Services Watari Counselling & Support Services Battered Women’s Support Services

Eastside Works Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of

Hearing

DTES Adult Literacy Roundtable