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Mr. Stephen D'Souza, Executive Director,
Burnaby Community Services appeared before the Committee conveying thanks to
the City for support provided to the organization over the years.
Mr. D’Souza advised that Burnaby
Community Connections is vision-inspired, mission-driven and values-guided.
The organization enhances lives and empowers citizens by connecting people to
services and fostering connections in the community. Not only does Burnaby
Community Connections help people access community resources and services,
but also creates opportunities for individuals, businesses, unions,
organizations and government to directly help those in need and build a
stronger community.
The speaker provided an overview of
programs and publications, i.e. Seniors Transportation (with 644 drives in
2015), Camping Bureau (subsidy for 427 kids to attend camps), Christmas
Bureau (helped 3,574 people), Recreation Credit, and Community Resource Guide
(produce 60,000 publications), just to name a few.
Mr. D’Souza noted that Burnaby
Community Connections partner with a number of other organizations, i.e.
Brentwood Community Resource Centre, Burnaby Meals on Wheels, Burnaby Seniors
Outreach Society, Voices of Burnaby Seniors, Burnaby Task Force on
Homelessness, Burnaby Food First, and BC Poverty Reduction Coalition.
In conclusion, the speaker provided
an overview of revenue and expenses for the organization, and outlined some
of the future needs of the organization, i.e. toy room for Christmas Bureau,
union connections, housing strategy.
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