Good Friday, from Lauren Sanders

Lenten greetings,  Good Friday is the day followers of Christ remember the events leading up to Jesus’s death.We remember  the good,the bad,and the ugly on Good Friday.   During this pandemic, we all have known so much death, sadness, and fear. These are parts of every living being’s life, but the impacts feel deeply personal, isolating, and without […]

Fundraising for Homelessness Action Week

As Thanksgiving approaches, we reflect on the things we are grateful for in the past year – family, good food, good health (COVID-19 vaccinations!!!), a warm house and what’s good about our world.  This year, Thanksgiving overlaps with another event, one that hits very close to home for us: Homelessness Action Week – from October 10 to 17. We […]

Women’s Memorial March

  February 14th is the Annual Women’s Memorial March, a gathering and march of grief, love, and justice for missing and murdered women in the Downtown Eastside. In honour of the March, Dr Cheryl Bear, Director of Community Ministry at First United, writes about her relationship to community, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and the Downtown Eastside.  “Do […]

I’m a senior survivor

You could say I’ve had a rough go of it. I was in prison for thirty years. I was never violent or anything…I’d robbed banks, and I paid for it. Three years ago, I got out. Well, when they let you out after 30 years inside, you don’t really have anywhere to go. You’re on […]

Care During COVID-19

“COVID-19 has been scary, but I’ve felt taken care of here,” says Alex, a resident of First United’s women’s shelter since January. As word spread about the threat of COVID-19 in early March, things in the Downtown Eastside started to change quickly. “I remember the day they had to start the distancing. It’s usually so […]