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UGM to dish out hope and new beginnings along with Easter dinner on Good Friday, April 2, 2010
Vancouver, B.C. – On Good Friday, April 2nd, 2010, Union Gospel Mission will serve over 3,000 delicious Easter meals to Metro Vancouver’s homeless and struggling women, men, and families. This Easter, in the spirit of spring and new beginnings, UGM is putting a special emphasis on promoting new possibilities for those affected by poverty through its outreach and recovery programs, women and children’s services, and affordable housing initiatives.
Along the theme of new beginnings, this meal will be UGM’s second annual “Orange Day.” Every year, UGM’s Easter dinner guests are given an orange when they leave as a token of hope and a symbol of a fresh start. This year, the entire day will go “orange”. Volunteers and staff will be dressed in brightly coloured orange clothing, adorned with Orange Day buttons, while UGM’s walls will be splashed with colourful posters.
Squeeze the Day! How the Public can Participate
The week prior to Easter, UGM will be encouraging the public to “squeeze the day” and keep the community spirit of the Olympics alive by hitting the streets and enjoying Vancouver’s free attractions and public space. Then, whatever’s saved can be donated to UGM at ugm.ca, whether it is $10 (the price of a movie ticket) or $70 (the price of a concert). Last year UGM’s goal was $12,000; that number was nearly doubled as whopping $23,000 was collected in support of UGM’s programs. This year, UGM aims to raise even more to provide hope and help to the hungry, hurting, and homeless across Metro Vancouver.
Participants are encouraged to join the orange community by sharing their experiences on the web. http://www.ugm.ca/orangeday has been set up as a centre to automatically collect content such as Flickr photos, tweets, or Facebook posts tagged with #orangeday. UGM will be partnering with local bloggers like Miss604 (www.miss604.com) throughout the week to help communicate the project to the public.
To find out more, visit http://www.ugm.ca/orangeday and see the Orange Day Event Kickoff details below.
Easter Meal Details:
When: Friday, April 2nd, 2010, 10:30am to 4:30pm
* The media are welcome to come early and get footage of set-up
* Doors open at 10:00am; first meal served at 10:30am
Where: Main Location: 616 East Cordova, Vancouver
Other Locations Served:
* New Westminster Drop-in: 529 Queens Avenue, New Westminster
* Mission Drop-in: 33071 Railway Avenue, Mission
* The Orchard Housing Complex, Surrey
* Maurice McElrea Place, Vancouver
Items Served:
* 130 hams (2,400 lbs)
* 1,100 lbs of scalloped potatoes
* 750 lbs of vegetables
* 50 gallons (190 litres) of pineapple sauce
* 3,600 dinner rolls
* 585 apple pies
* 350 litres of ice cream
Orange Day Events:
Campaign Kickoff: Gastown Photowalk
To kick off the week, you’re invited to a Gastown Photowalk. UGM’s own Leah Gregg will guide you as you get to know this part of the city with new eyes and through your camera lens, spend an afternoon outside, and – best of all – you don’t have to spend a penny!
When: Saturday, March 27, 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Where: Meet at the Gassy Jack statue at the intersection of Carrall, Powell, and Water Streets.
What to bring: Outdoor-wear; camera or cellphone with camera.
Why: UGM’s Orange Day campaign is about getting out and enjoying Vancouver without spending money, and then donating what you would have spent toward UGM’s Easter Meal.
Who: Invite your friends! Invite everyone!
Orange Day Tweet-Up
Join Vancouver bloggers and UGM staff and volunteers as we chill together and get the word out online about the Orange Day campaign. Then, weather permitting, we’ll walk over to Crab Park to have some fun Orange Day activities and create bright, fresh “analog tweets” to spread the love and encourage homeless in our city and guests at the UGM meal.
When: Monday, March 29, 6:00pm (Chill Winston meetup); 7:00pm (Orange fun at Crab Park)
Where: Meet at Chill Winston, at the intersection of Carrall, Powell, and Water Streets.
What to bring: Outdoor-wear; camera or cellphone with camera to take pictures of you with your posters.
Who: Everyone is welcome
About UGM:
Union Gospel Mission has been reaching hungry, hurting, and homeless men, women, youth, and children for nearly 70 years. Through its 8 locations in Metro Vancouver and the city of Mission, UGM provides counseling, education, safe housing, and alcohol and drug recovery to those struggling with poverty, homelessness, and addiction. The heart of the mission is to demonstrate God’s transforming love, ease the burden of the most vulnerable, rebuild the lives of the broken, and offer dignity to those who feel cast aside. UGM is a proud member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities.
To find out more, visit www.ugm.ca.
AHA MEDIA is very pleased to wish Michael Tippett a very Happy Birthday!! (MT40) at W2 in Vancouver
AHA MEDIA is very pleased to wish Michael Tippett a very Happy Birthday!! (MT40) Michael’s birthday party was held at W2 in Vancouver.
Michael has always been such a wonderful and supportive presence to AHA MEDIA! AHA MEDIA is always very thankful to Michael and we all wish Michael many more happy years and a very long life! 🙂
Please see more of the amazing Michael Tippett at http://tinyurl.com/a4qdxj
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–Since moving into their new space, AHA MEDIA has started to bake sweet treats for friends and neighbors. AHA MEDIA is delighted to make our first personalized cookies for Michael’s MT40 Party!
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Below is Michael Tippett and Kate Armstrong for MT40 Party at W2
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Below are two photos of the lovely MT40 party for Michael!
Happy Birthday Michael! Happy MT40! May you get everything you wish for and much more! 🙂
April Smith of AHA MEDIA is very proud to be on the cover of Megaphone Magazine in Vancouver Downtown Eastside
Yes, in this issue we feature April Smith; once homeless and searching for herself on the streets of the Downtown Eastside, she is now one of the city’s leading social media activists.
We look at Leef Evans, who battled crippling depression in his Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotel, yet has gone on to become one of the city’s most formidable artists and a big part in the burgeoning street soccer movement. And we remember Margaret Prevost, a disabled athlete known to many as ‘the mayor of the Downtown Eastside’, who sadly passed away last month.
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We encourage everyone to buy a copy from your favourite vendor or sign up to read online! 🙂
http://www.megaphonemagazine.com/content/subscribe.html
Megaphone’s mission is to provide an opportunity for our homeless and low-income vendors. We are very proud of how hard our vendors work – to become self-sufficient and build grassroots support to end poverty. Please support our vendors by buying a copy of the magazine from them.
Video of Woman reporter who is a Tent City resident arrested by Psych-Police in Downtown Eastside (DTES) on March 19, 2010
In this video, Diane Claveau, reporter and Tent City resident is pursued, SWARMED, handcuffed and ARRESTED by 8 Vancouver Police and Psychiatric workers on March 19, 2010
Immediate Release 20 March 2010
Contacts: Wendy Pedersen, 839-0379 Rider Cooey, 872-1382
Vancouver Tent City Woman Arrested, Held for Psychiatric Assessment
Diane Claveau, a reporter and tent city resident often quoted in the media, was arrested Friday night. She was tied to a stretcher, and transported to St Paul’s Hospital for 48-hour “assessment.”
Fellow campers Rene, Marley, and Gillian were outraged, emphasizing that Claveau was quiet and polite, with a friendly and calming manner that had a positive influence on others in the tent city. They speculated her apprehension under the mental health act was instigated by Concord Pacific, owner of the site.
Concord wants to build a controversial condo development at 58 West Hastings. Homeless people and supporters have demanded for two years that the full-block sized site be used instead for social housing. They’ve peacefully occupied the land since February 15.
On Wednesday, in response to a CoV directive, Concord’s contract employees teamed with housing agencies to sweep the site clear of campers and their sometimes makeshift camping gear. Campers who weren’t present returned to find their possessions gone.
The housing agencies offered a variety of “housing” and inducements for campers to leave, and— despite campers’ fear that some housing would be pest-ridden SRO hotel rooms— all campers were persuaded to leave the tent city by Wednesday night.
Except Claveau. She stayed, insisting she wanted to pay rent for “real housing,” not for a pestilential SRO or an institutional cubicle.
She was effectively imprisoned for the night when Concord representatives chained the gates shut. Friends passed her food and supplies over the 6-foot fence. The Vancouver Fire Department—after a month of multiple campfires on this property—gained entry and poured water on her tiny fire. A breach of the Fire Bylaw, they said.
By Friday, the fears of other campers about bedbugs and other pests had come true, and a few had returned to the campsite. When the VPD appeared seeking Diane, the campers succeeded in delaying any action by demanding that Claveau be allowed to consult a lawyer.
After the lawyer (David Eby) arrived and determined the paperwork was in order, a squad of eight VPD and health unit officials pursued and cornered Diane at the western end of the site. She shouted and fought, aided by three women friends, but all were overpowered by the police. Her hands were cuffed behind her back and she was pushed and pulled across the vacant lot, onto a stretcher, and into an ambulance.
Three supporters drove to St Paul’s and called encouragement to Diane from the lobby, until until asked to leave.
Wendy Pedersen, 839-0379 Rider Cooey, 872-1382
AHA MEDIA is very pleased to have ongoing rehearsals for our second performance of “Love In Shadows” – Shadow Theatre Play in Vancouver Downtown Eastside
AHA MEDIA is very pleased to have ongoing rehearsals for our second performance of “Love In Shadows” – Shadow Theatre Play at the end of March at Interurban Gallery in Vancouver Downtown Eastside
AHA MEDIA cast and crew members were so encouraged by the very positive feedback by our audience from our first performance, we are continuing to do rehearsals in anticipation for our second performance.
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Below is a photo of AHA MEDIA’s cast and crew of the second production of “Love in the Shadows”
Richard Czaban, Hugh Lampkin, Clyde Wright, Holly Boyd, Alvin Clayton and Alex Martin
AHA MEDIA wants to present a play with seven scenes based on true personal stories about how child abuse, trauma and sexual molestation can lead to some folks unable to deal with issues and may end up in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside trying to cope in a variety of harmful ways .
Warning – the following scene is considered graphic but is a real story that happened to some of our actors
This video was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a New Media camera Fujifilm S200EXR. AHA MEDIA is about exploring mobile media production through New Media cameras. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms
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Below are thoughts from AHA MEDIA cast and crew and their thoughts on WHY they are presenting a graphic shadow play depicting Child Abuse scenes from their childhood to help inform people WHY some end up in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside and how they want to have a Harm Reduction project
This video was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a New Media camera – Panasonic DMC-ZS3. AHA MEDIA is about exploring mobile media production through New Media cameras. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms
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AHA MEDIA believes “Love In The Shadows” can show the reasons WHY some people end up in the DTES – for the MEDIA, our friends and street folks. We wanted to help everyone remember us and our stories through visual and performing arts
AHA MEDIA is about doing positive community engagement and harm reduction strategies in our neighborhood through media, arts and now shadow theatre performances from our members.
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AHA MEDIA is very proud to have been mentioned in the Georgia Straight by Stephen Hui from our first production in February
Downtown Eastside media makers to put on first shadow play
By Stephen Hui
A group of Downtown Eastside media makers will present its first shadow play on Saturday (February 27).
AHA Media will put on Love in the Shadows at the Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network’s art space (67 East Hastings Street) in the Lux hotel.
“AHA MEDIA wanted to present a play with six scenes based on true personal stories about how child abuse, trauma and sexual molestation can lead to some folks unable to deal with issues and may end up in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside trying to cope in a variety of harmful ways,” the group states on its Web site.
“AHA MEDIA believes our play can show the reasons WHY some people end up in the DTES – for the MEDIA, our friends and street folks.”
The show—starring Alvin Clayton, Mike McNeeley, and Richard Czaban—starts at 7 p.m.
You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui
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AHA MEDIA is proud to do our “Love in the Shadows” Play in great collaboration with DTES CAN – (DTES Community Arts Network)
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