With over three decades of service, supporting moms at risk of losing custody or who want to regain custody of their children, Aunt Leah’s birthday is something to celebrate. Over the last 32 years, the local organization has transformed hundreds of lives through various programs.
Aunt Leah’s Place Birthday
Programs and services for women and their children have seen a greater demand with the development of the pandemic. The need for increased supportive housing for adult women and children connected to Aunt Leah’s Place is evident.
Aunt Leah’s Thresholds program is responding to the growing demand for safe and supported housing for new moms who are at risk of losing custody of their children, by expanding services with a third house. They know now, more than ever, the importance of keeping these families together and breaking the cycles of intergenerational trauma.
We’re moving into Step 3 of the BC Restart Plan on July 1st and summer plans are ramping up! As a reduced capacity event with a more limited scope that still delivers your favourite summer entertainment, food and more, the PNE Fair will return August 21 to September 6, 2021.
PNE/Playland at night. Evanessence Photography
The PNE Fair 2021
Here’s what will be in store for the 111th PNE Fair this year:
The SuperDogs™
Live music on the District Stage
Animal and agriculture displays
BCAA ToonCity
Safeway Cooking Stage
MarketPlace
Prize Home display suite
Rides & Games
The West Coast Lumberjack Show
PNE Pep Band
Fair food
Electric Fire – the nightly pyro musical finale
“After carefully considering a new way forward in light of increasing vaccination rates and declining COVID-19 case counts, we are extremely pleased to welcome visitors to the 2021 PNE Fair,” says PNE President and CEO Shelley Frost.
Today the Government of BC updated their BC Restart Plan to confirm we can move into Step 3 starting July 1, 2021. This phase will see a significant number of restrictions being lifted including the limits on restaurants, personal gatherings, together with an increase in the capacity limits for organized gatherings.
The criteria for moving to Step 3 is at least 70% of the 18+ population vaccinated with dose 1, along with low case counts and declining COVID-19 hospitalizations. In Step 3, all sectors will transition to using communicable disease prevention guidance from WorkSafeBC.
Masks are recommended in public indoor settings for all people 12 and older who are not yet fully vaccinated. The mask mandate order under the Emergency Program Act will be lifted July 1 and no proof of vaccination will be needed. Meaning, masks will no longer be required, just recommended.
We begin this month with a day to reflect on Canada’s colonial history as we strive collectively to learn from our past and do better in the future. We need to honour, respect, and show gratitude to the Indigenous peoples of this land we now all call home. We need to acknowledge the atrocities and injustices of the past and present. Below, you’ll find some actions you can take on Canada Day and beyond, along with the full July event list for Metro Vancouver including pride events, music, arts performances and much more:
Each year, Megaphone Magazine’s low-income vendors take part in the Hope in Shadows photography contest. Using single-use film cameras, vendors capture images of their communities and submit them for a chance to be featured in the annual Hope in Shadows calendar. Voting is now open for this year’s calendar cover!
Hope in Shadows Calendar
Megaphone received over 1,500 photos for this year’s contest, which a community jury narrowed down to just 30 finalists. These top 30 photographs showcase this year’s theme, Play and offer an intimate look into the lives of Megaphone vendors.
This project is rooted in creating space for people experiencing poverty to tell their own stories, through their own lens. Hope in Shadows shows the beauty, joy, friendship, and hope that exist alongside the hardship in the lives of people impacted by poverty.
The Shadows calendar is sold by Megaphone‘s low-income vendors on the streets of Vancouver and Victoria. Vendors buy each calendar for $10 and sell them for $20, keeping the profit.
About Megaphone
For over a decade the monthly magazine, published by professional journalists and designers, has been sharing stories that explore social justice, culture, politics, and independent arts in Vancouver and Victoria. It also serves as a platform for people experiencing poverty and homelessness to share their stories and creativity as writers, featured interviewees and more. Shop online now or find a vendor near you.
Miss604’s Rebecca Bollwitt is a proud contributor to the magazine, since April 2021, writing the Heartbeats column that shines a spotlight on non-profit organizations in the community and the amazing people behind them.
