Social services centre opens in Burnaby's Brentwood area

New social services centre opens in Burnaby's Brentwood area

A social services centre, named after former city councillor Celeste Redman, will offer parenting support, victim support and counselling.

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A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 8 for the opening of the new Celeste Redman Community Resource Centre in Burnaby, B.C.@CityofBurnaby/Twitter

The Celeste Redman Community Resource Centre is now open in Burnaby.

The space, located in Brentwood Town Centre at 2038 Rosser Ave., is 4,231 square feet dedicated to social support services including parenting support, victim support and counselling.

The centre will be operated by the non-profit Cameray Child and Family Services.

“Cameray is thrilled to have been awarded this amazing opportunity and to be able to provide services that are more accessible to North Burnaby residents,” said the non-profit’s executive director Tracey Rusnak in press release.

“We are particularly excited about the much-needed group space, which will allow us to open our programs up to more families.”

The facility was built under Burnaby’s community benefit bonus policy, in which the city received community amenity space in a 42-storey mixed-use highrise by Appia Developments in exchange for extra density.

The policy allows the city to own the space and lease it “to Burnaby-based non-pofits for programming and office use at below-market rates,” according to a press release from earlier this year.

The centre is named after former city councillor Celeste Redman, who served from 1990 to 2005. The former councillor is known for her commitment to social causes and work in Burnaby Heights community.

The resource is the seventh social services centre in Burnaby and the second in the Brentwood area.

Community resource centres are home to a variety of programs and services, according to the press release, including Afghan Women's Support Society (Edmonds), Burnaby/New Westminster Child Care Resource & Referral (Metrotown) and Burnaby Family Life Institute (McKercher).