A major community organization is expanding into North Burnaby.
On Tuesday, the South Burnaby Neighbourhood House announced an expansion plan that includes changing the house's logo, dropping "south" from the name, and opening a second location in North Burnaby.
"We're pretty excited about it," said Antonia Beck, executive director at the non-profit community group. "It was just time. The neighbourhood house has been growing and evolving and addressing needs, and it hasn't been just in South Burnaby."
The second location will be at 4463 Hastings St., in Burnaby's Heights Neighbourhood, and it's scheduled to open in January.
"It will be a storefront, where you can drop in, meet your neighbour and get connected to community resources," Beck said. "We're not going to duplicate what other people are doing. We're going to work with other people offering support in the Heights."
The South Burnaby Neighbourhood House, which has been around for roughly 14 years, runs a broad variety of programs: helping seniors, teaching youth leadership skills, and running licensed daycares, for example.
The overarching goal is to build community, by getting neighbours to meet one another, and create a welcoming city for new residents.
Beck said there is a lot of work that needs to be done at the new location, and she's hoping volunteers will step forward to help with the renovations.
Beck is also holding a meeting on Nov. 26 at 7 p.m., at Gilmore Community School, and inviting community stakeholders to bring ideas on what kinds of services the North Burnaby neighbourhood house location should offer.
To get involved with renovations or to attend the meeting, RSVP by emailing [email protected] or call the neighbourhoood house at 604-431-0400.
