These are the values of West Neighbourhood House, its Board of Directors, Staff and Volunteers. This is a living document which we will revisit as we move forward, learning from both our successes and failures. None of these values stands alone – each needs to be understood in relation to the others.
Land
- We acknowledge and honour the land we are on – the traditional territories of many First Nations, now home to diverse First Nations, the Inuit and Métis peoples, and to settlers and newcomers, coming both voluntarily and forcibly, in this generation and generations past – and we are mindful of broken covenants and strive to make this right, with the land and with each other.
- We commit to shared action and accountability that addresses climate change, with attention to its disproportionate impacts on populations and individuals facing marginalization.
Equity and Social Justice
- We acknowledge and recognize the impacts of systemic racism, oppression, and discrimination, resulting from dominant white, colonial, classist, heteropatriarchal, ableist structures, and commit to addressing root causes.
- We commit to challenging inequity and injustice in the House and in society, and to creating equitable access to opportunities for individuals and groups facing marginalization.
Responsive practices and positive organizational culture
- We commit that our day-to-day work and interactions among staff, participants, volunteers, and community members will reflect compassion, trust, respect, equity, innovation, non-judgment, harm reduction, conflict resolution, finding common ground, accountability, inclusion, responsiveness, learning-unlearning, transparency.
- We commit to decent work, and to a structure with empowered staff and clarity about roles and responsibilities.
Neighbourhood-based, community-centered
- We are “place-based” and see the House as an asset belonging to the community, a place for addressing conflict and polarization, and a catalyst for sparking local change – the “campfire” of the neighbourhood.
- We commit to honouring the histories, traditions, cultures, languages, labour, events, and people who shape our neighbourhood, both longstanding and recent residents, and to focusing on community development as well as individual service.
Co-creation/Collaboration
- We commit to upholding and valuing the integrity, passion, knowledge of community participants and to meaningful inclusion of participants in program design, evaluation, advocacy, and change strategies.
- We commit to working collaboratively and creatively with multiple partners inside and outside the sector, including governments, funders, grassroots organizations, and others aligned with our mission, vision, values, and with connections to diverse communities.
For more information, please see our Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan 2023-2028. And, read our current and past Annual Reports and Audited Financial Statements.