SI of Vancouver
Meeting Info
Date: Every second Tuesday of the month
Time: 6 PM
Location: Southwynd Place located at 8080 Yukon Street, Vancouver
Email: sivancouverbc@soroptimist.net
Website: soroptimistvancouver.org
SI Vancouver chartered in 1926 as the first Soroptimist club in Canada. The Vancouver club has benefited from the support of dynamic women who have worked to make a difference for women and girls in our community and beyond.
We administer and give out scholarships and awards to young women and girls. These include:
The Live Your Dream: Education and Training Award for Women, which assists women who provide the primary source of financial support for their families by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects.
Dream It Be It: Career Support for Girls which recognizes young women ages 14-17 engaged in volunteer action within their communities or schools.
The Helen McCrae Award which recognizes nursing students enrolled at local colleges and universities in Vancouver.
Social Housing:
Starting in 1960, we began operating social housing to assist low-income senior women.
We own and operate two social housing projects, such as Southwynd Place which we co-own with the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver and we independently own a 21 suite building at 546 W 13th Ave, Vancouver.
Soroptimist Housing Committees oversee both of these properties.
Other Projects:
We provide bags of toiletries and other essentials for sex workers who stop in at WISH Dro3p-in Centre Society located in the Downtown Eastside.
We support Arbutus, Shaughnessy, and Kerrisdale Seniors’ Activity Centre (ASK).
We support Second Mile Society in the Downtown Eastside.
We provided a van to the Lion’s Club to transport disabled people.
The club has a board of directors, and club members serve on a variety of smaller committees to achieve the goals of the club. Committees include service programs, awards, membership, publicity, fundraising, and more.
Education Support
We administer and give awards through:
The Live Your Dream: Education and Training Award for Women, which assists women who provide the primary source of financial support for their families by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills, and employment prospects,
The Keep on Dreaming Award which supports further educating women,
The Violet Richardson Award which recognizes young women ages 14-17 engaged in volunteer action within their communities or schools and given in celebration of member contribution, and
The Helen McCrae Award which recognizes nursing students enrolled at local colleges and universities in Vancouver.
Program:
Dream It Be It, Career Support for Girls in High School
Social Housing:
Starting in the early '30s SI Vancouver began operating social housing to assist low-income senior women.
We own and operate two social housing projects. Southwynd Place is co-own with the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver and we independently own a 21 suite building at 546 W 13th Ave, Vancouver.
2021 brings a redevelopment project at 546 W 13th into a 135 suite build.
Projects:
We provide comfort bags for WISH Drop-in Centre Society and Imouto House, both located in the Downtown Eastside. The bags include toiletries, something warm, something safe and things that bring comfort.
We provide literacy bags to Queen Alexandra Elementary. The bags include an age-appropriate reading book, a stuffed animal, toys and creative bits to sooth and entertain.
Over the (many) years, we have supported the community needs from a commercial kitchen at 2nd Mile Society, to transportation for A.S.K and the Lion's Club.