St. George’s United Church has received $20,000 in funding from the BC Accessibility Grants Program, which will go toawards the cost of the recently completed renovation of two washrooms to ensure wheelchair access.
With financial support from the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Social Development & Poverty Reduction, the BC Accessibility Grants program was created to provide an opportunity for organizations that have been rated through the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility CertificationTM (RHFAC) program, to improve their access based upon the results of their rating scorecard. RHFAC is a rating system modelled after LEED and BOMA Best that rates the level of meaningful accessibility of buildings and pre-construction plans.
“I believe I can speak for our entire church community and others who use our facilities, including the Sonshine Lunch Club, in saying we are so grateful to the Province of British Columbia and the Rick Hansen Foundation,” said Rev. Ryan Slifka, pastor of St. George’s.
“They recognized the importance of our washroom accessibility project and contributed generously to help St. George’s remove barriers and improve accessibility, especially for clients of the Soup Kitchen,” said Slifka.
The Sonshine Lunch Club, a coalition of Comox Valley Churches, offers free hot lunch to over 100 clients Monday-Friday out of St. George’s Fellowship Hall where the washrooms are located.
Located in the heart of downtown Courtenay at 505 6th Street, St. George’s United Church is a spiritually vibrant, inclusive, justice-seeking community of faith that has been changing lives in the Comox Valley for over a century. Its vision is to be a Christian church that is a beacon of God’s love and hope in the community, doing so through unconditional welcome, spiritual transformation, and reaching out in love for the common good.
The regular Sunday service is at 10:30 a.m., followed by a coffee social in the fellowship hall.
Families with young children are very welcome. St. George’s has a diverse group of more than 30 young children who participate in the Children’s Church while their parents and grandparents remain in the main service.