WHO WE ARE & WHY WE HELP
Harvest Project is a community-based urban relief organization and registered Canadian charity. Since 1993, Harvest Project has been reaching out to those who are experiencing the challenges of family trauma, illness, job loss, and the threat of poverty. We connect with hundreds of people each month – as we provide one-to-one client-coaching and active-listening, a rent bank, a grocery-support program, clothing supports, assistance for workforce re-entry, food-recovery and redistribution, and our retail Clothes For Change Thrift Boutique. Harvest Project is supported by volunteers and donors from every corner of the North Shore and from across Metro-Vancouver and beyond.
Harvest Project serves the North Shore, ‘extending a hand up’ to those in need. We provide assistance to residents from Deep Cove in the east to Horseshoe Bay in the west. Our vision is to enlarge our work as a compassionate presence for North Shore residents, by North Shore residents. We’re working to help the North Shore become the most inclusive, healthy and diverse community in Canada. We aim to collaborate with the other excellent services and not-for-profit agencies operating in our community.
In one of the wealthiest regions in Canada, critical family needs are often hidden and those who find themselves in desperate times often struggle to receive social justice. About 1-in-5 North Shore households are headed by a lone-parent – representing thousands of people. These families, and many others, are at increased risk of losing access to needed physical, social and economic resources and opportunities.
We recognize the contributions of our co-founders David Foster and Emiko Nicol. David was a young West Vancouver business-person who fell on hard-times, found himself ‘on the street’, and was offered assistance by several local churches and other organizations. He came to embrace a Christian faith and felt inspired to begin Harvest Project as an expression of solidarity with those in poverty, seeking justice for marginalized people, and caring for neighbours in-need.
In calendar-year 2023, Harvest Project positively impacted the community by providing:
- 3631 Client-Care sessions, Rent Bank, Grocery, Clothing and other resources, including:
- 1098 – Client Care Appointments
- 501 – Other engagements with residents
- 941 – Grocery Shopping onsite appointments
- 213 – Nutrition Pathway appointments
- 638 – appointments for clothing through our Clothes For Change Support Program
- 240 – Art therapy, career, budgeting and tutoring appointments
- $355,000 – value of Grocery Support Program groceries shared + grocery gift-cards and food-bags
- 2065 – Emergency Food Program Bags provided
- $107,947 – value of Rent Bank loans + grants that kept 138 residents housed
- $20,000 – value of additional Goods and Services shared (gift cards, vouchers for counselling)
- Active volunteers who brought hundreds of hours of service
Positive Impact:
- 298 – Core Clients and dependents served – receiving one-to-one care
- 353 – Emergency Food Program clients and dependents served – increasing food-security
- 138 people were kept housed because of North Shore Rent Bank loans and grants
- Collaboration with other social services agencies and corporate social responsibility teams
- 100+ Presentations on social justice and how-to-engage shared with 3000+ community members
- Restored individual and family health that enables participation in community
- North Shore’s social and economic health improved
Download a copy of our impact statement here: 2023 Impact Statement – Harvest Project
MOTTO & MISSION
Our motto: “Extending a hand up, not a hand out.” This directs us to extend a hand to lift people up rather than simply dispensing a hand-out.
Our mission: “To serve people who are experiencing challenging life circumstances by providing physical, emotional and spiritual support that empowers each one to take positive steps in their lives.” Harvest Project assists individuals and families by providing vital resources so that each one can regain wellness and participate more fully within the North Shore community.
We contribute to a holistic support network that addresses the needs of vulnerable children and adults. Serving the community by working to restore our neighbors to health and stability benefits our whole community.