Community Living Partnership Opens Doors for People with Disabilities

“Vancity put smart people in front of us who freely share their experience and insight. We know that they are dedicated to our organization’s success.” – Ross Chilton, executive director, Community Living Society.

A growing partnership between Vancity and the Community Living Society is enhancing the lives of people with disabilities and demonstrating the many ways that a credit union and a not-for-profit can work together to build healthy communities.

Ross Chilton, executive director of the Community Living Society, says that the biggest initiative between the two organizations was the Society’s 2012 purchase of seven residential units above Vancity’s Burnaby branch. Vancity sold the units to the Community Living Society at cost, which was below market value. The Society now rents the apartments to individuals who are ready for more independent living.

The relationship is mutually beneficial. The Society has long operated a pottery workshop and art studio for artists with disabilities. When Vancity was looking for art for its head office in Vancouver, they contacted the Community Living Society to purchase art work.

“This summer, we brought the artists to the building to meet Vancity’s CEO, Tamara Vrooman,” says Ross. “It was very meaningful for them to see their art hanging in a public place. They were pretty jazzed up afterwards!”