Canadian entrepreneur redirects his life to help those in need

"Those predisposed to addiction need a long-term program as it’s rarely possible to recover independently. Two years at Welcome Home can save their life." -- John Volken, founder of the John Volken Foundation.

John Volken started with nothing when he immigrated to Canada from Germany, and rose to become Canada’s Pacific Region Entrepreneur of the Year as the founder and owner of United Furniture Warehouse. He also founded the John Volken Foundation and eventually sold the furniture chain to direct his focus and wealth toward helping people who struggle with addiction to become self-supporting, contributing members of society.

John joined Vancity in 1970 and his Foundation holds all its accounts with the credit union. Vancity recently helped with letters of credit for Welcome Home’s $25 million current expansion, which resulted in a new 100-bed student dorm with a central kitchen, lounge, library, gym and other amenity space including classrooms and computer labs at its Surrey location.