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Introducing… Potter House

Isolation is a very real and scary thing for a lot of people, but for those in recovery, it can be deadly. We have noticed very little movement in our recovery housing, our residents are happy to stay put and be among their peers and friends, and have the support of Um...
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International Women’s Day 2021

At Umbrella, it is incredibly important for us to acknowledge and celebrate the work of the women around us. Being a woman led organization, we know firsthand the great work ethic and perspective that women bring to the nonprofit field. Today is a day not...
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Umbrella Swag

It is our 20th anniversary and we were trying to find some COVID friendly ways to celebrate. COVID is a real concern, but so is the overdose and addiction crisis we are working in. COVID is making things much more challenging for our folks, isolation is not good for mo...
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Cucumbers and gratitude

One of our wonderful board members Nancy, delivered about 50 pounds of cucumbers to Umbrella today. Nancy and her green thumb husband grew these huge cucumbers in their yard and shared their bounty with our grateful staff and our residents. We all feel very fortunate t...
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2020 AGM

Tonight was Umbrella's 2020 AGM. Since this was our 20th year, we wanted to have a big splash and celebrate Umbrella. Instead, we held our AGM via ZOOM. It wasn't how we planned it, but it was wonderful. It was so great to see friendly faces who share our success, a...
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ZOOM Board Meetings

Last night, Umbrella held our monthly board meeting via ZOOM. We had to cancel April's board meeting due to the uncertainty of the COVID situation, so it had been awhile since we met. Our board is a critical resource for the ED and they are a group of warm, caring and c...
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Celebration of Excellence

Umbrella's amazing board member Cindy Trytten was the recipient of the Celebration of Excellence Award from Island Health for developing and maintaining collaborative partnerships that benefit the organization, colleagues, clients, and the communities we serve. In 2012, ...
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So…we bought a house!!!!

Today at noon, Umbrella became the owners of Foundation House, the supportive recovery house for men we have been operating for almost 5 years. The owner, Clive, pictured below with our ED Sharlene, offered Umbrella the house below market value earlier last year, with...
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Christmas Party 2019

Last night was our annual staff/board Christmas mixer, this year we held it at our new office! This space was perfect for chatting, eating and playing our annual gift stealing game. All in all it was another fun Umbrella event! Nicole and Amy chatting and socializing...
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Housing Provider of the Year!!

On Sunday, November 17 Umbrella was awarded the Housing Provider of the Year award! Sharlene and Blake, Housing Manager, were at the event to accept the award. This is a true honour to be recognized for our housing program, the staff, board and all our residents are gra...