The sign-up sheet is available in the laundry room for tenants who want to participate. Also, we are collecting donation items for the Charity Table. If you have any questions or items to donate for the lane sale please contact Matthew Oliver at the office at (604) 687-1145.

Margot Beauchamp, Executive Director 604-681-2096 mbeauchamp@mole-hill.ca

Mole Hill Tenant Survey Tenant Survey 2012 Publication
Public Open Spaces Survey Public Open Spaces Survey

“TENANT MEETING”
Wednesday May 2, 2012
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Come and hear about the filming project for Mole Hill and meet Jim Karmann, our new Film Liaison.

8:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Nitin Madhvani, Board Chair will present the planned revisions to the Mole Hill By-laws and Constitution – why we need the changes and what they are.
The changes will not be adopted at this meeting.

“COMPOSTING WORKSHOPS”
with author and composting expert
SPRING GILLARD

SATURDAY, MAY 5TH 10 to 11:30 am
or
WEDNESDAY MAY 23, 6:30 TO 8:00 pm

Attendance at one of the workshops is mandatory if you want to compost!
PLEASE REGISTER AT 604-681-2096

“SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING”

WEDNESDAY MAY 30TH, 2012
7:00 PM TO 9:00 PM
For all current members of the Mole Hill
Community Housing Society

To adopt the new bylaws and constitution

The Network will help City staff:
* identify popular places, ideal dates/times, and even engagement tactics that are likely to be effective in the neighbourhood, especially for hard to reach groups
* offer outreach vehicles (newsletters, contacts list, etc.) to help spread the word about engagement opportunities
* actively encourage community networks to take part in public engagement opportunities
* provide support for people to take part, anything from giving someone a ride to an event to showing someone how to submit an online survey or offering translation services
* take a leadership role by actively participating in public engagement opportunities, and
* help identify and fill gaps in representation.

If you would like to join Mole Hill in any of these activities, please contact Margot Beauchamp, Executive Director mbeauchamp@mole-hill.ca

For more information about the West End Community Plan check here:
The Terms of Reference for the West End Plan can be found here:

The Mole Hill Produce Box Program is off the ground and running! Every 2 weeks, 17 or more folks and families pay $15 each for their share of a wholesale delivery. Distribution takes place on a Saturday with volunteers pitching in to ensure more-or-less even dispersal of green beans, bananas and fresh asparagus, among others. Here are some questions and answers about the program.

 Q. Do I get to choose what I get?

A. Nope – the program is organized by a tenant volunteer so the aim is for it to take as few hours as possible to run. The goal is local, seasonal, variety and some organic if possible. Requests are always welcome although “no onions” is running pretty evenly with “more onions” at the moment.

Q. Do I save money from the store?

A. Absolutely. The cost we pay is wholesale because we’re buying in bulk. Prices vary depending on what we get but last distribution averaged out to 74 cents a pound — not that impressive for yams, but pretty good for crimini mushrooms and mangoes.

Q. I want to join, but I’m single and it’s too costly/too much fruit and veggie for me.

A. Join with a friend and split a box. As long as one of you officially signs up and pays, you can subdivide however you want.

Q. How do I find out about the distribution?

A. Send an email to carellinb@hotmail.com to join the e-list, and then arrange to pay $15 by the Friday before distribution, with another $15 when you get your first box.

Q. Wait – that’s paying twice! How come?

A. When you pay “last month’s rent” in advance that means the next shipment can be ordered without having to run around and collect individual payments. If you ever decide to leave the club, your spare $15 will be reimbursed.

 Q. What are future plans for the program?

A. We have lots of ideas – a neighbourhood small grant to pay the coordinator, splitting off a free box for a needy family and/or individual(s) on the Hill, direct setup with a farmer instead of a wholesaler so we can eliminate the middleman and support BC farms, or liaising with a farmer’s market vendor so we can enjoy wholesale pricing. Whether and when we can do them depends on how smoothly the basic program runs. Even if we never do anything else, though, we’re already building community, food self-sufficiency and reducing packaging and emissions, as well as eating healthier and whittling our grocery bills.

Why not join us?

Carellin Brooks at (604) 708-0998

For more information on applying for housing, or to find out the eligibility requirements for rest assistance programs: phone The Housing Registry at 604-433-2218 or 1-800-257-7756 toll-free from outside the Lower Mainland; drop in at #101-4555 Kingsway  in Burnaby.

We began this project by soliciting input from some of the tenants at Mole Hill who are involved in gardening.  David Tracey, eco-urban landscaper attended on more than one occasion and joined a walkabout of the area, while hearing everyone’s concerns and ideas.  David completed a comprehensive landscaping plan, compromised of an aerial view of the area, which he divided into numbered sections.  Raegan Olmstead, an employee of Silent Gardener who provides landscaping services for Mole Hill augmented the plan by recommending specific plants for this year’s planting.  Raegan and her crew started working on the area in mid-October, once we were assured the rainy season had begun.

In the spring, Spring Gillard, another fan of Mole Hill and a Vancouver composting expert will do a workshop for Mole Hill tenants, neighbours, and members of the West End Neighbourhood Food Network.  Mole Hill is still considering the best composting system for the community and will purchase equipment after the training sessions are complete. Long-term goals are to build on the concept of a native, edible landscaping area while increasing the eco-urban approach.  Investigating other gardening concepts such as green walls, roof-top gardening, enhancing natural irrigation systems, educational signage and other concepts are all being considered for on-going projects.

New directors:

Marvin Bates

Erich Isopp

Joshua Lovelace

Michael Mesic

Gordon Monk

Past directors who were re-elected:

Gillan Jackson

Robert Nickerson

Stephen Reid

We would also like to say farewell to retiring Board members Antonio Baro-Castilante, Carellin Brooks, Jacinta Eni and Derek Wood and thank them for their service on behalf of the society.

Thank you to current board members Ewa Gersin, Elizabeth Kemp, Nitin Madhvani and Doug Tomkinson for all their work over the past year.