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SMU Presentations

School presentations have started up again! Umbrella was pleased to present to about 120 grade 9 students on Friday at St Michaels School. The kids were very engaged and had great, thoughtful questions for Evan and Rebecca. School presentations are just beginning - we ...
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Victoria Foundation Event

Today was Victoria Foundation's hosted organization annual event. This is a great opportunity to get an overview of the non-profit sector, hear about where things are going in our sector and hear from Victoria Foundation about their strategic direction. It is also wonde...
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Podcast Season 3/E4 – Jeff

In today’s episode, Blake sits down with Jeff who shares his story of overcoming his battle with addiction and mental health, and how near death experiences drove him towards a life of recovery and gratitude. Have a listen to Jeff's story here.
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Metal Thursday!

Laurie, who is Umbrella's favourite Costco cashier, and Sharlene both wore their concert shirts on the same day, again. We capture these great phenomenons once a year, with last year's shirts being Guns N' Roses. They year Sharlene rocked her Metallica shirt and Laurie ...
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Podcast Season 3/E3 – Derek

In today's podcast, Blake sits down with Derek, a participant in this year's Recovery Campaign and a team member of the Umbrella Society. Derek talks about how he overcame his will to use and the challenges he faced when changing his way of thinking surrounding his su...
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SOSJ Event

Today was the Sovereign Order of St John's community event at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre. The results of their environmental scan were presented and both SOSJ and Times Colonist folks spoke about the scan and the social profits that are doing the work. There were ove...
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Halloween at our houses

The residents at our houses were busy carving up some pumpkins in preparation for trick or treating tonight. This is one of our favourite activities each year, the residents really get creative and have a lot of fun. Candy is stocked, pumpkins are carved - we are ready ...
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Annual Costco Trip

Every year, usually when Erik is away, Sharlene drags Evan to shop at Costco with her for Foundation House groceries. Sharlene LOVES Costco, and Evan does not. Today, Sharlene called him a "Costco Rookie" and Evan responded he was more of a "Washed up Veteran"... The guy...
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Project Reconnect

Today is the annual Project Reconnect event in Victoria. Every year, community partners come together to showcase the services they offer and how they can help our community. This year Jeff and Sarena manned the Umbrella table and fielded the questions and chatted with ...
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Angels Lunch

Yesterday Sharlene met with Penny and Deedrie from the Angels to catch up on all things Umbrella and celebrate our continued collaborations. The Angels have generously funded our Women's Group again and this year, we expanded our Parents Group to an additional night (due...