Amanda Burrows, Executive Director of FIRST UNITED, leads an ambitious redevelopment project in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to address the growing housing, overdose, and affordability crises. The organization, a critical service provider for low-income and homeless individuals, is building an 11-storey facility that will triple its program space and include seven floors of Indigenous social housing.
Foundation’s $1 million donation to the art campaign. Photo by: Maxine Bulloch
Describe your charity/non-profit/volunteer work in a few sentences.
FIRST UNITED is a responsive, low-barrier service provider, serving low-income, underhoused and homeless individuals in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. As a registered charity, we provide meals, legal advocacy, tax filing, spiritual care, mail and phone services, overdose response, essential items like clothing and toiletries, and shelter to residents in the community. We also engage in systems change work to reduce homelessness, break the cycle of poverty, and address the racialization of poverty. We are actually celebrating our 140th birthday!
What problem does it aim to solve?
In the face of the ongoing housing, overdose and affordability crises, demand for our services has continued to increase. Our previous building was built in the 1960s, and though it was very well-loved it was also well-worn and could no longer adequately support our work and the needs of the community.
So about five years ago, we undertook an incredibly ambitious project to redevelop our site at 320 East Hastings into an 11-storey building. The first four floors will be the new FIRST UNITED, offering purpose-built community services and amenities and tripling the size of our available program space. Above that, we received funding from BC Housing, CMHC and the City of Vancouver to develop seven floors of Indigenous social housing, which will be operated by Lu’ma Native Housing Society.
The housing portion of the project is funded by government grants, and we’re fundraising the cost of the FIRST UNITED services podium. Our target is $37 million and we’ve raised a little over $31 million of that.
When did you start/join it?
I joined FIRST UNITED as the Director of Development back in 2020, before becoming the Executive Director in 2022. At the time, the fundraising target for the capital campaign was $25 million, which was an enormous undertaking for a nonprofit of our size. I was brought in specifically to lead the capital campaign and to help build FIRST UNITED’s overall fundraising capacity for programs and services in anticipation of our expanded work in the new facility.
What made you want to get involved?
It’s just such an exciting and important project. And in so many ways it really stands as an example of what collective action can achieve, and what community-informed rejuvenation can look like. From the way community feedback has informed the design of new services and facilities, to the public/private collaboration that’s enabled us to make 100 percent below-market housing possible … how often do you get to work on a project like this?
Right now, we’re working on the arts and culture aspect of the project. People don’t often think of art and culture in the context of healing or equity, but they play an important role in creating a sense of dignity and belonging within communities. And that can help give people the strength to overcome incredible challenges. Moreover, in the Downtown Eastside, where the histories of colonialism and oppression are directly tied to the erasure of culture, particularly Indigenous culture, we believe that access to and inclusion in public art is incredibly important to healing and reconciliation in this community.
The City of Vancouver doesn’t require social development projects like ours to include public art, but we’re including both exterior public art and interior art anyway because all people and all neighbourhoods, not just wealthy ones, deserve the dignity of safer and beautiful spaces. We’re working with Host Nations Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, and with Urban Indigenous and Downtown Eastside artists, to incorporate works of art and other architectural elements in respectful and appropriate ways that reflect the history, strength and perseverance of this community.
campaign at a reception hosted by Bruce Wright. Photo by: Maxine Bulloch
What was the situation like when you started?
The project was still very much in the design and planning phase when I first started. We’d just secured a $10 million leadership donor, and their support was crucial as that’s really what enabled us to get things off the ground—hire architects and consultants, prepare campaign materials, etc. At the time, we were still running services out of our old building and we were finalizing plans to relocate our services to satellite locations in the neighbourhood so that we could continue to operate throughout the construction. It was definitely a busy time, but also an exhilarating time as there was a lot of change and growth on the horizon.
How has it changed since?
And demand for our services has only continued to grow. The 2023 Vancouver Homeless Count showed a 32 percent increase in homelessness across Metro Vancouver since 2020 (when the last Homeless Count was done, pre Covid). The issues are complicated, but we believe change is possible. Our building alone isn’t the solution, but it’s a step in the right direction. And over the past few years, it’s been encouraging to see several other projects that offer both services and housing get underway in the neighbourhood.
Our building is set to top out in December (meaning all the floors will be built). We’ve raised over $31 million, and we’re on track for construction to complete in November 2025. It’s been quite the journey getting this far, and there were some unexpected curveballs along the way. We certainly didn’t expect a global pandemic to arise! That had a significant impact on how we delivered services, and our redevelopment experienced the same cost increases that have been seen across the entire development industry.
But looking back, I’m incredibly proud of how we’ve continued to be responsive to the needs of the community. We launched a food truck to keep our community meal program (which has operated since the Great Depression) running. When it became clear that atmospheric rivers, heat domes and wildfire smoke events were becoming seasonal occurrences, we went back to the building plans and made an upgrade to our air filtration system to ensure that the new FIRST UNITED can serve as a warming and cooling centre as well as a smoke refuge for over 400 people. And we embarked on some powerful systems change work that influenced recent government policy changes to tenancy law.
I can’t wait to see what we’re capable of achieving in this new space.
What more needs to be done?
We’ve still got $6 million to raise to cover the costs of our redevelopment, and we’re working hard towards that goal. A little over 1,000 donors have gotten us to $31 million, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. Those donors are enabling incredible work. I know investing in capital campaigns doesn’t always feel like an investment in programs and services, but it is. After all, services and programs need facilities to operate from. You can’t cook meals without a kitchen. You can’t offer access to hygiene facilities without having showers and toilets. You can’t offer warming, cooling, and smoke refuge if you don’t have a space with the capacity and HVAC system to do it.
How can our readers help?
In terms of our capital campaign, we’ve got a Buy a Brick campaign running right now, which is a fun way for people to get involved and contribute to the project. Word of mouth is a big help as well—tell your friends, colleagues, neighbours! And we’re always open to having conversations with individuals, organizations or companies looking to make a bigger impact. Those interested can reach out to us directly at firstforward@firstunited.ca.
In terms of our programs and services, donations are always welcome. Companies and organizations can also sponsor a meal at our food truck. And this time of year, as the weather gets colder, cold weather essentials are always in high demand. People can check the Gifts In Kind page on our website to see what we’re currently accepting.
Do you have any events coming up?
On February 22, 2025, we’re organizing Coldest Night of the Year, an annual fundraising walk. You can sign up individually, with a team, with your family—it’s a lot of fun and raises awareness of the challenges people who are unhoused face, especially during the cold months of the year.
And on May 27, 2025, we’ve also got our annual golf tournament. You can sign up a team of four, hit the links, stay for dinner and support a good cause! Watch the Events page on our website for his. Registration will open in February.
Where can we follow you?
See the press release provided regarding the recent contribution we received from the Audain Foundation. All social media links, website links, etc. are there.
PAY IT FORWARD: What is an awesome local charity that you love?
This is a tough question! There are so many organizations doing amazing work in the Downtown Eastside. Overdose Prevention Society and Aboriginal Front Door Society are two that are dear to my heart. And, moving outside of our work, I love opera. So the Vancouver Opera will always be near and dear. There are many local charities I support and love and I encourage everyone to learn more about the organizations tackling the causes you care about and finding ways to get involved.
