First United Church Community Ministry Society

FIRST UNITED envisions a neighbourhood where the worth of every person is celebrated and all people thrive. For 140 years, its responsive low-barrier programs serve low-income, underhoused and homeless individuals in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. As a registered charity, it provides wrap around services including 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. FIRST UNITED pursues dignity, belonging, and justice to meet the daily needs of community members while engaging in systems change work to reduce homelessness, break cycles of poverty, and address the racialization of poverty.