Open Door

Sep 2011

James Bay Community Project

By Kaye Kennish, Executive Director

In mid-June, I was fortunate enough to join the James Bay Community Project (JBCP) as its new executive director. As such, I am starting to experience the many aspects of the James Bay community, as well as learning about the variety of services offered by the JBCP and its highly dedicated staff.

The inclusiveness and diversity of the James Bay community and of the Project have impressed and inspired me. I have already met many interesting people with stories to tell, and the plethora of interests, talents, skills and opinions around here could clearly be mined for years without ever running dry!

I have found the JBCP to be both a reflection of and a contributor to all that is wonderful about James Bay, and I certainly hope to build on that as the organization moves forward. There has been a lot of change at the Project in the past few years, but it is clear to me, as a newcomer, that our staff's commitment to the basic values of respect, acceptance and empowerment for all is very strong.

Like most non-profits at this time, the James Bay Community Project faces challenges but continues to provide support services, for which there is increasing demand by seniors, parents, children and youth. We are committed to working to improve both the quality and range of our services, and to making them easily accessible to all.

An additional youth and family outreach worker recently joined JBCP. Her name is Janessa and she will be supporting youth and their families through transitions and challenging times, providing group activities for young people and assisting single parents. If you want to find out more about these services, please call Janessa at 250-415-7721 or email her at jbate@jbcp.bc.ca.

I invite members of the James Bay community to give me a call at 250-388-7844, Ext. 311 or email me at kkennish@jbcp.bc.ca, or drop by for a visit (547 Michigan Street). You may simply want to introduce yourself, you may have questions about our services or you may have ideas that we could look at as we move forward. I would love to talk to you!