During the 70s, Fred connected with Kitsilano Neighbourhood House amid the neighborhood’s constant change. His enthusiastic involvement led him from volunteering with local youth to serving on the board, making an impact on the community.
Fred describes the local neighbourhood during the early days of Kits House as being in a state of flux.
“The 60s and 70s were very much a time of transition in Kitsilano. But, by the same token, every decade is a time of transition for Kitsilano,” he says, laughing.
In the midst of this change, Fred remembers that Kits House made an effort to have a positive impact on the local community.
“We did a lot of things at that time, mainly through enthusiasm and not necessarily money,” he recalls.
“We served Kitsilano kids who had ‘fallen between the cracks’ of the public school system. They were typically between 12 and 15 years of age,” Fred says.
He explains that the program took these teenagers on excursions outside of the Kitsilano neighbourhood — allowing them to see parts of the city they wouldn’t have otherwise experienced.
“We focused on exposing the kids to things they had never seen in their 12 to 15-year lives,” Fred explains.
“We went cross-country skiing with the kids on Seymour. We went to UBC. Most of these kids lived about 8 kilometers from UBC, but they’d never been! One or two had been to Stanley Park, but most hadn’t. They knew that downtown was a place with big buildings that they could see, but they’d never been there. So, we fostered awareness. There was no magic formula — no formula at all.”
After becoming a familiar face at Kits House, Fred was asked to step into a more prominent role.
“I spent three years volunteering. I was about 25, and in the first year, the Executive Director asked me if I would be interested in sitting on the board. I was on the board for three years before I moved away from Vancouver to do other things.”
Fred describes the staff and community at Kits House as being made up of a wide spectrum of demographics — one that mirrors the diversity still found at Kits House today.
“My colleagues at Kits House included people from a variety of communities. There was a wide outreach into the community from different age groups, different ethnic backgrounds, different employment backgrounds, and different unemployment backgrounds — just nowhere near as sophisticated as the operation is today,” he says, chuckling.