Franciscan Sisters of Atonement to close doors on DTES
Posted August 28, 2011 2:32 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s the end of an era for a charity that has served the poor in Vancouver since 1926.
The Franciscan Sisters of Atonement will be closing their Cordova Street doors Monday.
The early days of the Sisters’ work revolved around helping out the Japanese community, especially during World War Two, when Japanese Canadians were sent to internment camps.
Sister Elizabeth Kelliher says most recently, their focus was on serving the Downtown Eastside.
“Five days a week we would have up to 500, more sometimes, in our soup and sandwich line. When we had the clothing room open, we’d have up to 70 men coming in a day,” she notes.
But times are changing.
“There has been a lack of vocations and women entering the community for the last 10 to 15 years. We have planned for the Archdiocese of Vancouver to take over the building.”
The Sisters themselves are not retiring. They are headed to other parts of Canada to continue their work.
