Help shape a Downtown Eastside that is rooted in connection, belonging and hope.
It will only take 5 minutes. And for every survey completed, $5 will be donated to a Central City Foundation community partner who is helping strengthen connection and well-being in Vancouver’s inner city.
Click here to take the survey now! 5 mins = $5
Why we’re asking you
For more than 118 years, Central City Foundation has walked alongside the people who live and work in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Throughout our history, we have focused on supporting community-led solutions that help people find connection, well-being and belonging.
Today, the Downtown Eastside is at a crossroads. The community faces uncertainty as housing development restrictions are lifted, the presence of police increases, and the impacts of the toxic drug crisis continue to devastate lives. Too often, the political narrative places blame on community members instead of offering them appropriate support or solutions.
Many residents live in small single rooms, sometimes no more than 100 square feet. These community members use parks, sidewalks and other outdoor spaces as their living rooms. Yet they are often labelled as “street disorder” rather than recognized as neighbours connecting with one another.
As these changes unfold, Central City Foundation believes it is time to reimagine revitalization. Not as a tool for displacement, but as a way to foster connection.
This is why we are inviting British Columbians to help shape a new Community Roadmap for the Downtown Eastside. We hope the result will be a shared vision for a place where everyone feels welcome, has opportunities for connection, and has choice and autonomy in their path to well-being. Regardless of their income, background or circumstance.
How we’ll get there
We’re gathering insights from many sources:
- Our 118 years of lived experience walking alongside our neighbours in Vancouver’s inner city
- Community partners who are providing housing, health and connection every day
- An Indigenous-led workshop series and Design Charette exploring belonging, culture and place
- A literature review in partnership with the UBC Learning Exchange, gathering recommendations from existing reports, research and calls to action
- Local Listeners, hired through InWithForward, who are speaking directly with residents, workers and community members
- And now, you, through this public survey
Together, this knowledge will inform a roadmap for a truly thriving community rooted in connection and belonging. Central City Foundation is committed to ensuring this Community Roadmap is more than a plan that sits on a shelf. It will be an actionable document with real-life impacts.
Click here to take the survey now! 5 mins = $5
The six kinds of connection
Our work draws inspiration from the ‘RECOVER Urban Wellness Plan’, developed by our partners InWithForward and Naheyawin in Edmonton. This framework, rooted in Indigenous knowledge and community research, recognizes that well-being is built through multiple forms of connection.
These six types of connection are seen as essential to well-being for both individuals and communities. They invite us to think beyond material needs like food, shelter and clothing and imagine what a truly connected community could look like.
1. Connection to body and self
2. Connection to family, friends, and community
3. Connection to the land, water and territory
4. Connection to culture
5. Connection to the sacred (as each person defines it)
6. Connection to the human project — our shared purpose, growth, and future
These connections overlap and intertwine. For some, connection to land might also be sacred. For others, connection to culture is what helps them heal and belong.Before you start the survey, take a moment to reflect on these ideas as you share your vision for a more connected and thriving community.
Why your voice matters
The changes underway in the Downtown Eastside will shape its future for generations. The Community Roadmap we are creating will offer an action plan to include everyone, ensuring that revitalization strengthens, rather than displaces, those who already call this neighbourhood home.
The Downtown Eastside has long challenged all of us to consider what makes a good life and who gets to access it. Too often, this area is described as unsafe, dirty, or a problem to be solved, rather than a community that reveals how deeply systemic failures have left people behind.
When we truly listen to one another, we begin to see that what unites us is far greater than what separates us. Meeting our shared need for connection to others, to ourselves and to our communities is how we can create lasting change for generations to come.
Did you know?
Across Canada, people with lower incomes experience significantly higher rates of social exclusion and isolation — key factors linked to poor mental health and well-being.
(Public Health Agency of Canada, 2024)
Report: Inequalities in mental health, well-being and wellness in Canada
How it works
- Take the 5-minute survey
- We’ll donate $5 to a trusted Central City Foundation community partner
- Your input will help inform a Community Roadmap for an inclusive, connected Downtown Eastside
Click here to take the survey now! 5 mins = $5
Privacy and consent
Your responses are anonymous and confidential.
If you would like to learn about the impact of your 5 minutes (and the network of people who also took 5 minutes to donate $5), please check the box at the end of the survey indicating you wish to stay in touch. This will enable us to provide you with a digital copy of the Community Roadmap this spring when it’s completed.