“Creating Community by Developing and Sustaining Quality Housing

that is Safe, Secure, and Affordable”

2013-2014

Annual Report

2

OUR MISSION

“To create community by developing and sustaining quality housing that is safe, secure, and af-fordable.”

OUR VISION

“New Chelsea Society optimizes its resources to preserve, sustain and expand a portfolio of af-fordable housing for low and moderate income households.”

OUR VALUES

We value dignity. Therefore we: Are compassionate and empathetic Value diversity and accept differences Are accessible and inclusive

We value ethical conduct. Therefore we: Act responsibly and with integrity Foster an atmosphere of trust, respect, and open communication Are honest and transparent in our interactions Are efficient and effective in all our activities Are responsible for our decisions and actions Follow through with our commitments

We value dedication. Therefore we:

Strive for excellence Are energetic and passionate Encourage creativity and idealism Are committed to achieving meaningful outcomes Are generous with praise and recognize successes Are always aware of our responsibilities to our staff, tenants, and the community

We value partnerships and member involvement. Therefore we:

See ourselves as working partners with our members, board of directors, tenants, volunteers and staff Foster dynamic relationships with partners and the community

Working in partnership with

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

President and Chairman of the Board’s Report………………………………4

Finance Committee Report…………………………………………………….5

Governance Committee Report…………………………………….………….7

Activities Committee Report…..……………………………………….……….9

Honours and Awards Committee Report…..……..………………….……...11

Executive Director’s Report…..……..……………………..………….……...12

Administration Services Department………...……………….…….13

Operations Department………………………..……………….…….14

Finance Department…………………………...…………….……….17

Community Programs and Partnerships………...……………...….19

Housing Report…………………….…………………………………………...21

New Chelsea Society Properties …………………………………………….23

New Chelsea Society Strategic Plan 2014-2018………………………… 27

Thank You to Directors, Staff and Volunteers……………….…………… 28

4

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Jim Howard

As President of New Chelsea Society, I must say I look back with great pride at another very busy and productive year. I would like to thank the Board of Directors for their dedication to the smooth governance of the Society, and for taking the time to attend meetings to ex-press their advice and support. A special thank you goes to Fran Walton who, in addition to serving as Past-President, also served as our “Protocol Officer” and Chair of our Honours and Awards Committee. Fran attended many events this year on my behalf when work or other commitments prevented me from being there. Thank you Fran! The Society’s Board had a very active Committee structure this year. I’d like to thank Don McPhadyen for chairing the Governance Committee; Harvey Peters for chairing the Finance Committee, and Helen Akeroyd for chairing the Activities Committee. All Committees achieved a lot as you will see in this year’s Annual Report. This past year, the Society’s board of directors and senior management staff embarked on a journey together to update the Society’s “Strategic Plan”. We held an all-day planning retreat with a consultant, and I’m pleased to say we now have a “road map” that lays out the Society’s goals and objectives for the next five years. We also implemented a Governance Manual for all board members, and we held some board educational workshops. I would like to thank our management team and head office staff, especially Shawn Venne, Terry Alleyn, Jennifer Walsh, and Stefan Baune for all their hard work. Each one of them has faithfully and capably fulfilled their many responsibilities and I very much appreciate all their hard work this past year. I would also like to recognize and thank our Site Managers, Site Assistants, and our technical personnel. Their job is not an easy one but they have dealt with the day-to-day problems of run-ning our buildings and dealing with tenant concerns with dedication and professionalism. I would particularly like to acknowledge our successes at Chelsea Park, our senior supportive facility, and thank Karen Dupont and her staff of dedicated food service and housekeeping pro-fessionals. Chelsea Park’s “Seal of Approval” was renewed this past year by the BC Seniors Liv-ing Association and its doing great. Lastly but certainly not least, I would like to sincerely thank our Executive Director, Pat Buchan-non, for his leadership in the non-profit housing sector, for his hard work and unwavering dedica-tion to the Society, and for his on-going support and help to me personally over the past year. My thanks to you all for the valuable contribution each and every one has made, to make New Chelsea Society the wonderful organization that it is. We should all be very proud. Respectfully submitted, Jim Howard,

5

New Chelsea Society

Statement of Financial Position March 31, 2014

Housing

Fund Capital Asset

Fund Replacement

Reserves Future

Development Total Prior Year End

Total

Assets

Current Cash 172,746 - - 60,000 232,746 -

Accounts Receivable 154,955 - - - 154,955 379,965

Prepaid Expenses 319,103 - - - 319,103 290,551

646,804 - - 60,000 706,804 670,516

Restricted Cash and Marketable Securities - 4,304,367 - 4,304,367 4,418,885 -

Property and Equipment - 66,727,372 - - 66,727,372 68,851,729

Total Assets 646,804 66,727,372 4,304,367 60,000 71,738,543 73,941,130

Liabilities

Current

Bank Indebtedness - - - - - 255,988

Accounts Payable 777,855 - - - 777,855 863,598

Promissory Notes Payable - Related Party - 626,260 - - 626,260 637,771

Security Deposits 414,001 - - - 268,327 392,396

Deferred Revenue 268,327 - - - 414,001 265,033

Interfund loan payable 69,809 323,175 (392,984) - - -

Current Portion of Long-Term Debt - 2,180,007 - - 2,180,007 2,083,493

1,529,992 3,129,442 (392,984) 4,266,450 4,498,279

Long-Term Debt

Mortgages - 47,970,835 - - 47,970,835 50,214,536

1,529,992 51,100,277 (392,984) 52,237,285 54,712,815

Net Assets

Accumulated Deficit, Prior Years (883,188) - - - (883,188) (730,471)

Externally Restricted Net Assets - 15,627,095 3,586,077 - 19,213,172 18,868,732

Internally Restricted Net Assets - - 1,111,274 60,000 1,171,274 1,090,054

(882,188) 15,627,095 4,697,351 19,501,258 19,228,315

60,000

Total Liabilities and Net Assets 646,804 66,727,372 4,304,367 60,000 71,738,543 73,941,130

FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

Harvey Peters Chair

The Society achieved a small operating surplus in the Housing Fund of $7,000. The Re-placement Reserves continue to be in a strong position. During the year Replacement Reserve spending was $1.16 million, yet the reserves increased from just under $4.3 million to just under $4.7 million at year-end. The collection of approximately $130,000 from BC Housing of amounts owed relating to the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years helped us to improve our overall cash position such that we ended the year in a positive cash posi-tion of $232,000.

Below are the financial statements of the New Chelsea Society from April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

6

19%

8%

23%

6%5%

10%

19%

10%

Expenses

Amortization

Administration

Building Repairs& MaintenanceUtilities

Property Tax

Other Expenses

MortgageinterestRep. Res.Expenditures

New Chelsea Society

Statements of Operations and Changes in Fund Balances Year ended March 31, 2014

Housing Fund Capital Asset

Fund Replacement

Reserves Future

Development Total Prior Year End

Total

Revenue

Housing

Tenant Rent Contributions 7,932,315 - - - 7,932,315 7,626,479

BC Housing Subsidies 3,141,684 - - - 3,141,684 3,256,533

Other Revenues

Investment Income - - 135,180 - 135,180 124,683

Unrealized (Loss) Gain on Investments - - (76,798) - (76,798) 5,582

Mortgage Subsidy 65,113 - 65,113 65,113

Fees, Charges and Other 149,014 - - - 149,014 136,865

Laundry 60,037 - - - 60,037 60,839

Forgivable Loan for Project 13 - - - - - 452,215

Contributions - - 45,763 - 45,763 465,508

Repayment of Funds for Project 9 - - - - - (58,000)

Revenues allocated to:

Mortgage Principal Repayments (2,147,187) 2,147,187 - - - -

Replacement Reserve (968,052) - 968,052 - - -

Total Revenue 8,236,464 2,620,052 1,072,197 11,452,308 12,135,817

Expense

Amortization - 2,190,159 - - 2,190,159 2,159,138

Operating 5,804,822 - - - 5,804,822 5,697,522

Mortgage interest 2,152,264 - - - 2,152,264 2,437,577

Replacement expense - - 1,160,856 - 1,160,856 1,246,748

Total Expense 7,957,086 2,190,159 1,160,856 11,308,101 11,540,985

Excess (Deficiency) of Revenue over Expense Before Other Items 275,838 (42,972) (88,659) - 144,207 594,832

BC Housing Adjustment (268,555) - 397,291 - 128,736 -

Excess (Deficiency) of Revenue over Expense 7,283 (42,972) 308,632 - 272,943 594,832

Fund Balance, Beginning of Year (730,471) 15,670,067 4,288,719 - 19,228,315 18,633,483

Interfund transfers (160,000) - 100,000 60,000 - -

Fund balance, end of year (883,188) 15,627,095 4,697,351 60,000 19,501,258 19,228,315

68%

27%

2% 0%

1%2%

Revenues

Tenant RentContributions

BC HousingSubsidies

InvestmentIncome

Unrealized(Loss) Gain onInvestmentsMortgageSubsidy

7

GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

Chair: Don McPhadyen

New Chelsea Society’s Governance Committee held 4 meetings this past year. Below are the highlights of the committee’s accomplishments:

Society’s Bylaws

No formal revisions are being recommended to the Society’s Bylaws at this time. The committee agreed to wait until the new Societies Act was pub-lished before again re-visiting the Bylaws to look at possible amendments. The Committee had met throughout the summer and fall of 2012 to review the Society’s bylaws, and recommend some amendments. These amendments were subsequently adopted and put into effect in Janu-ary of 2013. I am pleased to report that the newly adopted governance model has been in full operation this past year, and has included:

The redefining of the Society’s ten Table Officers as the Society’s “Board of Directors;

The reduction in the number of Vice Presidents through the elimination of the position of 2nd and 3rd Vice President, and the increase in the number of Director positions on the Board from four members to six;

The continuing requirement that each Member Legion Branch or Zone appoint or elect two “Representatives” who would attend the quarterly “General Meetings” of the Society’s Mem-bers and vote on behalf of their Branch or Zone;

The continuation of having the Directors on the Board elected by the Member Representa-tives at the Annual General Meeting each year, with all representatives present having a vote;

The requirement that all Directors on the Board be a member of The Royal Canadian Le-gion.

Governance Policies

This past year, the governance policies and procedures that had been approved by the Board in previous years were all finally incorporated into an extensive Governance Manual. The Manual was produced in the Fall in the form of a Binder with tabbed sections and a personalized copy was given to each of the 10 Board members. This is an excellent publication and a great re-source for new and experienced board members alike to help them in their role. Some of the governance policies in the Manual deal with such matters as: defining the role of the Board and the role of the Executive Director; outlining the relationship between the Board and the Executive Director; defining Executive limitations; outlining the duties and responsibilities of Board mem-bers; and outlining a variety of policies related to the governance process. Also, the formal “terms of reference” that were established for the Society’s Finance Committee, Governance Committee, Activities Committee and Honours and Awards Committee are included in the Gov-ernance Manual.

8

Board Education

The Governance Committee supported an educational seminar for all board members that was pre-sented by consultant Alice Sundberg on September 14th/13 on “Board Roles and Responsibilities”.

Board Effectiveness Questionnaires

This past spring, the Governance Committee sponsored a “Board Assessment Questionnaire” that was administered electronically to all board members. The questionnaire included an “Individual Self-Assessment”, and also a “Full Board Effectiveness Questionnaire”. All responses provided by board members were confidential. The results are being reviewed and will help identify areas that need attention, or determine what kind of additional board training might be needed.

Board Recruitment

The Governance Committee oversaw the process again this past year to recruit possible new direc-tors for the board. An “Expression of Interest” document was circulated to current board members and also to interested parties.

Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers The 2014 Annual General Meeting plans were finalized, the date was set for June 23rd/14 at Chel-sea Gardens, and this year’s Elections Officer was chosen. Her name is Comrade Jane Anderson who is the Vancouver-Burnaby Zone Commander. Jane has just completed a term as a New Chel-sea Society Board member and decided not to run again this coming year due to her Zone Com-mander commitments and responsibilities.

Strategic Plan

Lastly, but certainly not least, the Governance Committee in conjunction with the Full Board of Di-rectors and Senior Management Staff, undertook the major task of reviewing and updating the Soci-ety’s Strategic Plan. We retained Alice Sundberg as our consultant to lead us through the process. The Board and Senior Management team held a one day planning retreat on November 27th, 2013 and defined a series of strategic goals and objectives that the Society needs to focus on in the com-ing five years. A draft Strategic Plan was drafted by the senior management team and incorporated two main themes of focus, five key strategic goals, and a number of related objectives and key initi-atives. This plan was presented to the Society’s Membership in the early spring of this year and was approved. A brief summary of our 5-year Strategic Plan is included in this Annual Report.

In closing, I would like to express my appreciation to the members of the Governance Committee who worked hard this year to achieve the accomplishments that I have just outlined. My thanks go to Jim Howard, Heather Garrison, Jane Anderson, Kevin Moore, Pat Buchannon, Shawn Venne, and also to our newest committee member, Doug Longhurst. We accomplished a great deal, and I look forward to the year ahead with great anticipation.

Respectfully submitted,

Don McPhadyen,

Chair of the Governance Committee

9

ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE REPORT

Chair: Helen Akeroyd

Once again this past year, our seniors enjoyed access to a wide variety of activities that were sponsored by “New Chelsea Society Activities Commit-tee”. This volunteer Committee is made up of board members, head office staff, site management staff, and residents. It has been a very busy and successful year, and it has been an honour for me to have once again served as the committee chair.

Our activities are open to residents in all our seniors’ buildings. Our activities this year have in-cluded seasonal events at Christmas, annual Summer Barbecues, Giant Bingos with themes as-sociated with Halloween or St. Patrick’s Day. The Committee also organized some Bus Trips around the lower mainland to destinations such as the Starlight Casino; a tour of the Honeybee Centre in Cloverdale with lunch at the Whalley Legion; a tour of the Better Meals factory in Burn-aby with lunch at the South Burnaby Legion; a tour of the Gleaners’ facility in Abbotsford with lunch at the Aldergrove Legion; a Fall leaves tour around Stanley Park with lunch at Lynn Valley Legion in North Vancouver. Partial or total funding for these events was provided by the Activi-ties Committee. All these activities are really enjoyed by the tenants and from the feedback we hear, they look forward to them and they appreciate that New Chelsea Society does this for them.

It should also be mentioned that as part of the Society’s on-going efforts to “create a sense of community” within our properties, residents in our seniors’ properties continue to have the oppor-tunity to get involved with a variety of local activities in their buildings. This past year these have included regular bingos, card games, coffee clubs, special dinners, yard sales, sing-alongs, barbeques, speaker programs on seniors’ issues, and arts and crafts classes. They also had the opportunity to care for their own flower gardens in and around some of the buildings.

The Activities Committee was also responsible for organizing the Society’s annual “Christmas Party”. This past year it was a great success and was held in December in the upstairs hall at Whalley Legion Branch #229, with close to 100 in attendance. We also sponsor the annual “Christmas Card photo contest” and choose the winner.

As Chair of the Activities Committee, every few months, I personally do a “crafts workshop” at Chelsea Park. The Chelsea Park residents love to create something by themselves, and we have a great time learning how to do it together. I also try to attend special dinners and barbe-cues when invited, and I enjoy them very much.

The Activities Committee meets regularly to finalize plans for the activities for the months ahead. The Committee is busy planning the 2014 Staff and Directors’ Christmas Party which will again be held at Legion Branch #229 in Whalley. Planning is under way for more Giant Bingo Games and Bus Trips throughout the summer and fall. Selecting Lunch venues is also part of that plan-ning.

10

With the support of President Jim Howard, the Committee is already starting to make plans for the Society’s 60th Anniversary Gala and Celebration that will take place in September of 2015!

In closing, I would like to sincerely thank the members of the Activities Committee who worked so hard this past year to make our programs and activities a success. Thank-you to Fran Walton, Mae Findlay, Aneta Rondon, Terry Alleyn, Karen Dupont, Betty Dagg, Sheran Lee Thomas, and Pat Buchannon. Sadly in January we lost one of our dedicated members, Lee Miller, and we will miss her very much.

I’ve enjoyed the past year and would like to thank everyone for their support. I’m looking forward to the year ahead with anticipation.

Respectfully submitted,

Helen Akeroyd, Chair of the Activities Committee

A small sampling of the activities seniors have enjoyed at new Chelsea Society.

11

HONOURS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE REPORT

Chair: Fran Walton

To be appointed the Chair of the Society’s Honours and Awards Committee was a great honour for me and I thank Jim Howard for this appointment.

This past year, the Committee met three times, and presided over the selection of the 2013 Patron Award. At our annual Christmas Party the Patron Award was given to Gino LaPlante of Mack Kirk Roofing and Sheet Metal which has been one of New Chelsea Society’s dedicated roofing contractors for the past many years. We also honoured a hardworking tenant volunteer. Aneta Rondon, past president of the Chelsea Terrace Tenants’ Social Committee, was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Society for her outstanding contribution to the quality of life at the Terrace.

The committee has proposed the future Honours and Awards including a “Staff Outstanding Service Award”, also “Certificates of Merit and Appreciation” to residents and non-residents who have con-tributed to the New Chelsea Society properties. Of course we will again be accepting nominations for the 2014 Patron Award.

A permanent tribute to former New Chelsea Society Assistant Administrator, Lee Miller, who passed away this past January, is planned for a spot above the parking lot at Chelsea Manor. She is still missed by all.

The Honours and Awards Committee, along with the Activities Committee and Head Office staff, will be looking after two retirement parties for long term and valued employees. Tom and Elaine Peat will be retiring on October 31st, 2014, and Terry Alleyn will be retiring on December 31st, 2014.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to committee members Bev Croft, Pat Buchannon, Shawn Venne and Terry Alleyn. They all made up a committee to be proud of.

Respectfully submitted

Fran Walton, Chair of Honours and Awards Committee

Gino Laplante Receives 2013

New Chelsea Society Patron Award

Aneta Rondon (resident of Chelsea

Terrace in Burnaby), awarded a

formal Certificate of Appreciation

by New Chelsea Society.

12

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Patrick Buchannon

Another Busy Year of Progress, Change, and Challenge

I am very pleased to report that we have successfully come through an-other very busy year full of changes and challenges.

Some of the challenges and achievements this past year have included:

Project to Procure a Property Management Software Solution -With all the growth and ex-pansion that the Society has experienced over the past 6 years, we decided this past fall to seri-ously pursue the possible acquisition of a property management software system. New Chelsea Society teamed up with Greater Victoria Housing Society and hired a highly skilled and experi-enced Information Systems Business Analyst (Ms. Lily Nimi) to assist us in finding an appropriate software solution to improve efficiency and support growth. This collaboration allowed for cost-sharing and with the help of Mike Klein of BC Housing and Jacqui Mendes of BC Non Profit Housing Association, a “Toolkit” is being created to be of assistance to other non-profit housing providers in the sector.

The consultant’s job was organized into 2 phases: Phase 1 – identifying our property manage-ment software and related technology needs; establishing the capacity of our organizations to adopt new software and potential for new technology; writing a specification for suitable software; distributing an RFP to potential vendors; evaluating the responses to our request for bids; and assisting in selecting a software solution. The RFP was sent out December 19

th/13 and Wednes-

day, February 5th/14 was the deadline all proposals were to be submitted. Four companies sub-

mitted an Expression of Interest. We shortlisted to the top 3, and the product demonstrations for 3 were arranged. We are in the final stages of evaluating the demonstrations and are also visiting and speaking with other non-profit housing providers who use the different software programs to get a sense of their experi-ence. We hope to be able to choose a successful proponent by mid-summer. Once that decision is made, Phase 2 will involve a further “discovery phase” between the suc-cessful proponent and the Societies, and the negotiating of a possible contract with the selected software provider, and ultimately the implementation of the new software technology. We hope to be ready to “go live” by April 1

st, 2015.

Major Fire at Chelsea Lane – in June of 2013 we experienced a major fire at Chelsea Lane that

displaced 10 tenant families. Luckily no one was injured. The cost to repair the damage to the gutted suites and the suites that suffered severe water damage was close to $1 million and it took close to 8 months for the work to be completed. This was a major insurance claim.

Chelsea Park Maintains Seal of Approval Designation – After a follow-up assessment by the

BC Seniors Living Association, Chelsea Park was once again awarded the Seal of Approval des-ignation for another two years. It continues to be at full capacity and recent renovations to the dining room and the implementation of two seatings at each mealtime have been well received by our residents.

13

Special Housing Programs (Winch House and Kidney Suites) continue to be a going con-cern – The Winch House program is flourishing. Donations continue to come in to cover the cost

of operating the program. Our thanks go to Tom and Elaine Peat, the site managers at Chelsea Gardens, for their hard work in making this program a tremendous success. Our partnership with the Kidney Foundation of Canada – BC Branch in overseeing the the Kidney Suite program at Chelsea Tower is also flourishing, now in its 14

th year. Our thanks go to Don Crawford at Chel-

sea Tower and his wife Elaine for their hard work in making this program a tremendous success.

Strategic Planning - The Society’s Board of Directors and Senior Management staff participated in a facilitated planning retreat in the Fall with the purpose of re-visiting and reviewing the Socie-ty’s Strategic Plan. A new comprehensive Strategic Plan was developed that involved two major themes of focus, five strategic goals, and seventeen objectives. The strategic plan was adopted by the Society’s membership and the staff is now working hard to develop the key initiatives to and an operational plan to achieve the strategic goals and objectives. A summary of the Strate-gic Plan appears at the end of this Annual Report.

Following are reports from the Society’s main departments.

Administration Services Department

Department Head: Shawn Venne

What the Administration Department Does

The Administration Department oversees the general functioning of the Head Office from ensur-ing that people are greeted and properly directed when they come in the front door, to ensuring the Society’s Information Technology and computer systems are operating properly so that site staff can access their emails late at night when they are on-call.

Under the umbrella of Administration is also Tenant Selection and Placement. Tenant Placement is a pivotal function of the Society and is a key piece in ensuring that New Chelsea Society is able to fulfill its mandate of providing housing to those in need. The Tenant Placement staff over-sees the difficult task of matching the needs of members of the public for safe, secure and afford-able housing, with the needs of the Society for responsible and co-operative tenants. (See the Housing Report, on page 21, for more details on what Tenant Placement has accomplished this year).

The Administration Department also oversees all Human Resource functions of the Society, en-suring that we have a skilled, competent and fulfilled team that works closely together keeping the organization moving forward.

14

We have all settled into our new head office and are enjoying exploring and getting to know the neighborhood.

Key Administrative Initiatives and Accomplishments

This past year, key initiatives that have been accomplished by the Administration Department have included:

The Administration Department is continuing to work with the other departments to find a com-prehensive Property Management Software system and Data Management program for the So-ciety. Once the successful software is chosen the Administrative Department will be responsi-ble for setting up all our current tenants into the system and for overseeing the ongoing mainte-nance of the program.

In the area of HR we have completed our second year of full performance reviews for all staff. Each year we are learning more about the process and fine tuning it to make it more effective in providing staff with useful feedback and receiving feedback from them.

We continue to work on the development of a Policy Manual for administrative, operations and finance staff. It will contain all of the Society’s current policies and procedures in one place. The intention is for the manual to be ready this fall.

Operations Department

Department Head: Terry Alleyn

What the Operations Department Does

The Society’s Operations Department is responsible for looking after the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the Society’s many buildings. Under the leadership of Director of Property Op-erations Terry Alleyn, and Operations Manager Stefan Baune, all the site managers and site assistants and in-house technical staff such as our Plumber and Pest Control Technician make up the Op-erations Department. These skilled staff members look after in-suring the buildings are kept clean and are well-maintained, and that all major renovations, replacement projects, and building upgrades are done as efficiently and economically as possible. The Operations Staff also deals with day-to-day interactions with

tenants, consultants, contractors, and other staff.

Pictured above is Terry

Alleyn getting ready for

retirement and enjoying a

cold one (off duty of

course).

15

The last year has been challenging with much attention paid to site staff, tenant issues, and

major building maintenance as illustrated below:

Staff

Property site manager teams remained intact for the past year and staff performance ex-ceeded expectations in meeting our mandate for an exceptional business model. Regular, full staff meetings were held and this forum led to the implementation of several new ideas to en-hance policies and procedures affecting finances, tenant placement and operations.

Succession planning is underway as the Society prepares for the retirements of site manag-ers Tom and Elaine Peat on October 31

st and the pending retirement of Director of Property Op-

erations, Terry Alleyn, on December 31st. Stefan Baune will be promoted to Terry’s position and

the recruitment for Stefan’s role as Operations Manager is now underway amongst current site managers. Two new site managers will be hired and Grant Dricos, currently a site assistant, is being considered for one of the positions. Complete restructured team will be in place by year end.

Many staff members enrolled in education sessions to enhance their management skills.

Staff now have a `menu` of approved contractors and this has expedited the suite turnover process resulting in less vacancy expense. This is now a very organized process.

Tenants

Head office and site staff remained very busy throughout the year dealing with the usual problems associated with tenant management. Mental health issues and aging tenants are diffi-cult to deal with and site staff are supported in every way possible. The usual tenant issues of over-housing, late or non-payment of rent, noise complaints, second hand smoke, personality conflicts and other disputes occur on a monthly basis and become very time consuming for staff and management.

An unusually high frequency of deaths-in-units were predominant at Chelsea Terrace and Chelsea Manor. These situations are very difficult for staff and support is always offered during these traumatic times.

The Chelsea Lane fire of June 15, 2013 tested the resources of New Chelsea and, with tre-mendous team work with tenant placement, all ten families were relocated to our other proper-ties until their homes were ready for re-occupancy in January, 2014. The insurance claim to-taled close to $1 million dollars.

Key Operational Initiatives and Accomplishments

Focus on finances resulted in a 30% increase in cash surpluses for the fiscal year. The West Coast Homes properties are finally showing more positive cash flow.

New roof installed at Chelsea Heights, Alpha side.

New roof membrane installed at Chelsea North.

Restructure of Chelsea Village mechanical room underway. Project cost is $120,000, but funding of $75,000 through grants from Fortis and B.C. Housing will ease the expense.

16

Re-piping of A and C buildings at Chelsea Terrace underway at a projected cost of $550,000

Renovation of dining room at Chelsea Park; initiation of two seatings for meals

Renovations to the tenant amenity room at Chelsea Terrace – ``A`` building

Permanent tenant patio area created in memory of Lee Miller at Chelsea Manor

Creation of permanent suite at Chelsea Gardens for vacation relief staff

Painting of complete exterior of Vancoeverden Court underway ($180,000)

Elimination of fax lines at all properties. Scanning and emailing documents now in place

Painting of common areas of Chelsea Village, Crossing and Court

Installation of flashing on all windows at Chelsea Village and Court to extend the life of the ex-terior membrane.

Discovery of roof ventilation deficiencies at Chelsea Corner resulting in excess moisture in at-tics. Original 2009 contractor to correct issue at their expense.

Renegotiation with Rogers of the cellular tower at Chelsea Lodge resulting in a renewed 20 year contract with a value of $400,832.

Capital Planning and Replacement Achievements

A Capital Plan for all properties for the next 28 years was developed. This Capital Plan identifies funding needs and times for all aspects of buildings and grounds and is based on building assess-ments conducted by engineers. This “big picture” will help to make long term decisions together with our funding partner, BC Housing. The Capital Plan reflects our strategy for preventative and planned maintenance and ties it into the replacement funds to finance corrective maintenance and replace-ment needs. The estimated amount of money needed to keep all of our properties at the same con-dition level as today for the period 2014 to 2041 is approximately $ 73,500,000.

The Replacement Reserve Funds at the end of the 2013/2014 fiscal year-end sat at $ 4,697,351. For all properties $ 1,163,501 of Replacement Reserve Funds were spent. This is how it was allocat-ed:

Roof replacements $ 346,510

Cabinets & Countertops $ 219,157

Flooring and Drapes $ 186,165

Painting $ 119,532

Plumbing, Heating, Vents $ 95,204

Appliances $ 93,709

Others $ 103,224

$1,163,501

The Operations Department is well positioned and prepared for new challenges. We are working with an incredible team of dedicated Site Managers and As-sistants. The positive feedback from our residents is reflecting our efforts.

Re-roofing project in progress at Chelsea

Crossing.

17

Finance Department

Department Head: Jennifer Walsh

What the Finance Department Does

The Society’s Finance Department is responsible for all financial and account-ing issues facing the organization such as:

Ensuring all bills are paid on time including, payroll and security deposit refunds.

Performing all income verification interviews and rent reviews so that tenants may receive the appropriate rental subsidies from BC Housing.

Ensuring the monthly rent rolls and deposits are accurate and that they include all rental in-creases or changes in subsidies.

Keeping track of any other tenant charges such as NSF fees, special charges for damage re-pairs, etc.

Ensuring all taxes are paid and reports filed on time (GST, WCB, Property Taxes, Payroll Tax-es, etc.)

Creating an annual budget using input from all other departments and BC Housing.

Creating capital plans to ensure the replacement reserves are substantial enough satisfy fu-ture viability.

Working in collaboration with the auditors on our annual audit.

Providing the management team with financial information to assist in decision-making.

Reporting the financial results on an on-going basis to the Finance Committee and also to ex-ternal stakeholders such as BC Housing.

Key Finance Department Initiatives and Accomplishments

The major highlights for the Finance Department for the past year:

Accounts Payable

We hired a new Accounts Payable Assistant this year, De Yan. She is very organized and does a great job of coding our expenses, making sure they all have a purchase order and the proper au-thorizations. Since joining us she has impressed us with her attention to detail and shown us that she is willing to help out where needed, and we are very happy to have her as part of the ac-counting team.

Accounts Receivable

We have worked together with Operations and Admin departments to come up with a good proce-dure for dealing with NSF’s and late payments in a timely manner. We’ve also implemented a standard price list this year for all chargeback items which can be either invoiced to a tenant or charged against a vacating tenant’s security deposit.

Also we have more tenants who pay their rent by Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD), we now have 709 tenants paying by PAD as compared to 663 last year. This is the result of good team effort by ac-counting, tenant placement and site managers who encourage tenants to sign up.

Monthly Accounting Meetings

This year we started having monthly meetings of the accounting department where review the is-sues of the past month, share our ideas for dealing with them, create a schedule for the next month, and make sure we all have manageable workloads.

Accounting Data Clean-up

We’ve spent time this past year going through our Accpac database to clean it up and ensure that our data is ready for transfer when we transition to a new software package.

Some of the ladies from the Society head office enjoying

a day out at Chelsea Terrace. From left to right are: Ma-

ya Win (tenant placement), Marcia Small (reception),

Shirley Morales and De Yan (accounting).

19

Community Programs and Partnerships

New Chelsea Society continues to organize, support, and promote community-building activities and events that set us apart from regular landlords. We continue to publish our own New Chelsea Society “Christmas Card” every December featuring a seasonal photo on the front of the card taken by a tenant. Our Chelsea Breeze newsletter is well received by our tenants, staff, directors and friends of New Chelsea and kudos go to Shawn Venne and Terry Alleyn for the excellent job they do in laying out and publishing “The Breeze”.

We continue to manage the Society’s two websites (www.newchelsea.ca and www.chelseaparkbc.ca) and they continue to be well received. This coming year we will be updat-ing and refurbishing the Chelsea Park website with new photos and information. We also produced an Information Brochure that is a companion document to our Website.

The Society’s Activities Committee continues to work tirelessly and diligently to provide monthly ac-tivities for our tenants ranging from Giant Bingos, Contests, and Bus Trips, to Christmas Dinners and Summer Barbecues.

Some other Strategic Partnerships that the Society continued to be maintain this past year include:

Coalition to Eliminate Abuse of Seniors – New Chelsea Society is a corporate member

Seniors Services Society - New Chelsea Society is a corporate member

Honour House Society - New Chelsea Society is a corporate member

The Kidney Foundation of Canada (BC Branch) – New Chelsea society has been a partner for 14 years in providing 4 suites at Chelsea Tower for kidney patients and their families.

Mainland BC Military Family Resources Centre – partner in providing housing at Winch House

BC Seniors Living Association – New Chelsea Society is a corporate member because of Chelsea Park, and proud to be the recipient of Seal of Approval.

BC Non-Profit Housing Association – New Chelsea Society is a corporate member. With BCNPHA, we have pioneered a number of sector programs including the Tenants Insurance Program and Ener-gy Conservation Initiatives with respect to building lighting and boiler retrofits.

Society for Affordable Housing Education, Awareness and Development (AHEAD) – New Chelsea So-ciety is a corporate member of this affiliate of BCNPHA.

BC Professional Firefighters’ Association – we have a long time partnership with BCPFFA that has be-come an excellent financial supporter of the Winch House operations and whose members use Winch House extensively.

“Stewie’s Angel Camp” – New Chelsea Society supports this special camp in Ontario for grieving chil-dren of fallen soldiers. We donate some of our travel points so children from far away can fly to the location of the Camp.

Veterans Memorial Housing Society - New Chelsea Society is a corporate member.

George Derby Care Society - New Chelsea Society is a corporate member

20

My Sincere Thanks

In closing, I would like to sincerely thank President Jim Howard and Past-President Fran Walton for their on-going support this past year. I would also like to thank the Board of Directors, our hard-working Committees, and the Representatives from our Member Branches and Zones for their on-going dedication and commitment.

I am also very grateful to the Head Office Management Team and to our Site Management Staff and Assistants for their continued cooperation and hard work. New Chelsea Society’s greatest as-set is its staff and volunteers, and we are fortunate to have a great staff and such a dedicated group of hard-working volunteers. Without a doubt, this has been another busy year of change, challenge and progress. I am certain the year ahead will bring much of the same. We can be proud in know-ing we are helping address an important need in providing safe affordable housing in the lower mainland, and that we are growing and developing with the times.

I continue to feel privileged to be part of this unique and wonderful organization. I thank all those who have been instrumental in making our Society, and the work we do such, a vital part of the Community.

Respectfully submitted,

Patrick Buchannon

Executive Director

Looking to the Future

The Society’s growth is certainly part of our looking to the future. New Chelsea Society is the third largest non-profit housing society in the lower mainland. BC Housing senior officials have told us that they are very impressed with the Society’s success and the way we manage our operations, and will certainly be keeping New Chelsea Society in mind if there are additional housing opportuni-ties for us in the future.

I was pleased and honoured in the Fall of 2012 to be elected to the province-wide Board of Directors of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association for a 3-year term as the Vancouver representative. With BCNPHA I serve as Vice-Chair of the Board, and also serve as Chair of the Board of the Society for Affordable Housing Education, Awareness and Development (AHEAD). I look forward to being able to contribute to the non-profit housing sector in these positions, and to learning a great deal from my board member colleagues.

21

HOUSING REPORT

Tenant Placement Team: Geraldine Campbell & Maya Win

Vacancies

This year has been very successful with regards to keeping length of vacancy to a minimum level wherever possible, which has had a very positive effect the overall financial success of the Society. This was accomplished by working closely together with the whole Operations team, the Director of Operations, the Operations Manager and the Site Managers.

In addition to the usual filling of vacancies, Tenant Placement had spent a considerable amount of time with Operations regarding transferring and tracking tenants affected by the Fire at Chelsea Lane and Chelsea Terrace and the flood at Chelsea Court.

Overall the number of turn-overs is down. One possible explanation is the lack of affordable housing in the Lower Mainland and that families/singles are unable to find affordable/well cared for housing. NCS provides affordable, well maintained and well managed properties and it is something that we take pride in. All staff work towards this end.

It is noted that the number of tenants giving insufficient Notice to End Tenancy is down to three, compared to ten, last year. This helps considerably in placing potential tenants as the incoming ten-ant have to give sufficient notice to end their current tenancy and allows for smooth transition.

VACANCIES APRIL 1, 2013 – MARCH 31, 2014

Observations of Current Trends

Different family cultures: It would appear that some families that have come to Canada from other parts of the world and other cultures are having larger families, who also stay within the family household much longer, possibly through University.

Unstable housing: As housing in Vancouver is at a premium, Tenant Placement have noticed that more and more potential tenants are couch surfing and staying with family members.

Allergies: We are seeing more and more children with allergies to dust, mold and spider bites etc. Prospective tenants are requesting housing with No Carpets? This is another piece of information that BC Housing collects on the Housing Registry. This is a cost factor for the society and is in the process of being reviewed.

Home Visits

The Home Visit is an important part of the selection process as it allows the Site Manager to interview the potential tenant to assess whether they would be a good

Reason for Vacancy 2013-2014 2012-2013

Move Out with Notice 61 78

Transfers Within Society 25 24

Deceased 11 16

Eviction 10 14

Move Out Without Notice 3 10

Transfer to Care Facility 12 9

Temp Relocation due to Fire 11 0

Total Vacancies 133 151

22

fit for their property. Tenant Placement does not offer housing until all the requirements are met.

If a tenant is not currently living in stable housing (such as couch surfing or living with family) and is not able to provide two years of good land lord reference they are then placed on a six month lease only. This has proven very successful. Site Managers then complete a four month assessment in order to move forward to a month to month tenancy after the initial six month. Considerations for a successful transition are: no damage to their unit, rent paid on time, no noise or guest violations, no pet violations, no drug or alcohol violations and no concerns with children.

Non-Smoking Buildings

NCS continues to assign Non-smoking tenants to “C” Building at Chelsea Terrace. Each incoming tenant is required to sign a Non-Smoking Agreement, which states that they and any guest will not smoke in their suite. This is a material part of their Tenancy Agreement.

As more and more people are requesting to live in a smoke free environment, NCS is also reviewing other properties to be considered as Non-Smoking. We are able to assess the smoking situation during our yearly Suite Inspections. We Grandfather any sitting tenants and any new tenants would be required to sign the Non-Smoking Agreement.

BC Housing collects this information on their Application for Housing. Are you a smoker? Are you willing to sign a Non-smoking Agreement? This makes it easier for Tenant Placement to review pro-spective tenants.

The Housing Registry

The Housing Registry is an online data base of housing applicants from all over the province of B.C. It is primarily maintained by BC Housing, but a number of housing societies provide information to the database. In February 2008, NCS joined the Housing Registry, which has turned out to be inval-uable. Initially the Tenant Placement team used the Housing Registry for the Society’s biggest prop-erty at Chelsea Terrace in Burnaby, because it had the largest turnover of tenants. Eventually all our properties were moved on to the Housing Registry.

Applicants for any BC Housing subsidized units must be registered with BC Housing. If an applicant applies to New Chelsea Society directly, the Tenant Placement team ensures that their file is LIVE on the Housing Registry, if not; the applicant is informed that they must contact the Housing Registry and update their file and before the Society can move forward with their application.

Election to Housing Registry Governance

This past year New Chelsea Society was elected to the BC Housing Registry governing council, and is represented on the council by our Director of Finance, Jennifer Walsh.

New Initiatives

John Howard Society: We have recently met with a rep from this society who responded to our Ad on Craigslist for a bachelor suite at Chelsea Manor. John Howard Society is currently working with BC Housing in a Pilot Housing First Initiative for men and woman who are returning to society. We are very much in the preliminary stage as to what would be required of New Chelsea Society. How would this impact our current tenants, what would the liability be for NCS. Remembering Housing with Heart.

Respectfully submitted,

Geraldine Campbell and Maya Win

23

NEW CHELSEA SOCIETY PROPERTIES

Independent Senior’s Housing

We provide independent seniors housing at 10 properties in Vancouver, Burnaby and North Vancouver. This type of housing includes studio and 1-bedroom apartments, and is for seniors who are able to live on their own and lead active lives. Rental subsidies are available at some properties. At all of our properties residents can enjoy a wide range of amenities and activities, and be part of a community where neighbours are friends.

Chelsea Gardens Chelsea Lane

Chelsea Lodge Chelsea Manor

Chelsea Tower Chelsea North Chelsea Terrace

24

Supportive Senior’s Housing

Seniors over the age of 55 may need assistance to live independently. The team at our Chel-sea Park supportive seniors facility helps monitor our residents’ safety with a 24-hour emergen-cy response system and provides two daily meals, weekly housekeeping, laundry service and social activities such as barbecues, bus trips and exercise sessions.

Family Housing

We provide family housing at 12 properties in Vancouver, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam and Surrey. This type of affordable housing, ranging from 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom apartments and town-homes, is meant for a minimum of two people and must include at least one dependent child (under 19 years of age). Rental subsidies are available at some properties. At all of our proper-ties residents and their children can enjoy a wide range of amenities, and are encouraged to get involved with their housing community.

Chelsea Park

Chelsea Corner

Chelsea Court

Chelsea Green

Chelsea Lane

25

Chelsea Place Chelsea Estates

Chelsea Crossing Chelsea Heights

Chelsea View Chelsea Village

Chelsea Gardens Vancoeverden Court

26

Winch House New Chelsea Society is pleased to offer free accommodation for the families of Canadian Forces members, as well as those of fire, ambulance and law enforcement services while the members are receiving care in the Metro Vancouver ar-ea. Winch House provides families with a temporary home where they can stay while loved ones are treated at Lower Mainland health facilities. Hotel costs in Vancouver can be prohibitive with family accommodation challenging to locate, adding stress to an al-ready difficult situation. We’re here to help! Winch House is a place of refuge where fami-lies may enjoy a degree of normal family life despite the stress of their circumstances. New Chelsea Society has renovated and fur-nished a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom disabled-accessible townhouse at 1079 East 52

nd Ave-

nue in the Chelsea Gardens family housing complex in Vancouver. Located in a quiet, family-oriented residential neighbourhood ad-jacent to a children’s playground, this town-house is ideal for accommodating our Canadi-an force members, veterans and First Re-sponders and their families during their stay in Vancouver.

New Chelsea Society Head Office The Society’s head office is now located at 7501 Sixth Street in Burnaby. The head office was moved in 2012 to meet the need for increased office space and to meet the need for a more central-ized location in relation to our growing portfolio of properties.

Elaine and Tom Peat along with Firefighter Greg Zutter.

Greg’s wife Kris stayed at Winch House while Greg was un-

dergoing cancer treatments. This allowed her to stay close

to Greg and support him and not have to make the trip back

to Chilliwack each night. Greg came back to meet Tom and

Elaine to thank them and make a donation of $3,100 to the

Winch House program

27

TO OPTIMIZE OUR RESOURCES TO PRESERVE, SUSTAIN AND

EXPAND A PORTFOLIO OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

FOR LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.

OUR TWO AREAS OF FOCUS

TO MAINTAIN

AND UPGRADE

OUR

CURRENT

TO HAVE A

HIGH PROFILE

IN THE

COMMUNITY

TO PRESERVE

AFFORDABILITY

FOR LOW-INCOME

HOUSEHOLDS

TO CONTINUE

TO GROW OUR

PORTFOLIO

OF ASSESTS

TO PRESERVE AND SUSTAIN OUR

CURRENT HOUSING FOR OUR TENANTS

TO EFFECTIVELY

MANAGE OUR

FINANICAL

RESOURCES

TO OPTIMIZE

OUR GOALS

TO EXPAND OUR REACH

& CREATE MORE HOUSING

OUR PRIORITIES

To ensure all

properties meet

or exceed New

Chelsea Society’s

established high

standards of

condition and

appearance

To modernize

building components

and practices to

improve operational

efficiencies as

opportunities arise

To generate optimal revenues

To build up healthy

reserves adequate to

meet capital plan

needs

To identify and

attract new

funding sources

To ensure that all

employees are best

qualified to

optimize operations

To continue to house a

minimum of 90% of low

income households

throughout our portfolio

To ensure that all our

redeveloped properties

retain a minimum of

90% of rental units for

low income households.

To acquire viable and

financially feasible

real properties as

opportunities arise

To develop

partnerships with

complementary

agencies

To redevelop existing

Society-owned

properties to increase

number of units in our

portfolio

To build up the

Future Development

Fund.

To build and

maintain networks in

the non-profit sector

To build and

maintain networks in

the Legion and

Veteran

Communities

To develop

and enhance

communication tools

(website,

newsletters, etc)

To attract skilled

board members

To participates in

community events or

activities that relate

to NCS mandate.

OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION

2014 2014 2014 --- 201820182018

OUR VISION

28

To all our Directors, Staff and Volunteers

for being instrumental in making our Society

and the work we do such a vital part of the

Community.