Port Alberni Friendship Center

The Port Alberni Friendship Center, established in the mid-1960s, is one of the more than 119 friendship centres across Canada and 25 in BC, with a mandate of providing services for urban Aboriginals. The services presently provided at our center are counselling, recreation programs, legal help, some public health services, social events, crafts and cultural events, with a general drop-in atmosphere.The Friendship Center is a non-profit society made up of individual members, governed by a board, which is elected from the membership at large, and administered by an executive director, and a staff of up to 36 which includes temporary project staff of 4-15 depending on the season. The Friendship Center's core budget is funded by Heritage Canada and administered by the National Association of Friendship Centres {NAFC} and the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres (BCAAFC). Other programs are funded by individual agencies with a focus on that particular subject area.