SURREY COMMUNITY SERVICES - ABOUT US
9815
- 140th Street
Surrey, BC V3T 4M4
604-584-5811
Fax: 604-584-7628
At Surrey Community Services people help people to help themselves. Our agency was incorporated in 1971 and since that date we have served thousands of community members through our many programs.
Our Mission Statement
We believe in...
- Delivering the best services
- Partnership and cooperation
- Accountability
- Equal access, respecting diversity, fairness and equity
- Fulfilling our role in a spirit of humanity and caring.
Our Philosophy
Surrey Community Services Society believes that the community of Surrey has the responsibility to identify its own social problems, and the capacity to develop solutions to those problems.
Therefore, our organization is governed by those who live and work in this community. The community is diverse, as are the problems it experiences, and the solutions to those problems. Therefore, no single cultural, moral, political, spiritual or theoretical paradigm is applied to every problem.
Instead, the community leaders who govern the Society work in collaboration with professional staff to develop and deliver services which have been tailored to address the needs and issues specific to this community. This is what it means to be community based.
Our Goal
To
be a leading organization in the provision of community services in Surrey
and the surrounding areas.
Over 150 volunteers
have contributed literally thousands of hours to service in this year
alone. These committed community members along with our dedicated staff
are the cornerstone of our success.
Surrey Community
Services is a United Way member agency. 
Our History
Surrey Community Services Society began in 1969, when several charitable groups which delivered hampers at Christmas met to coordinate their efforts. They were able to eliminate duplication and to increase the number of families receiving their help.
Building on this success, this group recognized the need to both coordinate the efforts of other volunteer groups and to develop a local directory of social services. They initiated two programs which continue to be the core of the Society: the Surrey Volunteer Centre and the South Fraser Regional Directory of Services.
In 1971, this group incorporated as the Surrey Coordinating Centre. Throughout the seventies and early eighties, the SCC expanded by securing a number of provincial and federal grants and contracts to provide services to address local needs. In addition, the SCC expanded by amalgamating with several smaller non-profit organizations. In 1984, the SCC changed its name to Surrey Community Services Society.
In the years that followed, Surrey grew rapidly, as did the needs of its residents. SCS continued to secure funds to develop programs to address emerging needs. Today, Surrey has become the second largest city in BC, and SCS has become one of the largest multi-service, non-profit, non-government, community-based organizations in the province.
Visions
and Dreams
In late 1998, the Board of Directors decided to construct a permanent facility to house the Society's administrative offices and approximately half of its programs. This 14,000 square foot facility was to replace the aging and inadequate portables which had been home to the organization since 1974. At a cost of $1.6 million, this was the Society's most ambitious project to date.
Our New Building
The vision, hard work and persistence of our board has paid off. In August of 2001, staff members began the move into a spacious and inviting main office that houses core services, counselling services and prevention programs. The new building represents a new era of optimism and improved service to our community.
Our Board
A Tribute
The
Board decided to name the project after one of the Society's most dedicated
volunteers: Mrs. Carole Wahl. The plaque dedicating the building in her
name reads: "This is the Carole Wahl Building". Until her retirement
in 1998, Carole had volunteered for countless hours in numerous capacities
over many years at Surrey Community Services, including fourteen years
on the Board of Directors - nine of which she acted as President.
To those who knew and worked with her she became the heart and soul of the society. In honouring Carole, we honour all volunteers who have given so much of their time and talents to make Surrey Community Services the organization it is today.
