Lurana Mary Francis White, S.A., co-foundress of the Society of the Atonement, instilled in her sisters a love for the poor and oppressed in imitation of Christ and in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi.
In July, 1927, one year after the arrival of her sisters in Vancouver, Mother Lurana came from Graymoor, New York to visit and select a site for a mission centre out of which the sisters would minister to the needs of the people surrounding them.
The HISTORY
On October 16, 1926, the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement arrived in Vancouver to assume responsibility for the Catholic Japanese Mission School founded by Kathleen F. O'Melia with the sanction of the Archdiocese of Vancouver. The mission school and centre was the first of its kind in all of Canada.
Some Reminiscences by Sister Mary Stella, written in 1934. (Download a PDF version by clicking on title.)
The sisters expanded the language programs to include kindergarten and day care programs; a clinic; boarding students; adult convert classes; and related services.
After twenty years, the predominantly Japanese ministry came to an end with the evacuation of the Japanese during World War II. After the war, very few returned to Vancouver.
The kindergarten and day care programs continued until 1993 when neighbourhood transitions brought about other priorities.
As early journal entries indicate, hot meals and lunches were served to the unemployed, transients, and others requesting food from the first day of the sisters' arrival in Vancouver. The free lunch program (or food line) became structured in the early fifties. The population of the needy changed. Different reasons force people to move from one place to another. Emigrants from many different countries have come to Vancouver seeking a better life.
The mens' clothing room has a history similar to the food line. A suit for a court appearance; shoes for a job interview; everyday clothing needs; all can be had free of charge. With opportunities for construction jobs being available, many of the young men need steel-tipped boots and heavy work clothes.
