Schubert Centre bolstered by community support

The Schubert Centre has reopened for the first time in six months, and organizers are determined to keep the doors open despite ongoing financial challenges.

The facility on 30th Avenue in Vernon, that normally provides seniors activities and community meeting space, had been closed since March 16 due to Covid-19, but reopened its cafeteria and thrift store two weeks ago, both for three days a week with limited hours.

The non-profit society that runs the venue announced earlier this year a deficit of $290,000 and the need a new $180,000 furnace.

On Friday, the group received a much-welcomed cash infusion.

The Armstrong Regional Co-Op provided the society $11,000 for a new HVAC system, and 100 Women Who Care donated $7,800 to be used for operations.

With the donation from the Co-op, Manager Shirley Higgins said the furnace fund now stands at $80,000.

“Nothing has really changed,” Higgins told Vernon Matters. “We are still in great financial trouble. However I’m very pleased to say we are still here.”

As for how the society got into its financial woes, Higgins said more will be said on that soon.

“I’ve been here since October [2019], and working with a board that is proactive. This board has given directives for me to get to the bottom of a lot of things and that’s a process. We still have not completed our financial statements, but we hope to have those done within the next couple of weeks and I believe at that time, our accountant will be able to answer a lot of the questions.”

Despite having to cancel three major fundraisers due to Covid, Higgins said in one way, the pandemic has helped them.

“We’ve been able to use grant money to renovate inside here, and we’ve redone the floors in the cafeteria, the offices and the washrooms and that’s a big perk. And we’ve had a lot of volunteers come in, and we’ve repainted the majority of the space here, so that’s all stuff that would have been difficult if we’d been operating 24/7.”

Higgins also expressed appreciation for grants from the RBC Covid relief fund, 1705 RCACC Cadets, the Community Foundation and Help Age Canada since March to allow them to continue the Meals on Wheels program, the only program they’ve continued since Covid struck.

“I said earlier that no senior will go without a meal, and we have maintained that with the support of this funding. This has been used to buy the groceries.”

March 27 was a difficult day at the centre, when Higgins laid off all the staff at the centre.

“And since then, our fiance director Shell Christensen and our [former] chef Taylor Belanger came in faithfully and continued to pay our bills, collect the money from the grants, do the bookwork, and Taylor continued to cook. And with the support of our volunteer drivers, we were able to continue that program and hundreds of meals go out every week to our seniors.”

Higgins calls those two “the unsung heroes of the Schubert Centre.”

“Without them, we don’t know where some of those people would have got their meals from, so I’m really pleased and proud of them to continue with that service”

They send out about 200 meals a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Schubert board president Diane Weaver gave a shout out to their volunteers in the thrift store and coffee shop.

“They have been helping through all of this. I like to say thank you to the volunteers because they work really hard and they’re all dedicated to this place,” said Weaver.

The centre has over 100 volunteers when they are in full operation, some who didn’t want to come back due to Covid, but others who are still willing to come in with all the protocols in place.

Higgins says they need to have all the the money up front for the new HVAC system, but now have been given a line of credit from a bank which they were not eligible for in February.

She said that gives them a “cushion.”

“That tells us the cash flow is increasing and we are improving and getting better, and even during Covid, our cash flow is actually looking better. We’ve been very tight with our money and paying down our accounts payable.”

The Thrift Store is open Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is accepting donations of items anytime during the week by making a phone appointment.

The cafeteria is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday from 10 to 1.

“We’re kind of going from farm to table. Today we had beer battered haddock and homemade french fries and coleslaw and homemade carrot cake. Today going forward, all of the meals are going to be fresh, lot more vegetables and fresh fruits,” explained Higgins.

Steven Rush has been hired as the cafeteria’s new chef, which the public is welcome to attend.

“It’s terrific to join the team. It’s a good opportunity. The Schubert Centre is an icon in the community. It’s been here forever it seems like. It’s good to be back, good to have the doors open and good to have people coming back to see us again,” said Rush.

Rush started cooking at age 8 in his grandmother’s kitchen and says it’s been a passion ever since, including working ten years in Spain.

He estimates they use about 50 per cent of local products in their menu, and their goal is to get that to over 80 per cent by the end of the year, saying the protein side will be the biggest challenge.