The 2012 BC Water Sustainability Endowment Fund grant was awarded to Stream of Dreams Murals Society for “Mapping Where We Live,” a project they are undertaking in collaboration with Byrne Creek Streamkeepers and Byrne Creek Secondary students in southeast Burnaby’s Byrne Creek watershed. We made a short video to give you a better idea of what it’s all about!

Launching Pad Recovery House in Surrey  provides 28 beds (six single and 11 double rooms) of transitional housing for homeless individuals in recovery from addictions. The single-storey residence was opened to tenants in June 2001 and has remained fully occupied since.

Residents are provided with meals, counselling, life-skills training and employment and education programs from a caring and committed staff.

Novel Pictures had the opportunity to cover the Launching Pad’s annual neighbourhood BBQ for the Surrey Homelessness & Housing Society and got a first hand look at the impact that this great facility has not only on individual lives but the community as a whole.

2012 REFBC Land Awards Winner - Ty-Histanis from Novel Pix on Vimeo.

The winners of the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s  third annual Land Awards were announced at a gala celebration in Vancouver recently. It was a glamorous and inspiring evening, as over 250 people gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel to celebrate BC’s land champions. Ed Begley, Jr.’s keynote address was entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking!

REFBC’s Land Awards recognize initiatives that showcase leadership, innovation, and collaboration in sustainable land use in British Columbia. The awards are broken into four sectors: non-profit, private, public, and individual.

The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation’s Ty-histanis development  near Tofino was the 2012 winner in the Public Category.

REFBC Land Awards - River Market Final Cut from Novel Pix on Vimeo.

The winners of the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s  third annual Land Awards were announced at a gala celebration in Vancouver recently. It was a glamorous and inspiring evening, as over 250 people gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel to celebrate BC’s land champions. Ed Begley, Jr.’s keynote address was entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking!

REFBC’s Land Awards recognize initiatives that showcase leadership, innovation, and collaboration in sustainable land use in British Columbia. The awards are broken into four sectors: non-profit, private, public, and individual.

Take Root Properties’ River Market in New Westminster was the 2012 winner in the Private Category.

2012 is the “International Year of Co-operatives” and Novel Pictures has had the opportunity to work with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada and Co-op members across Canada to create a video that we hope paints a picture of what this housing model has to offer.

We are honoured that this video was chosen as a winner at the UN’s  IYC Short Film Festival in New York City  where it screened to an enthusiastic audience as part of the closing gala of the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives.

Levon recently had the opportunity to work with the fairtradeworks team to create a business to business video outlining what the company does and how they aim to make “hassle free renos” a reality!

Michael’s wife Linda Mackie also worked with the company’s founder Jim Perkins of the Perkins Group to create some great shots of Jim. You can find several of them in this article at Assignment Fashion.

REFBC Land Awards - Non Profit Sector Winner: SOLEFood Farm from Novel Pix on Vimeo.

The winners of the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s  third annual Land Awards were announced at a gala celebration in Vancouver recently. It was a glamorous and inspiring evening, as over 250 people gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel to celebrate BC’s land champions. Ed Begley, Jr.’s keynote address was entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking!

REFBC’s Land Awards recognize initiatives that showcase leadership, innovation, and collaboration in sustainable land use in British Columbia. The awards are broken into four sectors: non-profit, private, public, and individual.

SOLEFood Farm was the 2012 winner in the Non-Profit Category.

Rick was the Manager of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (now known as Metro Vancouver) Regional Parks for 25 years (1978-2003) until his retirement in February, 2003. During his tenure, Rick spearheaded the expansion of Metro Vancouver Regional Parks from 5,500 acres to 28,600 acres, creating 25 new regional parks and greenways.

Balancing vision with pragmatism, Rick helped build a world-class system of regional parks that has enriched the greater Vancouver area with outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat, cultural and natural heritage.

To learn a little more about Rick and his contributions, check out the Real Estate Foundation of BC website.

The Surrey Homeless and Housing Society is playing an integral part in Surrey, BC’s plan to end homelessness. NovelPix created this video to showcase the work that’s been done over the last 12 months or so and the impact on the community and the people who live there.

Niagara Falls Ontario was the site of this year’s CHF Canada Annual General Meeting & Education Conference and the Novel Pictures team had the privilege of attending and documenting the event. Approximately 800 co-op members from BC to Newfoundland (and some from the US, UK, Ireland and Africa) took in a few days worth of workshops, networking, seminars, socials and, of course, the main general meeting where the democratic process was put into action.

Next year’s AGM is in Calgary, Alberta and if you’re a member of a housing co-op you should look into attending!