History

For some years after the Victoria Filipino-Canadian Association was formed in 1969, members dreamed of one day having a community centre. It all seemed like an impossible dream since there were comparatively only a small number of Canadians of Filipino ancestry in the Capital Region.


So it was on in May 1988 that the Ilaw's issue recorded the first public mention of the community center in a message from Nor Gonzales, VFCA president that year, who stated: "Our future mandate continues to be to purchase land so that we can someday build a Community Centre for VFCA."


In 1990, Nina Law, VFCA president that year, established a committee to initiate this long-term project and on December 8 of that same year, VFCA members approved a resolution to "put up a Filipino Cultural and Housing Centre in Victoria." Fundraising began on a long-long-long-range basis.


On February 16, 1991, VFCA officers applied for the incorporation of the Bayanihan Cultural and Housing Society to focus on acquiring a building for a cultural centre. The signatories were: Fely Arevalo, Fred Bartulabac, Linda Bartulabac, Sid Emmanuel, Nor Gonzales, Nina Law, Ben Pires, Laila Pires, Delfin Pojol, Connie Rafael, Etna Stackhouse and Ralph White. The signatures were witnessed by Connie Custodio. On April 12, 1991, the Bayanihan Cultural and Housing Society was incorporated under the Society Act.


In May 1998, with $80,700 in the bank as a down payment, BCHS submitted a bid of $300,000 to the District of Saanich to buy a property at the corner of West Saanich Road and Royal Oak Drive. The proposal included professional site drawings and building designs prepared by architect Anita Coching along with reasons why the BCHS proposal had merit. BCHS officers met with the Royal Oak Community Association who supported our plan and suggested our centre would be a welcome addition to the community.


There were five proposals to the municipality and all were rejected for being too low in the bid price.


But for every cloud there is a silver lining.


In February 2001, the opportunity came.


On February 9, BCHS learned about a provincial grant program for community projects, announced Feb. 5, and about a building for sale at 1709 Blanshard St.


It then took just 77 days to reach the final goal of acquiring a building for the Bayanihan Community Centre.


On February 13, 2001, BHCS decided to "go for it" after more than a decade of fund-raising.


Here's a brief chronology what was done over this short, work-intensive period:


  • Feb.13: BCHS group met and decided to "go for it" - the grant and the purchase.
  • Feb.18: BCHS group checked out building.
  • Feb. 19 BCHS and VFCA decided to make an offer for the building.
  • Feb. 22: BCHS met to finalize the offer and to arrange professional building inspection.
  • Feb. 23: BCHS made offer; BCHS group began work on grant application.
  • Feb. 28: Vendor accepted BCHS offer although there was a previous offer that required a 72-hour notice.
  • Mar. 3 & 4: Victoria Filipino-Canadian Caregivers Association and Victoria Filipino-Canadian Seniors' Association gave letters supporting grant application.
  • Mar. 5: InterCultural Association gave letter of support; BCHS group began series of meetings with local MLAs or their staff to solicit support; Homeguard Inspections South Island Inc. inspected the building.
  • Mar. 8: Vendor notified BCHS that previous offer had collapsed and gave BCHS until Mar. 26 to arrange financing; contractor gave renovation work estimate.
  • Mar. 9: BCHS submitted grant application.
  • Mar. 26: BCHS got news that $215,000 grant was approved; vendor extended date to get financing to Apr. 9; BCHS received letter confirming grant approval and began canvassing banks for financial options.
  • Mar. 30: BCHS received conditional grant contract agreement from government and commitment letter from Pacific Coast Savings Credit Union (PCSCU).
  • Mar. 31: BCHS and VFCA boards met and approved resolutions necessary to buy property for $395,000.
  • Apr. 2 -5: BCHS applied to City of Victoria for a business licence and submitted building plans, but the city required more details relating to community use, restrooms, parking and drawings for plumbing and electrical work.
  • Apr. 9: Vendor extended deadline to remove "subject to" clause to Apr. 18; city gave green light for BCHS to apply for a building permit; BCHS applied to the Capital Health Region to operate a kitchen in the building.
  • Apr. 11: Capital Health Region approved BCHS plans to operate a kitchen.
  • Apr. 18: BCHS removed "subject to" clause by the deadline.
  • Apr. 22: VFCA general meeting unanimously passed resolution to borrow funds from PCSCU to complete purchase of building
  • Apr. 23: VFCA filed the resolution with Registrar of Societies.
  • Apr. 24: PCSCU asked for documents for building's fire insurance, Workers' Compensation Board's exemptions, GST number, and VFCA annual reports.
  • Apr. 27: BCHS submitted all required documents to complete building purchase.
  • Apr. 30: BCHS became registered owner of a building! VFCA and BCHS held first meeting at the centre.

The Bayanihan Community Centre was officially opened on November 3, 2001, after extensive renovation work.


Five years later, on January 2, 2007 the Bayanihan Cultural and Housing Society, Victoria Filipino Canadian Association, Victoria Filipino-Canadian Caregivers Association, and the Victoria Filipino-Canadian Seniors' Association achieved a monumental milestone when, as a result of the combined efforts of all members of the community, the Bayanihan Community Centre became mortgage free!