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Albert Melul: Working with Vancouver's Counter Culture Movement in the 1960s

Posted by jyuhasz
 
 
ID:          How long were you are Gordon House, Albert?
 
                AM:        I was there about four or five years and then I stayed with the neighbourhood house as a director of another house. Yeah, in 71, 73, I became the director…
 
ID:          Of?
 
AM:        Kitsilano House.
 
ID:          And was that an umbrella organization of…
 
AM:        Yeah, Gordon House has four or five neighbourhoods around the city.
 
ID:          Gordon House was one of them, or?
 
AM:        Gordon House was one of them, everybody was in an area, and in every area they had their own peculiarities. Like when I was working at Kitsilano it was also at the time of the hippies. So because I spoke French and many hippies came from Quebec, so the City of Vancouver asked me, no that was during Gordon House years, asked me to go to the YWJ where they created as place for the hippies because they didn’t want them to be all over town. So they had them in a place and there was a couple of social workers and myself who were kind of the supervisors to try to make sure they don’t go into mischief. So every time I went home I had to change all my clothes of the smell of tobacco, drugs, and all that every night it was a difficult thing but, I also learned how to do other things. When I was working with the hippies except explaining to them the idea of Canada values, laws, and things like, because they would come to me saying, “Albert, why does the narcotic policeman run after me? I was just making a living.” To them selling drugs is just making a living, you know they say, “Albert, why don’t you talk to the Narcs? Tell them to leave me alone.” So I had to explain the two worlds. But then long, long ago in the ‘60s there was a bit of a riot in the West End, and of course the city wanted to know why were many hippies and that on the rampage. So I went and interview many of them and I found out that one of the major complaints was that there was not dental health. You know, many of them were in pain and there was no way you know, at that time St. Paul had once a week somebody who would came for emergency, but that’s all. So, I decided to do something about it, I went to Gordon House, my supervisor was a strong lady, you know, no it was another supervisors, if you can do something, so I went to some kind of get together of dentists and I invited myself in the cocktail lounge and that and I convinced few dentists if can give some time to help these people of that. Anyway I found one who was a bit of an idealist who organized with me, but we didn’t have a place. So I used the Gordon House kitchen to have our first, I remember having a flashlight and that and a dentist. Anyway, after a little while the word went around, and I got second hand dentist chair, tools ,and that I had 10 or 12 dentist, and every Wednesday night all the hippies, all the people who could not have a dentist, they would come to Gordon House to have dental care, no questions asked. I have an article about it, you can have see it. But that was one of the things, you know, I always, when I saw a need I said let’s do something about it. 

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[Counsellor] with JFSA clients

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.15496

Black and white photograph depicts a woman meeting with [a mother and her two children]  for the Jewish Family Service Agency and United Jewish Appeal.

Date: 
April 30, 1980
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

Group of children for the JFSA

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11805

Colour photograph depicts a group of children for the Jewish Family Service Agency.

Date: 
1993
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

Group of unidentified JFSA people sitting outside of the JCC

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11804

Colour photograph depicts group of unidentified Jewish Family Service Agency people sitting outside of the JCC.     

Date: 
1994
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

Two unidentified women sorting through used items for Jewish Family Services Agency

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11802

Colour photograph depicts two unidentified women sorting through used items for the Jewish Family Service Agency. 

Date: 
[1989]
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

Jewish Family Services Agency event

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11801

Colour photograph depicts Jewish Family Service Agency event. Two unidentified men holding an award.

Date: 
[1989]
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

JSFA food bank cans

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11800

Colour photograph depicts Jewish Family Service Agency food bank cans.

Date: 
November 1, 1990
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

Julio Gomeroff and Vernon Dewitt Rishons project for JFSA

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11799

Black and white photograph depicts Jewish Family Service Agency Rishons project. L to R: Julio Gomeroff, Architect . Vernon Dewitt, JFSA Liaison.
 

Date: 
1987
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
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Allan Tapper & recipients of the Community award for outstanding organizational support of JFSA

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11798

Black and white photograph depicts Jewish Family Service Agency event. Allan Tapper, president Vancouver Lions Gate Lodge Bnai Brith 668. L to R: Recipient of the Community award for outstanding organizational support to J.F.S.A. Dinner M.C. David Barnett. Past president Lee Freiman. Sheldon Cole, president. Joe Segal.

Date: 
December 11, 1986
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags:

JFSA Past president Marion Dewitt, Paul Comisarow, David Barrett, Bronia Sonnenschein, Sheldon Cole and Joe Segal

Posted by jyuhasz
Object id: 
L.11797

Black and white photograph depicts Jewish Family Service Agency event. L to R: Past president Marion Dewitt. Recipient of Paula Lenga Award for voluntary service, Paul Comisarow. Dinner M.C. David Barrett. Bronia Sonnenschein, sister of the late Paula Lenga. Sheldon Cole, president. Joe Segal.

Date: 
December 11, 1986
Source: 
Kaplan, Samuel and Mona
Rights: 
JMABC
Tags: