The Carnegie Learning Centre (CLC) is situated on the third floor of the Carnegie Building at 401 Main Street (Main and Hastings). It was started in 1982 to address basic literacy problems that community members faced in day to day living. The CLC is many things to many people. For some, it is a safe place to hang out and read the newspaper or to do the daily crossword puzzle. For others, it is a vital learning experience where they actively prepare for the GED. And with others, it provides a needed social component for their lives. Over the years a number of groups have run the CLC but throughout this a core set of operating principles and procedures have evolved. This includes a commitment to learner centered education, to social action, and to shared decision making.
The Carnegie Community Centre building is situated in a unique place geographically, socially and temporally,. It is central to the aging inner-city area that is called the Downtown Eastside. The Carnegie Community Centre has often been referred to as the "livingroom" of the Downtown Eastside. This refers to the fact that many of the residents of this area live in single occupancy one room dwellings and their only avenues for social contact are the Community Centre, the beer parlors or the restaurants in the area. The neighborhood is the poorest neighborhood, in not only the city, but in the entire country. Social issues such as a persistent drug problem, violence, and a myriad of health problems beset the neighborhood.
© Copyright 2002 Carnegie Learning Centre.