VANCITY $1 MILLION GRANT FOR DRUG REHAB

A Surrey non-profit organization has won a $1-million grant from
VanCity Credit Union to build a drug and alcohol addiction services
centre in Whalley.

This year's $1-million VanCity award goes to the Phoenix Drug and
Alcohol Recovery and Education Society to complete a $5.6-million
campaign to build the Phoenix Centre near Surrey Memorial Hospital.
This 34,000-square-foot centre will be one of the first projects to
integrate addiction services, transitional housing, employment and
education services under one roof for more than 100 recovering addicts
per year. It is expected to be open next fall.

"The construction of the Phoenix Centre will be only the beginning of
the VanCity award legacy. The real legacy will be in the lives of the
individuals who find the necessary support to overcome their addiction
and build the skills necessary to make a contribution to their
community," says Michael Wilson, executive director of the Phoenix
Drug and Alcohol Recovery and Education Society.

The $1-million VanCity award, the largest corporate gift of its kind
in Canada, was established in 2001 by VanCity's board of directors to
support the social, environmental and economic well being of the
community. The funds are available to non-profit groups in the Lower
Mainland, Fraser Valley and Victoria.

The Phoenix Centre was chosen from three finalists by VanCity members
who voted by ballot, online and over the phone for their choice of
project in September and October. This is the fourth year of the award
that saw applications submitted from 80 non-profits and the highest
number of votes in the award's history. Funds come from a percentage
of VanCity profits set aside each year for community
initiatives.

The two other finalists included Pacific Legal Education Association
for its KidStart mentoring program to create a permanent mentoring
centre and expand services across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver
Island; and the Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children to build a
one-stop centre for child, youth and family services in Victoria's
western area where there are many single-parent and low-income
families in need.

"These were all worthy initiatives. We would have been proud to fund
any of them, but the decision was up to our members," says Elain
Duvall, chair of VanCity's board of directors. "The VanCity award is
about innovation and the Phoenix Centre, with its integration of
health, social and economic services, has really shown that. We think
that it will make a huge difference, not only in the lives of
recovering addicts, but on the health of the community overall."

"We are pleased to see so many of our members working with us to build
better communities," Mowat says. "We fully support their choice of the
Phoenix Centre. This project will take a visionary approach to
delivering much-needed services and we look forward to seeing the
difference it will make in the years to come." For more information
about the Phoenix Drug and Alcohol Recovery and Education Society,
visit www.phoenixcentre.ca.

Letters of intent for the next VanCity award will be accepted from
non-profit organizations in the communities VanCity serves starting in
March 2005. www.vancity.com/Community/CommunityPrograms/Grants/TheVanCityAward.

VanCity is Canada's largest credit union, with $9 billion in assets,
305,000 members, and 41 branches throughout Greater Vancouver, the
Fraser Valley and Victoria. VanCity owns Citizens Bank of Canada,
serving members across the country by telephone, ATM and the internet.
Both VanCity and Citizens Bank are guided by a commitment to corporate
social responsibility and to improve the quality of life in the
communities where we live and work. Common Ground has been a VanCity
member since 1982 starting at Branch 1.