Abbotsford Community Services Changes Name to Archway Community Services
We’re excited to announce that Abbotsford Community Services will now be known as Archway Community Services!
This change will be more inclusive for the clients we serve beyond Abbotsford and reduce confusion as people sometimes assumed that Abbotsford Community Services is an arm of the government or the city of Abbotsford.
While the majority of our 90+ programs are still in Abbotsford, we also serve clients in Mission, Chilliwack, Langley and Chandigarh, India.
Why Archway?
It took a lot of brainstorming and research to come up with a unique name that covered our various programs, but in the end we were drawn to the meaning behind Archway.
Archway was chosen because it reflects ‘people helping people’ in a collective effort to support the community. An ‘arch’ draws its strength from the individual pieces supporting each other which is a metaphor for how we work together with our community to support to those in need. The ‘way’ part of the name speaks to how we help people looking to discover their direction and provide a positive path forward.
Rest assured that while our name is changing, the mission is not. We will continue fostering community wellbeing and social justice through positive action and leadership in order to achieve the vision of “justice, opportunities and equitable access for all.”
“This change will be more inclusive for the clients we serve beyond Abbotsford and reduce confusion as people sometimes assumed that we were part of the city of Abbotsford.”
An ‘arch’ draws its strength from the individual pieces supporting each other which is a metaphor for how we work together with our community to support to those in need.
The ‘way’ part of the name speaks to how we help people looking to discover their direction and provide a positive path forward.
Archway Food Bank
The Abbotsford Community Services Food Bank will also update their name to the Archway Food Bank and continue to provide food and basic necessities to over 3000 individuals a month.
About Archway Community Services
Archway has over 400 staff and 1000 volunteers who provide services to children, parents, seniors, newcomers and those with diverse abilities, addictions or mental health challenges. Programs are funded through government contracts, fees for services, grants and donations.
The Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford (MSA) Community Services agency began in 1969 and later became Matsqui-Abbotsford Community Services (MACS) when the Village of Abbotsford and District of Sumas amalgamated. Since 1995 they have been known as Abbotsford Community Services (ACS) after the Districts of Abbotsford and Matsqui united under the City of Abbotsford.
“We had three name changes in my 31 years at the agency and it makes sense to move from a location-based name to a concept name,” said Walter Paetkau, the founder and author of a book on the last 50 years of the agency’s history.
“When I heard the name for the first time, I was immediately taken with the meaning behind it. After 50 years, the agency is going to continue to evolve and this takes us to the next step.”
Our previous website AbbotsfordCommunityServices.com will continue to be operational for a short time before all traffic is redirected to the new website.
